Floyd Mayweather recently announced that he would officially be ending his retirement in 2026 to return to boxing for competitive action, not exhibition. Now, “Money” has his first fight booked.
And it’s a big one.
Mayweather (48) will face off against none other than Manny Pacquiao (46) on Sept. 19, 2026 inside The Sphere in Las Vegas, Nevada live on Netflix in what is a rematch 11 years in the making. The duo initially threw down back in May 2015 after spending years dangling the potential scrap
in front of rabid fans. Once the dust settled in their 12-round Welterweight bout Mayweather had done enough to secure a unanimous decision win to retain his WBA (Unified), WBC, and The Ring titles, while winning the WBO strap.
A rematch between the two men had long been on the wish list of fans, but no one expected it to happen a decade removed from the first bout.
Mayweather has not competed in a official bout since defeating Conor McGregor via tenth-round technical knockout (TKO) in 2017 to improve his undefeated record to 50-0. “Money” has taken part in several exhibition bouts since then against the likes of Logan Paul and John Gotti III, just to name a few, but they did not go on his pro record. He is scheduled to face Mike Tyson (seriously) in another exhibition next month in Africa.
Pacquiao, meanwhile, has been recently active as he was last seen coming up short against Mario Barrios in July 2025 in a WBC welterweight title fight that resulted in a draw. Despite his four-year layoff, “Pacman” did pretty well against the much younger champion and came so close to pulling off the upset. That performance, it seems, gave him the confidence to keep pushing forward.
Obviously, many will simply view this as a quick cash grab to allow the aging pugilists to secure a hefty payday while they can still semi-perform in the ring. That said, I doubt anyone is expecting a repeat performance of their initial meeting…inside the ring and out.
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