Despite a turbulent period marked by repeated postponements and shifting timelines, Floyd Mayweather has made it clear that he has no intention of walking away from the ring permanently. The undefeated American boxing icon, whose career at the highest level of professional prizefighting seemed definitively concluded nearly a decade ago, continues to map out high-profile ring appearances. Chief among his future ambitions is an official rematch with his longtime rival, Manny Pacquiao, a bout Mayweather now projects could materialize in 2027 following an exhibition encounter with former undisputed world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson.
Mayweather officially stepped away from sanctioned professional boxing in August 2017 following his high-profile tenth-round technical knockout victory over mixed martial arts star Conor McGregor. That blockbuster event in Las Vegas pushed his unblemished professional ledger to an unprecedented 50-0, allowing him to surpass the historic 49-0 benchmark set by heavyweight legend Rocky Marciano. In the years following that milestone, Mayweather largely transitioned to the international exhibition circuit, staging lucrative, unjudged spectacles across Asia, the Middle East, and the United States. These exhibition appearances allowed the five-division world champion to capitalize on his enduring global drawing power without placing his immaculate professional record in jeopardy.
The landscape shifted considerably in February when an announcement indicated that Mayweather would step out of exhibition semi-retirement to re-enter the sanctioned professional ranks for an official rematch against Pacquiao. The proposed contest was slated to take place eleven years after their lucrative first meeting, which set virtually every financial and pay-per-view benchmark in combat sports history. However, enthusiasm for the return bout was quickly tempered when the project was abruptly postponed, leading many industry observers and fans to assume that the rematch had been shelved indefinitely amid emerging legal and promotional entanglements on Mayweather’s side.
Breaking his silence on the matter during an appearance on The PBD Podcast, the 49-year-old American superstar insisted that the rivalry is far from finished. During the extensive sit-down interview, Mayweather outlined a revamped itinerary for his upcoming ring ventures, explaining that his immediate focus is directed toward an exhibition against Mike Tyson before turning his full attention back toward Pacquiao.
Addressing the timeline directly during the podcast, Mayweather stated that his immediate ring return is slated for late in the year before shifting focus to the Filipino icon. “December we got Mayweather-Mike Tyson exhibition, you know, that’s in December and I think Pacquiao-Mayweather will be somewhere in 2027,” Mayweather said.
The exhibition with Tyson, which had itself been previously announced and subsequently postponed, represents an unconventional pairing even within the wide parameters of modern exhibition boxing. Tyson, a legendary former heavyweight champion whose ferocious reign defined an entire era of the sport, naturally operates in a drastically different weight division than Mayweather, who collected world titles from super featherweight up to light middleweight. Despite the historical size discrepancy and earlier scheduling delays, Mayweather remains adamant that the December date with Tyson remains firmly in place as a prelude to a larger, sanctioned return.
When asked explicitly on the podcast whether he genuinely believes the long-discussed rematch with Pacquiao will cross the finish line and take place, Mayweather answered emphatically in the affirmative, pointing to ongoing negotiations and the substantial financial incentives at stake. “Yes. You know, we already talked about it. You know, for that fight, I’ll be guaranteed 110 million,” he said.
Mayweather’s insistence on a nine-figure guarantee aligns with the commercial standards he established during the latter half of his active professional career, where he routinely commanded the largest purses in boxing history. A guaranteed sum of $110 million demonstrates that, despite his advancing age and years away from traditional competitive championship boxing, Mayweather views his brand as an elite pay-per-view draw capable of generating enormous revenue on the global market.
In addition to laying out his prospective schedule, Mayweather used the interview to offer his side of the story regarding why the initial Pacquiao rematch collapsed after having already reached the stage of an official announcement by global streaming giant Netflix. The platform’s initial foray into securing the rights for the historic rematch had generated considerable mainstream attention, signaling an ambitious shift toward major live combat sports broadcasting. Yet, behind the scenes, contractual discord and third-party complications swiftly unraveled the agreement.
Mayweather attributed the failure of the initial production to a combination of contractual disagreements and external figures attempting to maneuver inside the promotional structure. “Well, the reason why the fight hasn’t happened is because of the deals. I know you guys keep hearing, ‘Why is this fight not happening?’ So let me explain,” Mayweather remarked during the podcast.
He went on to allege that the negotiations had been compromised by an individual who had previously been embroiled in significant financial controversies. “There was a guy, the same guy that stole the $200 million. He was in the middle of trying to defraud numerous people, committing fraud, I should say,” Mayweather said, providing context to the external legal turbulence that had previously been cited as the catalyst for the bout’s postponement.
Beyond the allegations of fraudulent third parties interfering with the promotion, Mayweather emphasized that the fundamental economic terms proposed by the broadcaster were entirely unacceptable from his perspective. Specifically, Mayweather took issue with the premise of revenue parity between himself and Pacquiao, arguing that the financial terms failed to reflect their historical billing and the decisive outcome of their first meeting.
“We were going to fight on Netflix, and with the deal, they tried to offer me and Pacquiao the same amount of money. So I said, ‘Okay, in the first Pacquiao fight, I was guaranteed $101 million. He was guaranteed $25 million,’” Mayweather stated, recalling the contractual structure that governed their record-shattering 2015 encounter.
When the figures for the proposed rematch on Netflix were tabled, Mayweather discovered that the network was planning to split the compensation down the middle, a framework he viewed as fundamentally flawed. “So we come back and do the rematch, and this time they try to give both of us $27.5 million. I said, ‘Well, he loses and he gets the exact same amount as I get?’” Mayweather explained.
For an athlete who deliberately branded himself as “Money” and built the latter chapter of his career on uncompromising control over revenue distribution and promotional splits, the suggestion of an even 50-50 division proved to be an immediate dealbreaker. Mayweather recalled rejecting the proposal outright and instructing the intermediaries to reconfigure their valuation of his participation. “I said, ‘Absolutely not. Go back to the drawing board, get your numbers right, and when you’ve got your numbers right, then come talk to me,’” he said.
While Mayweather appears content to allow the business machinery to recalibrate ahead of a tentative 2027 date, Pacquiao has shown little inclination to remain idle while waiting for contractual disputes to settle. The former eight-division world champion, who has similarly explored opportunities both inside and outside the exhibition realm, has pursued alternative avenues to remain active in meaningful boxing events.
Reports have strongly linked Pacquiao with a potential professional return on the high-profile undercard of the heavyweight showdown between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. While an official confirmation regarding Pacquiao’s inclusion on that blockbuster card remains pending, the persistent links indicate that the Filipino icon is prepared to explore major standalone opportunities rather than remain indefinitely tethered to Mayweather’s preferred timeline.
With Mayweather resolute in his demand for an unequal purse split and a guaranteed nine-figure payday, the path toward a second chapter of the Mayweather-Pacquiao rivalry remains complex. Nevertheless, with an exhibition against Tyson targeted for December and a prolonged runway leading toward 2027, Mayweather maintains that one of modern boxing’s defining rivalries will ultimately find its way back inside the ring.
