Floyd Mayweather says he'd fight Manny Pacquiao in a rematch in 2016
ESPN's Stephen A. Smith says Mayweather sent him a text message on Tuesday saying, "I will fight him in a year after his surgery."
Pacquiao is expected to be sidelined for nine to 12 months after undergoing surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff. The injury occurred weeks before the Mayweather fight, and there are widespread questions about how it affected the fight and why it wasn't disclosed before May 2.
There are a multitude of reasons to be pessimistic about a rematch happening. The issues that prevented the fight from happening for six years to begin with are still there: the two fighters are repped by different cable networks, promoters, and managers. There's also Mayweather's stated desire to retire in September.
Most importantly of all, no one is clamoring for the rematch the way people were clamoring for Mayweather-Pacquiao I for the better part of a decade. Mayweather's win was so total and aesthetically displeasing that, as Mayweather's father said, there's no reason to believe the second fight would be any different.
There's only one reason think we'll get a rematch: money.
Mayweather-Pacquiao II wouldn't break pay-per-view and revenue records like Mayweather-Pacquiao I is expected to, but it'd still be a huge fight. Even if half as many people buy the fight on pay-per-view, it'd still be the richest fight of the year.
As Mayweather Sr. said, a rematch is unnecessary. But that doesn't mean it won't happen if both sides want one last big check before retiring.