Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao date changes as rematch heads back to scene of first fight

The date for the Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao rematch has reportedly been pushed back.

Mayweather-Pacquiao II was initially announced for September 19 at the Las Vegas Sphere.

AFP

However, according to BoxingScene, the bout will now fall on September 26 down the road at the MGM Grand Garden, where Mayweather defeated Pacquiao via unanimous decision the first time around in May 2015.

Organisers initially explored a mid-August date as well as the possibility of hosting the fight at the MGM-affiliated T-Mobile Arena, before choosing to return to the scene of the inaugural encounter.

The September 19 vacancy at The Sphere has since been filled by an Eagles rock concert.

Explaining the decision to ditch The Sphere, one anonymous official said: “It made no sense to put it at The Sphere – it’s not connected to a casino.

“It’s one million per cent not happening there.”

Netflix will be streaming the event, which is set to be a professional bout that will count towards both men’s records.

Mayweather, 49, had previously suggested that the fight might be an exhibition, although Pacquiao, 47, appears to have got his way after insisting he wouldn’t run it back with his rival unless it was a professionally sanctioned contest.

Everything seems to be moving in the right direction, with Mayweather affirming on Thursday that the fight will be ‘done’ within the next 48 hours.

“At this particular time, I truly believe that, you know, everybody is gonna want to ask questions about the Pacquiao fight,” said Mayweather at the launch press conference for his upcoming exhibition bout with kickboxing legend Mike Zambidis on June 27.

“Like I said, the sport of boxing has changed. We have a lot of new companies, a lot of new faces, and Netflix.

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“I truly believe that we’ll get this done.

“I think we’re almost at the finish line to finish the Pacquiao fight.

“Eventually, I think within the next 48 hours, the Pacquiao fight should be done.”

Mayweather (50-0) retired from professional boxing in 2017 after halting dual-weight UFC champion Conor McGregor in the 10th round.

Over the last nine years, he has remained active in the exhibition boxing sphere, fighting YouTubers, reality TV stars and everything in between.

Pacquiao (62-8-3) returned to the ring for the first time in four years last July to hold then-WBC welterweight titlist Mario Barrios to a majority draw.

He had been in negotiations for another world title fight with WBA champion Rolly Romero, but the bout collapsed, resulting in Pacquiao pivoting to Mayweather.

Boxing schedule

For all the upcoming fights and results this year, check out talkSPORT.com’s  boxing schedule.