John Locher/AP |
By Ivan Saldajeno
MANILA--A sequel to the "fight of the century" could take place next year.
A report by ESPN's Stephen Smith on Tuesday said that Floyd Mayweather is open to the possibility of facing Manny Pacquiao again in 2016.
Smith claimed that the unbeaten WBA, WBC, WBO, and Ring Magazine welterweight champion "sent him a text that he will give Manny Pacquiao another shot in a year." The said claim was posted on the official Twitter account of Smith's ESPN program "First Take".
The said report came at the heels of Pacquiao's revelation that a torn rotator cuff suffered during training hampered his performance against Mayweather in their highly-anticipated unification fight on Sunday in Las Vegas. Mayweather beat Pacquiao via unanimous decision with one judge, Dave Moretti, scoring the fight 118-110 for the American.
Pacquiao will undergo surgery on his right shoulder and is expected to be sidelined for at least five months, forcing Top Rank Promotions to cancel his supposed fight in November.
However, he could also face perjury charges for not revealing the current state of his shoulder in the pre-fight questionnaire.