Manny, Floyd meet again

by Nick Giongco

DALLAS – Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather were at it again whetting the appetite of fight fans.

For the nth time, the two rivals ran into each other while waiting for their respective rides late Saturday night after attending a major welterweight title fight at AT&T Stadium in nearby Arlington.

Mayweather came up to check on Pacquiao and the two just exchanged pleasantries before parting ways as their brief meeting rekindled interest in seeing a rematch of their rather disappointing May 2015 mega match in Las Vegas.

“That is still the best fight to be made,” said Sean Gibbons, who represents Pacquiao, who had to endure a 24-hour flight from Vienna via Dubai just to attend Errol Spence’s easy win over Mikey Garcia.

Earlier in the day, Pacquiao expressed his desire to return to the ring by July.

But everything still hangs in the air given that everyone involved has yet to speak with Al Haymon, the head of Premier Boxing Champions (PBC), the outfit that has Pacquiao and Spence and the other top 147-pounders under its care.

“We will be talking with Al Haymon soon and we’ll see this week,” said Gibbons.

Richard Schaefer, an adviser at PBC, believes the talent is so deep that “you can mix and match” the fighters.

“They can all fight each other,” said Schaefer, formerly the main man at Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions.
Schaefer admits that Pacquiao vs Spence will be big since the Filipino icon is still a proven PPV star, prompting him to say that Spence “will be going where the money is.”

Still, it would still be premature to announce that Pacquiao-Spence is signed, sealed and delivered even if Spence teased everyone by inviting Pacquiao to stand beside him on top of the ring.

“Come over here,” said Spence, who was amused that Pacquiao gladly obliged.

Pacquiao, who soundly beat Adrien Broner last January in Las Vegas, played it up by teasing Spence as well.

“Why not?” said Pacquiao when asked if he would like to test the young lion.