MANILA, Philippines — The planned rematch between boxing legends Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao has been postponed indefinitely because of ongoing legal and financial disputes involving Mayweather’s camp, Pacquiao’s team announced Friday.
Pacquiao’s camp said the postponement resulted from “a volatile mix of federal lawsuits, scheduling overbooks, and financial gridlock” surrounding Mayweather’s camp.
The announcement came after ESPN reported that Mayweather’s scheduled exhibition bout in Greece had been canceled after an events company linked to the proposed Pacquiao rematch sought an injunction.
Last week, events company CSI filed a lawsuit against Mayweather, seeking to recover at least $4.65 million it said it paid the boxer for exclusive promotional rights to the Pacquiao rematch and an exhibition fight against former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson that did not take place.
Pacquiao’s camp said the earliest the rematch could now be held is in early 2027.
The statement added that if Mayweather and CSI resolve their contractual dispute out of court, promoters plan to reschedule Mayweather’s postponed exhibition bout against Tyson, with Sept. 12 as the tentative target date.
The postponement follows months of disagreement between the two camps over the nature of the proposed fight. Mayweather announced that the bout, which Netflix had scheduled for September, would only be an exhibition, while Pacquiao’s camp disputed that characterization.
Mayweather, 49, retired from professional boxing in 2017 with a 50-0 record.
He had been scheduled to face Greek kickboxing star Mike Zambidis in an exhibition bout Saturday at the Telekon Center in the OAKA Olympic Complex in Athens.
A rematch between Pacquiao and Mayweather would revisit their 2015 fight, which generated 4.6 million pay-per-view buys, the highest total in boxing history.
