Mayweather vs Pacquiao Rematch Put on Hold Indefinitely as Legal Battle Derails Boxing Blockbuster

Boxing fans hoping to witness another chapter in one of the sport’s biggest rivalries will have to wait much longer after the proposed rematch between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao was postponed indefinitely amid mounting legal and financial disputes.

The announcement came from Pacquiao’s camp in the Philippines on Friday, shortly after ESPN reported that Mayweather’s scheduled exhibition bout in Greece had also been cancelled following legal action involving an events company connected to the planned Pacquiao rematch.

The two boxing icons have been at odds in recent months after Mayweather insisted that the bout, which had reportedly been announced by Netflix for September, would only be an exhibition contest. Pacquiao’s camp has repeatedly disputed that claim, fuelling uncertainty over the highly anticipated showdown.

In a statement released on Friday, Pacquiao’s team blamed the latest postponement on what it described as “a volatile mix of federal lawsuits, scheduling overbooks, and financial gridlock completely surrounding the Mayweather camp.”

The legal dispute centres on sports promotion company CSI, which last week filed a lawsuit against Mayweather seeking to recover at least $4.65 million. The company claims it paid the undefeated American boxer for exclusive promotional rights to both the Pacquiao rematch and a separate exhibition against former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, neither of which has taken place.

According to Pacquiao’s representatives, the earliest the long-awaited rematch can now be staged is early 2027. They added that if Mayweather and CSI reach an out-of-court settlement, promoters would first focus on rescheduling the postponed Mayweather-Tyson exhibition, tentatively targeted for September 12.

Mayweather, 49, retired from professional boxing in 2017 with an unbeaten record of 50 victories and no defeats. He had been due to face Greek kickboxing star Mike Zambidis in a pay-per-view exhibition at Athens’ Telekon Center inside the OAKA Olympic Complex before that event was shelved.

The proposed Pacquiao rematch would have revived one of boxing’s biggest commercial events. Their first meeting in 2015 generated 4.6 million pay-per-view purchases, making it the highest-selling fight in boxing history and one of the sport’s most lucrative spectacles.