Manny Pacquiao lands a punch vs. Adrien Broner in their WBA welterweight title match at MGM Grand Garden Arena. Pacquiao won via unanimous decision. (USA Today Sports) LAS VEGAS — In so many ways, it felt like it was 2009 once again for Manny Pacquiao. He outclassed Adrien Broner on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden to retain his WBA welterweight title, looking more like a 29-year-old than Broner did. Pacquiao was faster, hit harder and won the bout going away. Judges had it 116-112 twice and 117-111 to give Pacquiao his first win on U.S. soil since 2016 when he defeated Jessie Vargas. But just like 2009, when he knocked out both Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto, almost all of the focus post-fight turned to a fight with Floyd Mayweather. The first time, it took more than five years to get the bout made. When it did, Pacquiao injured a right shoulder that required surgery and Mayweather won a wide decision in a fight that was largely a disappointment. In his locker room a half-hour later after all but running Broner out of the ring, Pacquiao saved his greatest emotion for when he talked about Mayweather. The two men ran into each other at a night club in Japan in September. And after that 2015 defeat, Pacquiao kept the hunger for a rematch for competitive, not financial reasons. “The fans are waiting for that fight,” Pacquiao said of a rematch with Mayweather. “When we met in Japan, he came to my table and he said he would come back to challenge me. I told him, ‘I’m a champion. Challenge me and if you want to come back, we’ll get in the ring.’ We met in Japan and we also met at the Clippers game at Staples Center, but that was coincidental. But in Japan, he came to my table and said he wanted to fight me. “The most important thing to me is my legacy. I want to retire a winner. I want to leave a name in boxing. I want to leave a legacy that people remember. Boxing is my passion. I want to retire as a champion and a winner.” Manny Pacquiao trades blows with Floyd Mayweather Jr. during their welterweight title fight on Saturday, May 2, 2015 in Las Vegas. (AP) He was a winner on Saturday because he was quicker, landed the sharper punches and was far busier. Broner landed only 50 punches in the fight, and never more than seven punches in a round. He had two rounds when he connected on just one shot. Story continues That didn’t stop Broner from believing he’d won. “I wear these glasses for fashion,” Broner said as he arrived at the post-fight news conference. “I ain’t got a mark on me. I ain’t going to go crazy [about the judging]. I ain’t got to. My performance talked for me.” When Pacquiao heard that, his voice raised several octaves as he said, “Really?” and tried to suppress a laugh. But he wasn’t laughing all that much afterward, even though he was pleased with his performance. Just as it was last time, it will be a chore to get Mayweather into the ring, if he’s able to do it. He did a little dance when the final bell sounded, right on the side of the ring where Mayweather watched impassively. Mayweather left without attending the post-fight news conference, but Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe quickly doused ice water on the possibility of Mayweather-Pacquiao II. “He’s retired,” Ellerbe said of Mayweather. “He has no interest in doing that. It’s not always about the money, believe it or not. What more can the man do? He doesn’t have the motivation, the desire. He’s living his best life, traveling, running his multiple businesses, spending his hard-earned winnings. “He’ll be 42 come Feb. 24 and enough is enough. What good does it do to earn all that money if you can’t hang around long enough to spend it?” No means no, unless we’re talking Pacquiao-Mayweather. Then no could mean no, it could mean yes or it could mean maybe. This is one of the most complicated relationships one could ever imagine. “I think the people want to see that fight and we should give the people what they want,” said Pacquiao, who made the comment Saturday but probably also said it in 2009 and early 2010. Trainer Freddie Roach said he thought Pacquiao had done enough to get a rematch with Mayweather, but Roach knows from long and hard experience that doesn’t mean a thing. If the mood strikes Mayweather, he’ll come back and do the fight. If it doesn’t, he’ll keep flying the world and posting pictures of his cars, jewelry and money on social media. Regardless, Roach got what he wanted to see from Pacquiao. “I thought the body shots killed [Broner],” Roach said. “He went to the body early a lot, and then the left hand, he brought upstairs. He hurt him upstairs and then he made him run. Maybe he flicked a couple of jabs, but the guy actually ran. Some of those could have been 10-8 rounds because he was on his bike so much. … He’s in a difficult division. It’s stacked and there are a lot of great fighters in it. It’s really a good time to be a welterweight, but maybe not a 40-year-old welterweight. “But Manny doesn’t want to fight just to fight. He wants big, significant fights. Obviously, I’d love to get the rematch, but if that doesn’t happen, we’re going to have to fight one of those tough guys. There’s a lot of really good, really tough guys, but Manny Pacquiao is also a really good and really tough guy, too.” More from Yahoo Sports: • NFL conference title game picks vs. the spread • Serena rolls but Venus falls at Australian Open • Melo reportedly has ‘multiple options’ for NBA return • Bills Hall of Famer Jim Kelly is cancer-free again<doc-sep>Is Floyd Mayweather fooling anyone with Manny Pacquiao muteness? January 21st, 2019 Chris Farina Floyd Mayweather refused to answer questions or even acknowledge the notion of a high-profile super-fight rematch with Manny Pacquiao on Saturday night. The soon-to-be 42 year-old has been linked to facing his Filipino rival since an impromptu meeting between the two in Japan. Even Pacquiao stated the pair would meet for a second time once Mayweather had fought an exhibition and Pacquiao had defeated Adrien Broner. Both those situations have now come to pass. Although Mayweather wanted to keep tight-lipped on events during his appearance on Showtime. Despite Jim Gray’s pressing, Mayweather wouldn’t be drawn. That’s even when reports are rife the contest will happen in 2019. Mayweather is a notorious control freak. The boxing legend likes to live by the standard that he himself breaks any news regarding future fights. So who is Mayweather kidding? We all know there’s a $100 million guaranteed paycheck waiting for the ‘Money’ man from Showtime’s Stephen Espinoza. Who has already confirmed the fight will happen. “Floyd Mayweather is very serious about the fight,” said Espinoza late last year. “From everything I’ve seen and heard Manny Pacquiao is serious about it as well. “I do think we will be seeing the rematch, Mayweather vs Pacquiao. “2019 sounds perfect (for the fight), then we go at Mayweather vs Pacquiao 2 right away.” Pacquiao does have several options open to him following the Broner win. But do you think he’d sign a contract with Mayweather Promotions and Al Haymon without a Floyd return in the pipeline? Not a chance. PROJECTIONS Fans can expect the pair to meet before the end of 2019. Whilst ‘MayPac 2’ is highly unlikely to reach the monetary heights of 2015. The original made 4.6m worldwide buys. As a result, Mayweather pocketed over $300m as Pacquiao took home $80m. Rematch projections are still hovering around the 2m plus mark. A successful even which still represents over $100m for Mayweather and at least $30m for the ‘Pacman’. It seems unfathomable that Mayweather would turn his nose up at that amount of cash. Especially when the groundwork in the media has already been done. Pacquiao is on board…and it just seems to be a matter of time before Mayweather confirms his own inclusion via his usual method of social media.<doc-sep>Play video content Manny went for the handshake. Floyd went for the dap. The result was ... well, it was a mess. Once again, Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao came face-to-face at the Lakers game -- in what seems to be more shameless promotion for an upcoming rematch. Floyd was sitting on the court at Staples Center in L.A. to watch the Lakers take on the Warriors (they lost) ... when Manny came up from behind to say "What's up." The handshake greeting was a disaster -- but they got the point across. The big problem ... Manny reportedly suffered an eye injury during his victory over Adrien Broner this past weekend -- which could throw a huge wrench in the rematch plans. According to reports, Manny feared he suffered a detached retina in his left eye. Later, his manager said the eye was "fine" and he'll be okay. Manny was wearing shades at the game -- so you can't see if the eye looks damaged on the surface. As we previously reported, Manny and Floyd have been teasing a rematch for months ... and with both fighters looking pretty solid in their last fights, it seems a deal could be close. The two originally fought back in 2015 -- with Floyd winning a unanimous decision in a pretty boring fight. We recently spoke with Manny who told us he had a bad shoulder at the time -- and now that he's fully healed, he's confident he would whoop that ass. No deal has been made at this point -- but we're guessing it's just a matter of time ... considering the money these guys could rake in. There were other big stars at the Lakers game too -- including Halsey, Alexis Ren, Mahershala Ali, Jack Nicholson and LeBron James ... who was a spectator Monday night due to injury.<doc-sep>
Floyd Mayweather sat ringside on Saturday as Manny Pacquiao outpointed Adrien Broner - and the pair came face-to-face once more on Monday as talk of a potential rematch rumbles on. Now 40, Pacquiao rolled back the years with a dominant victory over Broner at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas as his former rival watched on. After the fight Mayweather remained coy when Pac-Man reiterated his desire to secure a rematch, almost four years after they met in the richest fight in boxing history. Scroll down for video Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather bumped into each other at an NBA game on Monday The pair came face-to-face courtside at the Staples Center as talk of a rematch rumbles on Mayweather even landed a few cheeky digs to his rival's midsection as they both smiled But the pair seemed on good terms on Monday when they ran into each other at the LA Lakers' defeat by the Golden State Warriors. In a video uploaded on Pacquiao's Twitter, the Filipino superstar walked behind Mayweather as Money sat courtside at the Staples Center. Mayweather turned round and the pair tried to greet each other, only for Pacquiao to try and shake hands with his rival - who attempted a fist pump. They smiled at each other as Pacquiao turned to walk away, with Mayweather even landing a few friendly digs into the mid-section of his former rival. Mayweather, who won all 50 of his professional fights, hung up his gloves following victory over Andre Berto in 2015. Pacquiao enjoyed a night at the basketball following his win over Adrien Broner in Las Vegas But he has since returned to the ring for victories of MMA star Conor McGregor and most recently, against Japanese kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa last month. Pacquiao, meanwhile, picked up a victory in his 70th career fight on Saturday night to hold on to his portion of the welterweight world title. In recent months both fighters have talked up a potential rematch of their 2015 clash - which Mayweather won on points. Before Pacquiao's fight with Broner, Mayweather visited his former rival in his dressing room and they shared a warm embrace. After the fight, Pacquiao issued his challenge to Mayweather: 'I'm still active and if he goes back to the ring and wants to challenge me, I'm a champion. Get back to the ring and we will fight again if he wants.' Mayweather embraced former foe Pacquiao in his dressing room before his latest fight