LAS VEGAS – There could be a rematch.
Just minutes after Saturday’s toe-to-toe battle, talks of a rematch between new WBA “super” welterweight king Manny Pacquiao and dethroned champion Keith Thurman filled the hot Vegas air.
“I’d love the rematch,” said Thurman inside the ring after he suffered a first-round knockdown and dropped a split decision to Pacquiao.
The 40-year-old senator did not mention the possibility of a rematch but has ruled out another fight this year.
“I think next year,” said Pacquiao, who has fought twice this year and won twice against welterweights at least 10 years younger than him.
“I will go back to the Philippines and work and then make a decision,” said Pacquiao, who flies out of Vegas Sunday afternoon on a private jet.
Pacquiao has moved heaven and earth so he could be back home in time for President Duterte’s State of the Nation Address on Monday afternoon.
It was Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions, who fanned the early fire regarding a Pacquiao-Thurman rematch.
“I think they should do a rematch,” said Ellerbe.
He sat at ringside and watched the fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. and told reporters they were “not surprised” with the Pacquiao win.
“Manny Pacquiao is a great fighter. He showed you why he’s a great fighter. You saw what Manny Pacquiao did,” he said.
Ellerbe did not specify how Mayweather found the latest Pacquiao fight but said the retired 50-0 superstar is not thinking of a rematch with the Filipino.
“Manny Pacquiao does what he does. That’s why he’s a great fighter,” said Ellerbe, who felt that Pacquiao could have gotten away with a unanimous decision against Thurman.
“I thought it was close but I thought it was unanimous. But I knew it was a close fight,” said Ellerbe.