Mayweather-Pacquiao: Fighting over 40

Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao have had a very public personal and online discussion about a supposed rematch in December. The encounter in Tokyo, on the way to a music festival there, impelled Mayweather to post photos bragging about “another 9 figure pay day on the way”. On the other side, Pacquiao has a secondary title to offer, the one he took in knocking out a damaged Lucas Matthysse two months ago. All of a sudden, people have forgotten Amir Khan who – like Mayweather in 2015 – was originally poised to fight Pacquiao this December. The Pacquiao vs Khan fight, also like the match-up with Mayweather, was finally coming true five years too late.

As this writer noted, the megabuck fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao was marred by a shoulder tear Pacquiao claimed he re-injured when he accidentally punched a sparring partner’s head in preparation for Mayweather. This writer also wondered out loud why this crucial information was never discovered (or was purposely kept secret) by the platoons of foreign and Filipino media who were with Pacquiao almost every waking hour. This resulted in at least two local journalists being reprimanded by their superiors.

In an interview with this writer before Pacquiao fought Jessie Vargas in 2016, Pacquiao’s chief trainer Buboy Fernandez clarified the matter. A teary-eyed Fernandez claimed that the injury was real and, despite Pacquiao’s obvious pain, he begged him to push through with the fight. 

“I said we ran after this guy, goaded him into fighting us, then we’ll be the ones to back out?” Fernandez said then. “It would be embarrassing.”

In an interview with Mayweather’s trainer and uncle Jeff Mayweather during that time, he in turn said he hoped Mayweather would stay retired, because Floyd didn’t need to fight and didn’t need to happen. Needless to say, that didn’t happen.

If the fight does push through in December (since both fighters now promote themselves), it will likely happen around Pacquiao’s 40th birthday, when the Philippine Senate is on holiday break. Mayweather turned 41 in February. This now begs the question: how much does the world want to see two fighters over 40?

For certain, the fight will take place in Mayweather’s bailiwick, Las Vegas, where he is already the favorite according to oddsmakers. He will get top billing and the bigger purse, the only one who has had those advantages over Pacquiao in well over a decade. It will also be a possible (but doubtful) farewell fight for the Filipino champion. Pacquiao has long had nothing left to prove, and is the only fighter in history to win titles in four of the original weight classes set for boxers. Then again, Pacquiao can claim to be on a remarkable upswing since knocking out Matthysse, his first stoppage in nearly a decade.

Given the medical warnings against fighting past the age of 40, it has been proven that fighters can still excel at that level. Let’s look at some of the best fighters of that age group.

After 40, Juan Manuel Marquez has fought twice since knocking out Pacquiao in 2012, soundly beating Mike Alvarado for the vacant WBO international welterweight belt in 2014, after a close split decision loss to Timothy Bradley. Despite his age, Dinamita has been ranked as high as fourth-best pound for pound fighter by ESPN, and sixth-best by The Ring Magazine. But there are even more impressive examples.

After he turned 40, Roberto Duran won seven straight fights before losing a unanimous decision against Vinnie Pazienza for the International Boxing Council super middleweight title. Though he was slower and bloated, Duran won 18 of 25 bouts after his 40th birthday. Meanwhile, after being knocked out by Mike Tyson, Larry Holmes left the ring for almost three years, returning to boxing at age 42. He scored three knockouts in six straight wins before losing a unanimous decision title bout against Evander Holyfield. In total, Holmes won 21 of 24 fights after age 40, and his only losses were world title fights.

At age 48, Bernard Hopkins became the oldest boxer to win a world title, beating Tavoris Cloud on points for the IBO world light heavy belt. The modern standard for longevity, Hopkins fought 13 after 30, winning eight and losing four. Lastly, Archie Moore was perhaps the most impressive oldie to stay active in the ring. Moore was still bouncing between the heavyweight and light heavyweight classes into his dotage. At age 41, he fought 10 times in one year, winning nine with one draw. He tallied a total of 26 wins, two losses and two draws (with an eye-popping 16 KOs) from age 40 until he retired at age 46.

Will Mayweather or Pacquiao keep going as long as some of these other all-time greats?