Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao 'Serious' About Rematch, Broner Fight May Come First

Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao are "serious" about a rematch, according to Showtime president Stephen Espinoza.

Mayweather and Pacquiao met in Tokyo last month and posted on social media their rematch would be taking place with a potential December date. Follow-up reports then claimed the fight would be finalized soon.

However, Mayweather later claimed he would be back in Tokyo seemingly for a tune-up fight first with recent reports stating former four-weight champion Adrien Broner could be the opponent.

All these developments have led many to doubt whether the rematch is happening and whether it was just an attention grab but Espinoza revealed otherwise.

"Having spoken to Floyd, I know he is deadly serious about it," Espinoza told TMZ recently. "He is very, very serious about wanting the fight and from everything that I've seen and heard. Manny Pacquiao is serious about it as well."

"There is a lot that remains to be done. This year would be a big challenge, not that we haven't pulled off stuff in a short time like we did with Mayweather vs. McGregor. But I do think we will be seeing the rematch in a fairly short order. I understand people doubted it because of the way it was announced in a viral video. But I think that was just Floyd taking advantage of the opportunity and marketing it in the way that he markets things."

When asked if he would be fine with it happening next year, Espinoza replied: "2019 sounds perfect after I get a little bit of sleep — after this event [Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury on Dec. 1], we'll go at Mayweather vs. Pacquiao 2 right away."

Meanwhile, according to SPIN.ph, it might be Pacquiao facing Broner instead of Mayweather.

The 39-year-old is said to be defending his World Boxing Association welterweight title against Broner on the second week of January, notably in Las Vegas, having not fought in the United States since 2016. Should he come away with the win, the rematch with Mayweather will take place in May.

Pacquiao is currently a free agent as SPIN.ph added he has decided to sign with Al Haymon's Premier Boxing Champions, who are currently partnered with Showtime and FOX.

Speaking of broadcast networks, it was announced in a bombshell statement last month that HBO would drop their coverage of boxing due to a number of factors such as the overcrowding of viewing options and a declining interest in boxing from their subscribers.

Showtime on the other hand, plan on continuing their coverage for a long time.

"Absolutely [boxing will remain on Showtime], the one thing I quibble with HBO's statement is the suggestion that boxing didn't provide value," Espinoza added. "I don't know about their subscribers but from our standpoint, we're not going anywhere. It is a tremendous value to our network, it drives our business and we're going to be in the sport for a long time to come."