Oscar De La Hoya believes that, despite its late arrival, there is still an element of intrigue attached to Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao 2.
More than a decade removed from their first fight, the pair will enter a second professional encounter at the Sphere, Las Vegas, on September 19.
This time putting his 50-0 record on the line, Mayweather has not fought professionally since 2017, back when he scored a 10th-round stoppage victory over Conor McGregor.
The 49-year-old has, however, been involved in a series of exhibition matches in recent years, with his next non-competitive outing set to be against Greek kickboxer Mike Zambidis this June.
After that, the American will look to conduct a repeat of proceedings in his rematch with Pacquiao, who comes off a controversial draw with Mario Barrios, the then-WBC welterweight champion, in July.
This was the 47-year-old’s first professional contest since losing a unanimous verdict to Yordenis Ugas in 2021, which followed his split decision victory over Keith Thurman.
But while Mayweather and Pacquiao are both well past their primes, there is still a shred of interest expressed by a selection of the boxing fraternity.
One such individual is De La Hoya, who lost a split decision to ‘Money’ in 2007 before getting stopped in round eight by ‘Pac Man’ 19 months later.
Speaking with Fighthype, the Hall of Famer predicted another unanimous decision win for Mayweather while, at the same time, admitting that the rematch has lost a fair amount of lustre.
“It should’ve happened a long time ago, obviously. I don’t mind it, because it’ll be entertaining and I’m curious to see how Mayweather will react to Pacquiao’s style again.
“Mayweather’s Mayweather – he has a great style, great defence. Probably the same thing will happen again, but it’ll be entertaining.
“I wouldn’t mind watching it again. But again, it should’ve happened a long time ago. Pacquiao and Mayweather should’ve fought several months after they had their first fight – imagine how big that would have been.”
Many also felt that their first encounter had arrived far too late, with Mayweather’s defensive approach more conducive to longevity than Pacquiao’s high-volume style.