Bob Arum predicts Manny Pacquiao vs Floyd Mayweather rematch in spring

Just after the victory of the new world welterweight titleholder Manny Pacquiao against Mexican Jessie Vargas, Bob Arum was quick to predict that another fight will surely be on the way. The Top Rank promoter said that Manny will have big chance to face Floyd Mayweather again in spring.

ESPN reported that Pacquiao was recently elected as senator in the Philippines in May and just came out of a brief hiatus to regain the welterweight title that he lost to Floyd Mayweather in May 2015 via unanimous decision. Defeating Jessie Vargas was merely his stepping stone to fight Mayweather once more.

On the other hand, Mayweather is still on retirement after he won against Andre Berto over a year ago. Rumors say that he won't be in retirement for long after he personally watched Manny's fight last Sunday at the ringside. Pacquiao invited him to watch possibly to entice him to fight him next year. To recall, their last fight shattered boxing records, reeling in $600 million in total revenue.

Bob Arum said that he is guessing 75 percent that a fight will happen; after all, Mayweather did come to watch. "It doesn't mean the rematch will happen, though, but it means the tension is gone." He added: "The bad words are not there. If the fight does happen it will be easier to make."

Meanwhile, Sports Illustrated reported that not everyone thinks that Manny Pacquiao was very sharp that night. In fact, one judge thinks that it was a close shave.

While everyone saw a dominating Pacquiao, Judge Dave Moretti gave a 114-113 score. He gave six rounds a piece for each fighter and said that if not for the second round where Pacquiao managed to knock Vargas down for a few seconds, the fight would have been a draw.

Moretti is known for his blunt scoring and taking negative criticisms from social media. Bob Arum blasted the judge's score demanding how he saw it differently from the two other judges.  

Finally, if a fight against Floyd Mayweather will go ahead as planned, Manny would have to plan out his training schedule along with his senatorial duties. Arum said that he already talked to the fighter about this and said that they will likely train during the times the Senate is in recess. Pacquiao said that it will be in mid-March and mid-May. He will follow his training regime for his Vargas fight which is training in the Philippines and then in the US two weeks before the actual fight.