The rumored rematch between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. is likely to be derailed again, and boxing fans can blame the rising tension between the United States and Iran. As the mega-fight is said to be staged in Saudi Arabia, it is likely a no-go anytime soon as the Middle East region will surely be dealing with mammoth security issues in the next few months.
In the past days, the world saw the U.S. and Iran engaged in a war of words, stemming from a drone strike that killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani. Reports said the attack was carried out on orders of President Donald Trump, prompting the Iranian government to threaten revenge.
Iran has indicated there will be retaliatory actions against actors and locations that the country believes are allies of America. Tehran identified these specific targets as Israel, Dubai, and Saudi Arabia.
The latter is where the Pacquiao vs. Mayweather fight was reported to be held. But if the Islamic Kingdom will be caught in the middle of a shooting war between the U.S. and Iran, then it can be concluded that the planned MayPac 2 has to be ruled out.
At the very least, the rematch will not be feasible in Saudi Arabia given the possibility of a conflict erupting anytime, according to World Boxing News.
"Both Mayweather and Pacquiao would need major assurances over safety. This may not be possible at things currently stand. This fact would have a massively detrimental effect on the chances of any return heading to Diriyah in the future," the report added.
However, the likely scrapping of a Pacquiao vs. Mayweather 2 in Saudi Arabia will not necessarily mean that the much-awaited second duel of the two prizefighters will be ditched altogether. The venue can be moved like in Japan, as Mayweather had proposed last year.
Or the rematch can just go back to where the first fight took place. That would be in Las Vegas, which is a place that should be agreeable to both boxers, Big Fight Weekend reported.
"It's highly possible that fight will be held in Las Vegas ... Both Fighters have frequently fought Mega-fights in the Vegas desert over the last 10 years," the report added.
It must be noted though, that fighting outside of Saudi Arabia could mean diminished paycheck for Pacquiao and Mayweather. The two staging the slugfest in the Middle East would reportedly earn them a nine-figure wage each, but the same could not be guaranteed if the rematch is moved to Las Vegas.
Per the same report from WBN, the MayPac 2 in Vegas will only pay $100 million to Mayweather at the maximum and half of that to Pacquiao. Considering that two boxing icons may never climb atop the ring again after the mega-fight, it could be that they would just wait out for the U.S.-Iran row to dissipate.
Then in the likelihood that war is not happening as there were suggestions of de-escalation in the coming day, the MayPac 2 can be planned again by both camps.
