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Manny Pacquiao has started training again just 12 days before the date he was supposed to face Floyd Mayweather, raising the prospect that boxing’s richest rematch could finally be slipping away for good. Pacquiao posted a 21-second training clip as September 19 approaches, the date originally set for his professional rematch with Mayweather at Sphere in Las Vegas before it was pushed back a week to September 26. The sight of Pacquiao back at work would ordinarily fuel speculation that Mayweather II could be revived. This time, it could mean precisely the opposite. Pacquiao is being linked with other potential opponents, including Liam Paro, Devin Haney and Shakur Stevenson, after waiting for a Mayweather fight that is now indefinitely postponed. World Boxing News asked MP Promotions President Sean Gibbons specifically about reports linking Pacquiao with Stevenson. “I don’t know anything about it,” Gibbons told WBN. Asked separately about the Mayweather rematch, however, Gibbons gave a far more definitive answer. “It’s gone for this year for sure.” Mayweather Running Out of Time That leaves Mayweather with a decision to make if he still intends to honor the agreement and face Pacquiao professionally in 2027. Pacquiao entered 2026 pursuing another world championship after drawing with Mario Barrios in July 2025. He was negotiating to challenge WBA champion Rolando “Rolly” Romero before the opportunity to finally avenge his 2015 defeat to Mayweather became the priority. By February, Mayweather-Pacquiao II was set for September 19 at Sphere, with Netflix attached to stream the event worldwide. The rematch subsequently collapsed amid legal and financial problems surrounding the proposed event and was postponed indefinitely. Now Pacquiao appears unwilling to waste any more time. At 47 and with 48 fast approaching, every alternative fight carries considerable risk. Pacquiao already has eight professional defeats, and another loss against a younger elite opponent could seriously damage whatever appetite remains for a professional Mayweather rematch. There is another factor potentially closing the window. Pacquiao has been appointed Lead Convenor of the National Anti-Poverty Commission in the Philippines, returning the former senator to a significant public-service role. The appointment does not mean Pacquiao is about to finally retire from boxing for good. However, combined with his age and the opponents now being discussed, his next appearance could conceivably become his final professional fight. Pacquiao Could Move On There is an irony in how quickly the situation has changed. Pacquiao sacrificed valuable time and put his world-title ambitions aside when Mayweather II became a realistic possibility. Mayweather could now find himself on the other side of that equation. If Pacquiao accepts another fight and loses for a ninth time, resurrecting their rivalry as a professional contest in 2027 becomes considerably harder to sell. If Pacquiao wins and then returns his attention fully to public life, the opportunity could disappear anyway. Mayweather and Pacquiao have already spent more than a decade trying to find the right circumstances to fight again. Twelve days before their original date at Sphere, Pacquiao is training again. This time, Mayweather won’t be the man standing across the ring from him. About the Author Phil Jay is the Editor-in-Chief of World Boxing News (WBN), a BWAA-acknowledged boxing news website founded in 2010. A veteran boxing reporter with 16 years of experience, he has interviewed world champions, broken international exclusives, and reported ringside from major events. His work is published worldwide through WBN and distributed on platforms including Apple News.