NEW YORK • At 40, Manny Pacquiao has nothing left to prove in a boxing ring other than avenging his unanimous defeat by undefeated Floyd Mayweather in 2015's "Fight of the Century".
Fresh off Saturday's split-decision win over previously unbeaten Keith Thurman to become the oldest ever welterweight champion, the Filipino icon yesterday challenged the American to come out of retirement for a rematch.
Pacquiao bit back on social media after Mayweather had accused him of trading on his name.
He tweeted: "You come to my fight and then use my name in a post but I'm the one that is trying to stay relevant? if you want to be relevant again... #MayPac2."
Mayweather, who retired at 40 in Aug 2017 with an unprecedented win-loss record of 50-0 following his technical knockout of mixed martial arts star Conor McGregor, had earlier claimed that Pacquiao's "entire legacy and career has been built off its association with my name".
In a post on Instagram, he said: "It's about time you all stop using my brand for clout chasing and clickbait, and let that man's name hold weight of its own. When we finally fought, I won so easily that everyone had to eat their words!"
Later, he posted an even more scathing riposte, saying: "Bottom line, I make more money than you... I beat you mentally, physically and financially.
"Remember, you fight cause you have to, I fight when I want to."
The 42-year-old Mayweather is just one of just seven professional fighters to have beaten Pacquiao, the only eight-division title-holder in boxing history.
Separately, Maxim Dadashev had never lost a pro bout when he entered the ring last Friday at the MGM National Harbour resort in Oxon Hill, Maryland.
But after 11 rounds of the super-lightweight bout in which his opponent, Puerto Rico's Subriel Matias, landed a series of heavy blows, Dadashev's trainer, James McGirt eventually signalled to the referee that the match was over.
Dadashev, 28, collapsed as he was leaving the ring and was hospitalised for brain surgery, during which the top right portion of his skull was removed.
On Tuesday, he died from his injuries. His wife, Elizaveta Apushkina, who lives in Russia with a young son, confirmed the death in a statement.
"He was a very kind person who fought until the very end," she said. "Our son will continue to be raised to be a great man like his father."
The St Petersburg native had won his first 13 matches before fighting Matias for the right to challenge Scotland's Josh Taylor, who holds the International Boxing Federation's junior welterweight title.
"He was our young prospect," the secretary-general of the Russian Boxing Federation Umar Kremlev said of Dadashev in a statement on Tuesday.
"We will fully support his family, including financially. We will complete the investigation into the circumstances surrounding this fight, we need to know the truth about what happened."
Boxing's popularity has been waning for decades, in large part because of the athletes' risk of debilitating injuries.
Fresh Productions Boxing, which represents Matias, said in a statement in Spanish on Facebook that the organisation was "devastated" by the news of Dadashev's death, before calling him an "eternal warrior".
"Maxim was a terrific young man," said Bob Arum, the chairman of Top Rank, which promoted Dadashev's matches. "We are all saddened and affected by his untimely death."
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, NYTIMES
