Manny Pacquiao Exhibition Bout Not Yet Finalized Ahead of Floyd Mayweather Boxing Fight
Manny Pacquiao's exhibition bout prior to his upcoming fight with Floyd Mayweather has not been finalized yet, according to ESPN's Andreas Hale.
Jas Mathur, CEO of Manny Pacquiao Promotions, revealed that Pacquiao's 10-round exhibition fight with Ruslan Provodnikov isn't official despite being announced in a press release on Feb. 17.
"It's not official or else you would've seen a lot more announced by Manny directly on that," Mathur told Hale. "I would've also participated in that, and it is just not official."
"Will there be another exhibition potentially for Manny before the Mayweather fight? Yes, there will," he added. "I can't say if it'll be that one or if it will be something else, but as of right now, that particular fight is not done."
The rematch between Mayweather and Pacquiao was announced on Monday and will take place in Las Vegas on Sept. 19.
Mayweather revealed that he'll be facing Mike Tyson in an exhibition match of his own before the bout.
As for Pacquiao, the former eight-division champion's last fight came against Mario Barrios for the WBC welterweight championship in July 2025. He previously retired in 2021.
Meanwhile, Ruslan Provodnikov is a former WBO super lightweight champion and sparring partner of Pacquiao.
