Floyd Mayweather’s indecision over the Manny Pacquiao rematch is drawing heavy fire, and it’s giving outspoken critics like Jake Paul a massive opening. Amid reports suggesting Mayweather may pull out of his contract for the Pacquiao rematch, his rival, Jake Paul, questioned his seriousness while adding his own concerns.

“This is the problem with boxing: people in the sport who aren’t professional,” he told a reporter. “It’s terrible, and it’s so archaic and old, and there are so many egos. People think that they’re bigger or better than they are multiple times. They have terrible teams around them, like their homie from, you know, back in the day running for them.”

The result, according to him: unfavorable terms, dismal bargains. This induces second thoughts, further delaying progress on major fights.

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“And because of that, these types of deals don’t get done,” Paul explained. “And it all comes down to, like, ‘Oh, well, ring size, and you can’t wear these shoes and this type of glove, and you can’t wear this glove.’ It’s like, bro, stop being a b–ch and just fight. Like, that’s the problem with the sport. And that’s probably what they’re running into: a lack of professionalism and an IQ.”

Jake Paul expressed his thoughts ahead of Alycia Baumgardner’s title defense at Madison Square Garden. Promoted by his MVP (Most Valuable Promotions), the card marks the return of ESPN to boxing, adding further spotlight to his comments. That likely explains his assessment of the Mayweather-Pacquiao situation.

While his career as a fighter may have stalled, marked by new deals, including the ones with Sky Sports and ESPN, Paul’s promotional venture is experiencing exponential growth. In that context, seeing a boxing great like Floyd Mayweather causing so much contractual confusion and face increased scrutiny as a result presents a conflicting narrative.

As negotiations for the fight continue, the latest reports indicate the two sides have a deadline in place to finalize the agreement.

Floyd Mayweather’s rematch stance raises legal and contractual concerns

Adding another layer of pressure to the already uncertain rematch, reports indicate Netflix, which is broadcasting Mayweather-Pacquiao II at the Sphere, could contemplate a financial penalty against the unbeaten former world champion for breach of contract. Speaking with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Jas Mathur, CEO of Manny Pacquiao Promotions, revealed a few details on that aspect.

“There’s a massive penalty,” he said. “There’s gonna be damages, and those damages they’re quite substantial. It’s eight-nine-figure damages.”

Reportedly, the agreement for the rematch between the two out-of-retirement legends stipulated that it would be a proper professional bout, reinforcing expectations of a sanctioned contest. But Mayweather’s much-publicized statements, claiming that it’s an exhibition, have complicated the situation and sharpened the central conflict over the fight’s nature.

Based on Mathur’s update to BoxingScene that Mayweather vs. Pacquiao will be a real professional fight, former title holder and now Pro Box analyst Chris Algieri offered key insight into the disagreement.

“Which makes sense because Netflix got behind it, and I would assume that they would not want an exhibition,” Algieri stated. “It’s a huge aspect of the sport, and this kind of fight is going to generate a ton of money. So yeah, there’s a disagreement in terms of whether this is a real fight or an exhibition, but really, that’s really falling on the side of Mayweather since apparently he already signed the contracts, the deal was already done, he took some advances, apparently, on the actual agreed-upon terms of the contract, and now there’s a little bit of confusion.”

Amid criticism from Jake Paul and others, former champion Paulie Malignaggi, however, presented an alternative angle to the narrative. Speaking on the Pro Box show, he suggested Mayweather speaking about the rematch could be part of a script to sell the fight. It’s logical that he would have taken due note of the contract regulations.

So, by sparking controversy around the nature of the fight, Mayweather appears to be building hype to ensure the meeting with Pacquiao in September becomes another major commercial success.

“I think Mayweather probably wants to fight right now,” Malignaggi said hopefully. “I mean, Mayweather wants to fight and probably has to fight right now. Pacquiao seems to want to and have to as well. In one way or another, I think it’s going to get straightened out.”