Manny Pacquiao: If fans want Mayweather rematch, then why not?

LAS VEGAS - A day after Manny Pacquiao officially ended his retirement with a unanimous decision victory against WBO welterweight champion Jessie Vargas, the 37-year-old fighting senator from the Philippines appeared relaxed, jovial and not fazed by a gash in his scalp from a head butt that required nine stitches.

Above all, the future boxing Hall of Famer was eager to return to his political job.

Not surprisingly, the subject of Floyd Mayweather was still fresh on the minds of Pacquiao and the reporters who met with the eight-division champion in his suite at the Wynn Hotel and Casino. As always, Pacquiao's suite was buzzing with 30 or more people, mostly Filipinos, tripping over each other, eating and drinking, watching TV and talking about last night's fight and what's next for the new champ.

Pacquiao, in a decided departure from their cool relationship that existed prior to their disappointing mega-fight in May 2015, invited Mayweather to Saturday's fight. And perhaps surprisingly, the now-retired, undefeated champion accepted. Mayweather was given a mixed but mostly unfriendly reception by the crowd of more than 16,000 at the Thomas & Mack Center, where he walked to his ringside seat with his entourage, which included his daughter.

Pacquiao said he was told the day before the fight that Mayweather, who lives in Las Vegas, would attend.

Of course, news media and fans took that as a sign that a rematch could be in the works. But Pacquiao said there have been no discussions between him and Top Rank about his next fight.

"The next fight is not on my mind now," Pacquiao said. "What is on my mind is going back to work in the Philippines. I'm inspired for my new job."

The new Senate session begins on Tuesday, and Pacquiao, who worked in the Senate by day and trained for the Vargas fight at night the past eight weeks, expects to make it with hours to spare.

Because contact has been made with Mayweather, Pacquiao admitted it could make it easier to get a rematch. But that would only happen if the fans clamor for it. So far, that hasn't been the case.

Floyd Mayweather attends a fight between Jessie Vargas and Manny Pacquiao (AP Photo by Isaac Brekken)

"My contract is not mine alone, but also (belongs to) the fans of boxing," Pacquiao said. "If the fans want the rematch, then why not? We can easily talk about that. It's not a problem."

What has been a problem is that boxing's pay-per-view business has dramatically plunged since their fight, which drew 4.5 million PPV buys, nearly 2 million more than the previous record, at $100 a pop. These days, if a fight draws 300,000 buys, it's considered a good night.

Pacquiao, who said his shoulder, which was injured during his fight with Mayweather, is now fully healthy, said he believes he has a responsibility to boxing and its fans to make things right.

He said the senate will have a longer recess next spring, from March until May, which could leave an ideal window for a rematch, since Mayweather has always preferred to fight on Cinco de Mayo weekend in early May.

"Yes, I believe that if there was a rematch, I want to make sure the fans will love it. I will give with all I can do to get back the trust of the fans," he said. "If there's a rematch, I'm going to make sure the fans won't be disappointed."

Pacquiao's paycheck for Saturday's fight was also not up to his usual standard, which was a $20 million guarantee for his last several fights. He earned around $100 million for the Mayweather fight.

This time he was guaranteed a minimum of $4 million. And nearly half of that, he said, was spent on buying tickets for the fight, which he gave away to fans. He also recently built 1,000 houses in the Philippines at a cost of nearly $2 million which he gave away to the poor and homeless.

Asked whether he made the right decision to end his retirement, Pacquiao, who won back the title belt he had held twice before in his career, smiled and said, "Yes, to maintain as a champion. And there's a lot of boxers who want to challenge me so I have to prepare for that."

Those challengers may include Terence Crawford, a 140-pound champion who attended the fight, and Vasyl Lomachenko, who fights Nicholas Walters in three weeks for the 130-pound title but said he would go up to 135 pounds to fight Pacquiao. "Could you imagine I'm going back to 135?" Pacquiao said, grinning. "That's much easier for me to think about."

He turns 38 next month, yet Pacquiao said he has every intention to continue with his boxing career.

Asked how much he had left in the tank, he laughed and said, "The tank is full."

(Photo of Pacquiao celebrating after defeating Jessie Vargas, by Isaac Brekken, AP)