One of the biggest events of 2026 will happen on September 19, live from The Sphere in Las Vegas, NV, streaming on Netflix. The rematch between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao will headline the event, and Manny Pacquiao Promotions (MPP) CEO Jas Mathur shares details about the fight card and a Pacquiao exhibition before September’s event.
The 41-year-old Mathur from Montreal, Canada, is a longtime associate of Pacquiao, and in December was named the CEO of MPP. Mathur came onto the boxing media radar in the last two weeks when a press release announced that Pacquiao was set to face Ruslan Provodnikov in an exhibition on April 18 in Las Vegas, NV. Mathur was quick to shut it down and told ESPN that it wasn’t official, even though the venue began to sell tickets for the event.
“Certain deals were put together before I came in,” Mathur told FightsATW. “There’s no miscommunication. It’s just that sometimes Party A may not be aware of what Party B is doing. Let’s say in that exhibition deal, if Party B decides to send out a press release without knowing what Party A has going on behind the scenes, it results in what happened.
“My stance is that the fight is not official yet. I’m not saying that it’s not going to happen. It’s just not official. We’re working through different opportunities. We’ve accepted different opportunities. We want Manny to have an exhibition so he stays active. Sometimes things create their own waves, but that doesn’t mean everything you read on the internet is true.”
Days later, the biggest announcement of 2026 was made when Netflix posted the poster for Mayweather vs. Pacquiao 2 scheduled for September 19 at The Sphere. Since then, details have been released gradually, with the public expressing their excitement and disappointment about the fight. Whether fans want this fight or not, it has been discussed worldwide, which was the goal from the start.
“Ever since the fight was announced, people have been talking about it and seeing it spread all over the internet,” said Mathur. “We expected to break the internet in the sports sector, which we did, and we will continue to do so for the next seven months.”
Regarding the undercard, are we going to see one filled with big names or will this platform be used to promote the future of the sport?
“As far as the undercard goes, we are looking at building a meaningful undercard,” said Mathur. “We want generational storytelling, legends, and rising stars. We have the legends with Floyd (Mayweather) and Manny (Pacquiao); now we want rising stars. Which brings me back to our Turning Stone event (February 28 on pay-per-view). There’s Curmel Moton and Jimuel (Pacquiao Jr.), so we definitely want participation from both. The undercard is going to be structured by Manny and Floyd. They want their respective guys on the undercard, so we haven’t touched that point yet, but for sure, it’s going to be rising stars.”
With a fight of this magnitude, the process can be complex but with a streaming giant like Netflix, there was comfort among all parties, especially considering their financial strength and experience with big events.
Mathur slightly pulled back the curtain to reveal what led to this deal with Netflix. “We aren’t talking about the last ten years that everyone was trying to get this deal done. In my opinion, that doesn’t count. If we are talking about this one, then yes, Netflix has been part of the discussion since day one.
One of the reasons why this was closed and able to get it to the finish line is because it’s Netflix. It’s also because you can sleep at night knowing you’re dealing with a company that has the money in the bank and is going to be able to pay the purse, handle marketing, and has the structure. They aren’t going to be looking for the money tomorrow from an investor and get a deposit and not have the money in between to give the milestones or the closing money. In the end, you are dealing with a Fortune 100 company with structure and that has given everyone reinsurance that ‘okay, let’s get this done.’ And of course, these guys (Mayweather & Pacquiao) know they can put a dent in it. They did it on pay-per-view, and now they have the opportunity to do it here on streaming.
In the coming months, we will learn about Pacquiao’s exhibition and the fighters on the undercard for Mayweather-Pacquiao 2. No matter how you feel about the fight, the world will be watching when the calendar hits September 19.
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