Rematch? Floyd Mayweather says he's open to idea of fighting Pacman again

Following his victory over Manny Pacquiao on Saturday in Las Vegas, Floyd Mayweather Jr. very clearly laid out his future at the post-fight news conference.

He planned to fight again in September and then would retire, he said. He noted that he's closing in on 40 years old and said he doesn't love boxing much anymore.

But in boxing, never say never. Results from the pay-per-view sales of the heavily hyped fight have yet to come in, but sources are telling Yahoo Sports it will exceed four million sales and could get close to an unheard of five million.

The figures won't be released for a while, but Mayweather clearly knows the trends.

And that could be the reason that he apparently has so abruptly changed course. On Tuesday, 'SportsCenter' released two tweets, saying that Mayweather told ESPN 'First Take' host Stephen A. Smith via text message that he would be open to a rematch with Pacquiao.

In a second tweet, 'SportsCenter' noted Mayweather would be willing to wait for Pacquiao to heal from the torn right rotator cuff injury he suffered during training camp and which apparently hampered him during the fight.

Pacquiao's failure to disclose the injury has created a firestorm of controversy. On a pre-fight medical questionnaire given to him to fill out at the weigh-in May 1, Pacquiao adviser Michael Koncz checked no on a box asking if Pacquiao had a shoulder injury.

When Pacquiao arrived at the MGM Grand on Saturday, he asked to be allowed to take a shot of Toradol to numb the pain, but because that was the first the commission heard of the injury, it was disallowed.

Mayweather's text to Smith would indicate a dramatic change of heart for Mayweather. Late Saturday following the bout, in response to a question from Yahoo Sports about what he'd miss about boxing, he said, "I don’t think I’ll miss the sport of boxing. I don’t watch boxing anymore, unless it’s someone coming to my gym. I don’t watch boxing like that.”

So now, he's changed his mind and is apparently willing to fight. Pacquiao will have surgery and will be out for anywhere from nine months to a year. That would mean that Mayweather would extend his career from September of this year until May or even later next year.

How much interest the public would have in the rematch remains to be seen. In 2016, Mayweather will be 39 and Pacquiao 37. The public feels cheated because it wasn't a great fight on Saturday and because of the lack of disclosure about the injury. The fans' hard feelings have been exacerbated by the exorbitantly high prices.

So let's see what Mayweather chooses to do. But no longer is it safe to rule out a rematch completely.

If I were a betting man, I'd still bet against it, but Mayweather at least has allowed for the possibility.