Let’s just get this out of the way.

A rematch between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao is not the fight boxing wants. Nor is it the fight boxing needs.

Floyd Mayweather Jr., left, connects with a right to the head of Manny Pacquiao during their welterweight title fight in May 2015 in Las Vegas. Mayweather Jr. says he's coming out of retirement again to fight Pacquiao for a second time in December. Mayweather posted a video on Instagram early Saturday that showed Pacquiao and him together, reportedly in Japan, jawing at each other over a possible second fight. AP file photo

That happened on Saturday night, when Canelo Alvarez beat Gennady Golovkin in an exciting (albeit controversial) bout for the unified middleweight championship that is almost guaranteed to bring a third match between two of the world’s best boxers sometime in the coming year.

But Mayweather — the sport’s biggest prima donna — couldn’t let Alvarez and Golovkin have the weekend. On Friday night, Mayweather said he and Pacquiao will not only have a rematch from their 2015 stinker — a fight Mayweather won by unanimous decision, while Pacquiao landed just 19 percent of his punches — but the fight will likely take place in December.

Pacquiao virtually confirmed the news Saturday morning, when a post on Instagram showed video of he and Mayweather jawing at an event in Japan.

I can think of five quick and easy reasons why this fight should not happen.

1. It’s an obvious money grab: If you have followed Mayweather’s career, the man seems to care about one thing and one thing only, and that is money. He earns it, he spends it, and he wants you to know what he’s buying with it. Honestly, I don’t have a problem with this. Boxing careers only last for so long and what a person does with their money is none of my concern. I had no issues when Mayweather got into the ring with Connor McGregor in 2016, because it wasn’t a real boxing match. It was a sports spectacle.

But it irks me that Mayweather, at 41, would be willing to climb back into the ring with a clearly over-the-hill Pacquiao for the sake of money, essentially dumping on the fans and the sport that made him by putting on a lousy fight.

2. They’re too old: They were too old to climb in the ring in 2015. As mentioned, Mayweather is 41 and Pacquiao is 39. Though Pacquiao is the current World Boxing Association welterweight champion, he is a year removed from the most embarrassing loss of his career, when he fell by unanimous decision to Jeff Horn after 12 rounds in Brisbane, Australia. If they truly wanted a good fight, it should have been done back in 2010, when they first entered negotiations to fight and they were still in their prime. It took six years — and ridiculous backouts from both sides — before they stepped into a ring.

3. Mayweather would win, easily: While he’s not as lightning-quick as he was in his heyday, Mayweather still has faster hands than many fighters 10 years his junior. Pacquiao has fought injuries (he allegedly was battling a shoulder injury in the first fight against Mayweather) and a clear drop-off of skills. Mayweather will jab and dance his way to another easy win, like he has throughout his career.

4. It’ll be boring: Mayweather’s style is not for everybody. I say this often, but Mayweather may be the best defensive fighter of all time. He goes the distance in bouts, jabbing, ducking and dancing around for hours. He relies on speed and instincts that simply no other fighter in the sport has. Pure boxing fans love it. Fans looking for knockouts — or something resembling a fight from “Rocky” — absolutely hate it.

5. It’ll make money, but not like 2015: This is what matters most to fight promoters, over anything else. Yes, people will spend pay-per-view money for another Mayweather-Pacquiao fight. Both have relatively strong fan bases. But they won’t be able to coax casual fight fans — the ones who help get PPV buys into record numbers — with another below-average battle. The fight will make money, but not nearly the amount Mayweather believes it will.

For the sake of their careers, the fans and the sport of boxing, I hope Mayweather’s words Friday night were a joke. Boxing has been on an upward climb lately that it hasn’t seen in years thanks to fighters like Alvarez, Golovkin and Anthony Joshua, among others. It’s time to walk away as gracefully as they can. Both have had legendary careers. They’re certified hall of famers. They have nothing left to prove.

It’s time to give back to the sport that gave them so much. Instead of words, or punches, they can start giving back with silence.

Dave Dyer — 621-5640

ddyer@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @Dave_Dyer

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