After investing so much energy, time and, in some cases, financial resources in its half-a-decade buildup, their infamous disappointment of a megafight in May 2015 eliminated need and interest in these legendary rivals fighting again. Still, their first fight made so much money — reportedly $600 million in overall revenue — that there was always the very real possibility that they’d agree to a rematch.

The inevitable became reality once Netflix executives realized Mayweather-Pacquiao II is just the type of live sporting event they want to offer to a worldwide subscriber base that has reached approximately 325 million. It doesn’t matter to them that Mayweather turned 49 on Tuesday and Pacquiao is 47, nor should it.

Even as the world’s largest streaming service encouragingly invests more in boxing, its leadership ultimately wants events that will capture the general public's imagination. Almost 11 years after they first fought, there still aren’t two boxing rivals who do that more than Mayweather and Pacquiao.

As much as cranky boxing writers, other pundits and fatigued fans prefer to leave bad enough alone, they begrudgingly realize they’ll watch when Mayweather and Pacquiao enter the ring September 19 at Sphere in Las Vegas. It won’t hurt, naturally, that the monthly subscription fee for Netflix is more palatable than the $100 pay-per-view fee for their welterweight title fight in the United States.

There also remain millions who will want to see Pacquiao (63-8-2, 39 KOs) knock out Mayweather (50-0, 27 KOs), or the latter demonstrate some semblance of the skill set that made him one of the most accomplished boxers in the history of the sport. Fighting on such an expansive platform also means more people will watch their rematch than when they let us down the first time, and probably by an enormous margin.

Like it or not.

Whatever anyone thinks about Conor Benn’s ability, integrity or loyalty, he shouldn’t be faulted for being in the right place at the right time.

As Benn mentioned, no one will care about his family’s finances once this brutal business is done with him. And a market disruptor, Zuffa Boxing, more than willing to overpay for his next fight offered Benn entirely too much money to turn down.

Though he isn’t an elite-level fighter, Benn (24-1, 14 KOs) is undoubtedly a star in England, where he’ll help Tyson Fury sell out London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on April 11.

Benn is unequivocally not a welterweight, however, despite his insistence to the contrary. If he were, Benn and his team wouldn’t have demanded that a longtime junior welterweight move up to a catch weight of 150 pounds for the payday secured by Regis Prograis (30-3, 24 KOs).

While common, of course, for contenders to compete above a division’s limit in non-title fights, Benn has not weighed 147 pounds or less since April 2022, when he stopped South Africa’s Chris van Heerden in the second round.

This is particularly noteworthy as it relates to Benn potentially facing Shakur Stevenson. The Ring’s junior welterweight champ is understandably wary of agreeing to box Benn without rehydration restrictions in their contracts and has no recent evidence that Benn, 29, can even squeeze his body down to 147 anymore.

Claressa Shields should drop down in weight to challenge herself for her next fight.

Shields seems inclined to finally fight Shadasia Green, who has continually called out “The GWOAT” since the IBF/WBO super middleweight champion became a contender. Facing former Olympic teammate Mikaela Mayer would be very intriguing, but she might not be willing to move all the way up from the junior middleweight limit of 154 pounds to the catchweight of “162 or 163” Shields mentioned after she dominated Franchon Crews-Dezurn in their 10-round rematch Sunday night at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.

Regardless, Shields (18-0, 3 KOs) would be a decided favorite over Green (16-1, 11 KOs), who lost a unanimous decision to Crews-Dezurn (10-3, 2 KOs, 1 NC) in December 2023, or Mayer (22-2, 5 KOs), a three-division champion who is ranked third on The Ring’s women’s pound-for-pound list. Either way, moving down from heavyweight would at least generate more interest in the next fight involving the most skillful female fighter in boxing.

■ Austin “Ammo” Williams won’t complain because his shot at WBC middleweight champ Carlos Adames has been rescheduled for March 21 in Orlando, Florida. You still have to wonder whether such a quick turnaround will hurt his preparation for the biggest fight of his career. Williams completed a full training camp and went 10 rounds against late replacement Wendy Toussaint on “The Ring 6” undercard January 31 at Madison Square Garden. Adames went back to camp quickly as well after pulling out of their fight without weighing in. He might be the fresher fighter next month, though, because he won’t have fought twice in seven weeks.

■ Couldn’t disagree more with a portion of our new welterweight rankings. It doesn’t make sense to insert Ryan Garcia at No. 4, ahead of fifth-ranked Rolly Romero, because he dominated Mario Barrios on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Romero dropped and soundly defeated Garcia on points in his last fight May 2 in Times Square and Barrios was ranked ninth before he lost his WBC belt by unanimous decision.

■ Curmel Moton, 19, remains one of boxing’s most tantalizing talents and needs to be showcased to an enormous audience on the Mayweather-Pacquiao II undercard. Moton (8-0, 6 KOs) won’t be tested by Wilfredo Flores (12-6-1, 5 KOs) on Saturday night, but you can watch the Las Vegas-based lightweight on the undercard of an Amazon Prime Video show headlined by featherweights Elijah Pierce and Lorenzo Parra.

■ If you’re trying to convert someone into a boxing fan, having him or her watch the Emanuel Navarrete-Eduardo Nunez fight live Saturday night on DAZN would be the perfect place to start. It seems highly unlikely that these prideful Mexican junior lightweight champions won’t deliver the type of firefight we wouldn’t want to watch again.

■ Watching light heavyweight Joe George collapse off his stool Sunday night in Detroit was one of the most horrifying, strangest things you’ll ever see in a boxing ring.