By Lester Salvador
Every casual boxing fan wanted to see Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr., but that fight lost all of it’s hype after Pacquiao got knocked out by Juan Manuel Marquez, basically killing the super fight. The only way that this fight can gain any real interest again is for Manny Pacquiao to comeback and get some credible wins under his belt to be considered an actual possibility for Floyd Mayweather.
I heard the recent news that Pacquiao will fight Brandon Rios in Macau, China when I heard this news I already knew it was legit and not a rumor because that is typical Pacquiao, to fight the loser rather than the winner of a fight. Rios is another smaller weight fighter coming up in weight for Pacquiao to feast on, its a worthless fight and only a sadist who wants to see two sloppy punchers trade blows and get knocked out will enjoy, this Pacquiao vs. Rios fight is not for the real true boxing fan.
A win over Rios does nothing for Manny, what he needs to do is fight guys who will put him back into the mix, like Canelo Alvarez at 154-pounds or Sergio Martinez at 160-pounds, both of these guys are credible opponents and both hold the WBC belt in their divisions, if Pacquiao can beat them both, it shows that he is a worthy opponent to be considered as a Floyd Mayweather opponent again. He must fight Canelo and Sergio Martinez without catch-weights to prove that he is a true threat and worthy challenger for Mayweather.
Mayweather sits at the top and everyone wants to fight him for the opportunity for a huge payday and a chance at glory, Manny Pacquiao foolishly refused to fight Mayweather by refusing random blood and urine testing, and rejecting a $40 million payday the most money he would ever make. Manny’s ego was too big so he laughed off the offer, and he had the nerve to try and demand an equal pay-per-view split with Floyd, well we all know what happened after he rejected Floyd’s offer, he got knocked out by Juan Manuel Marquez and his shot at the Mayweather payday was crushed.
Pacquiao doesn’t really care for the fans, if he did he would have accepted the Olympic Style Blood Testing and 50-50 split the first time negotiations and gave the fans the fight they wanted to see years ago, instead he let the fans down by letting his ego get the better of him, and look at him now, begging for a fight with Floyd “Money” Mayweather and now willing to do the drug testing and accept a lower pay. How the mighty have fallen.
I love the sweet science of boxing and enjoy sharing my opinion on it. Boricua!