Pacquiao, Arum and Roach are are in a lose-lose situation

By Boxing News - 11/22/2011 - Comments

Image: Pacquiao, Arum and Roach are are in a lose-lose situationBy Babatis Banda: Manny Pacquiao and team have squeezed themselves in a difficult corner. It is not difficult to see that the next move for his promoter Bob Arum is going to be a tricky one. If Arum decides to go for a fourth rematch with Juan Manuel Marquez, it is going to be difficult for Pacquiao to redeem himself this time around because psychologically he is not the same.

The public on the other hand are going to accuse Arum of avoiding Floyd Mayweather Jr, who apparently, is waiting. If Arum makes the Pacquiao-Marquez IV, Manny risks another close decision or a loss, and this would put the fight with Mayweather in real jeopardy. If however, Manny convincingly beats Marquez, he may still not get the praise from boxing fans, as Marquez is already considered to have removed the invincibility that was being associated to Pacquiao.

The only option that makes better sense at the moment is to put Manny up in with Floyd. At this point in time, unless there is something dramatic to happen between now and fight time, all odds are against Pacquiao. The odds are not only tied to his struggles against Marquez, but a poor showing against Shane Mosley as well. Mosley easily got away by using his movement and Pacquiao could not effectively cut-off and punish the visibly scared Mosley that never intended to engage Manny for the whole duration of the fight. Sugar was purely in there for the money. That said, Mayweather is a super boxer, he has proven that despite staying away from the ring for long periods of time, he still does what he does with equal passion and Manny is never likely be the one to cause his first loss.

Though the Pacquiao vs. Mayweather bout makes the most sense, Arum may have something up his sleeve and this is no longer a secret. Oscar Dela Hoya is the latest to point an accusing finger on Arum as the major stumbling block into a number of fights including Manny-Floyd fight. While a number of people have pointed out how Arum built a superstar out of Pacquiao through a well-orchestrated match making tactics over the years, the end seems to be near. There are no longer fighters from his stables apart from Timothy Bradley, a new acquisition, to feed Pacquiao on. The boxing community is also awake to the fact that Pacquiao has to face Mayweather to cement the claimed legacy and probably, an event that could unmask Pacquiao for good.

While Arum ponders the next station for his gravy train, he may be well aware that it may just be his very last stop, or at the most, the last moments of easy money as the derailment of the gravy train seems certain.



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