Pacquiao: I am hoping for the Mayweather fight

By Boxing News - 04/11/2014 - Comments

pac73899By Chris Williams: Manny Pacquiao (55-5-2, 38 KO’s) has an important fight this Saturday night against WBO welterweight champion Tim Bradley (31-0, 12 KO’s), but the 35-year-old Filipino star has his mind on a much bigger fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. and he’s really hoping that his performance against Bradley will get him that fight.

For Pacquiao to have even a sliver of a chance at getting a big cash out fight against Mayweather, he’ll need to destroy Bradley in quick fashion. Pacquiao is going to need to crush Bradley in at least 3 rounds for fans to get excited about him fighting Mayweather, because grinding out a simple 12 round decision, which will likely be a close and controversial one, won’t be enough for Pacquiao to get the fight.

“I’m hoping for that [Mayweather] fight and looking for that fight if he wants it,” Pacquiao said to Talksport this week. “And if not in boxing, then maybe we can play basketball one-on-one. This fight is really important in my career. I need to prove that I can continue my journey in boxing. I am excited to prove that I am really the winner and that I can still box.”

Pacquiao just won’t let go, will he?

I bet it doesn’t hurt that the money Pacquiao will get for a Mayweather fight would be likely triple what he usually makes for a fight. Making that kind of money is like Pacquiao fighting a year and a half, and with him losing now, he can’t guarantee that he’ll be able to fight three fights in a year and half. In 2013, Pacquiao fought just one time in beating one of his promoter Bob Arum’s Top Rank stable fighters in Brandon Rios. Pacquiao is fighting on Saturday against Bradley in what is clearly a do-or-die fight for the 35-year-old Pacquiao.

The money that Pacquiao can get from a Mayweather fight would last him a long, long time, and he can retire off that cash if he doesn’t blow it and end up owing money for this or that. A Mayweather fight is Pacquiao’s only real chance for a tremendous payday bout, because Arum doesn’t have anyone in his stable that will bring in the kind of green that Mayweather will. At best, Arum can trot out Juan Manuel Marquez for a fifth Pacquiao fight, but that’s not going to bring in more than what it’s done in the past.

I wouldn’t be surprised if they get diminishing returns for a fifth fight between the two aging fighters. Arum thinks that Saturday’s Pacquiao-Bradley 2 fight will bring in 1.2 million PPV buys, but I see it as a 500,000 buy fight. It’s a rematch that hasn’t really done much to excite the boxing fans, and the HBO 24/7 Pacquiao/Bradley 2 episodes have been atrocious, with worthless filming of Pacquiao’s dog barking and him getting a massage by one of his helpers. Such a waste of film.

On Saturday night, Pacquiao will likely be beaten by Bradley, and with the loss we’ll be saying our goodbyes to any chance of Pacquiao ever getting a Mayweather fight. It’s going to be a huge blow to Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach, because he’s been pining away for a fight against Mayweather for years now.



Comments are closed.