By Chris Williams: Manny Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach believes that Pacquiao has a chance of getting a rematch next year against Floyd Mayweather Jr., but that he’s going to need to beat a big name in order to get that fight with Mayweather. Roach isn’t saying who the big name that Pacquiao would have to beat in order to face Mayweather, but it would obviously have to be someone very good.
Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum can’t use another retread opponent like Brandon Rios or Tim Bradley to try and get the fight. Fighting Jessie Vargas won’t do the job, and probably not Kell Brook either. Neither of those guys are proven.
“I think he’s [Pacquiao] got a couple of fights left in him,” Roach said via Thaboxingvoice. “Would he [Mayweather] give him a rematch? Yes. Is that possible? I’m not sure. It’s going to have to be a tough opponent, of course.”
The only tough opponent that Arum has been mentioning is Brook, but I’m not sure that he’s proven enough for it to give Pacquiao enough clout to get a second fight against Mayweather. Brook was almost beaten by Shawn Porter last year. That fight was too close. The scores were close, and Brook hasn’t fought anyone good since then to show that he’s a better fighter than he showed against Porter.
For Pacquiao to get a Mayweather fight, he’ll probably need to best someone like Marcos Maidana, Keith Thurman, Miguel Cotto, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, Danny Garcia or Lucas Matthysse. That’s about the only guys that Pacquiao can fight that would prove anything. But it’s not likely that Arum is going to be able to get any of those fighters for Pacquiao to fight.
At best, we’re probably looking at Pacquiao fighting the winner of the Tim Bradley vs. Jessie Vargas or Brook vs. Brandon Rios fights. Pacquiao won’t prove anything beating any of those fighters because he’s already beaten Bradley and Rios. Vargas is just a light punching light welterweight. Brook doesn’t have a fan base in the U.S.
If Arum would put Pacquiao in with Gennady Golovkin at 154, it would give Pacquiao the type of opponent needed for him to get a Mayweather fight. But there’s no way that Arum would ever let Pacquiao fight Golovkin, even though Pacquiao captured the WBC junior middleweight title in beating Antonio Margarito five years ago.
Pacquiao fought Margarito at a catch-weight of 150 to win the vacant WBC 154 pound title. I don’t think Arum would let Pacquiao fight Golovkin even if he agreed to fight him at a strength draining 150lb catch-weight. But I think Golovkin is the only big enough name for Pacquiao to get a rematch with Mayweather.
Pacquiao probably ruined his chances of a Mayweather fight by saying he had an injured shoulder for the fight, and then claiming he still won the fight. Mayweather was really disappointed in the Filipino fighter with the way that he seemed to be both in denial and looking for excuses for his defeat.
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