By Keith Darren: Whenever we are confronted by this question, we all have one answer, and that is Floyd Mayweather Jr. But we also know very well that Floyd might not be Pacquiao’s next opponent, more likely because Money May have some problems to attend to that would need his full attention, legal problems that surely are, or will be, the biggest hindrance to a mega fight between him and the newly crowned super welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao. So let me rephrase the question; Who should Manny fight next if Floyd is not available?
After Pac’s demolition of much bigger, heavier and powerful Antonio Margarito, people expect that Pacman will face the winner between Paul Williams and Sergio Martinez, both bigger and heavier than Manny. And as it turned out, Martinez demolished Williams in the 2nd round and catapulting him to No. 3 slot in the pound for pound ranking, making him listed in the line up of Pac’s next opponents. But due to the body shots that hurt Pacman when he was hit by Margarito, Bob Arum, and of course many of boxing fans, came to conclude that it was the heaviest Manny can go. Arum knew Manny can’t go any farther, so he will go back to welterweight where he’s at ease. Sounds bad for Martinez, but good news for Sugar Shane Mosley as he was, according to Arum, will be the next contender for Manny.
Will Shane give us our money’s worth? Will he live up to the expectation of many boxing fans? With his lackluster performance in his last two fights, against Floyd and Mora, can he give us entertainment that will make the fight worth remembering? Or will he just be another Dela Hoya, Cotto, Clottey, Hatton or Margarito, all part of Pacquiao’s win statistics. Some says he’s shot, washed up aged boxer, but some says he still has it to beat Pacman. If we are talking about the Shane Mosley of his prime, then Pacman is in one hell of a fight. But the Mosley today we are talking is too far from the former Mosley. He is likely to suffer the same fate as those who came, who saw, but were never able to conquer, and worse, they are the ones who got beaten black and blue. Clearly, this will be a mismatch, Pacquiao will have Mosley for his dinner, eaten alive.
What about Juan Manuel Marquez? Many believe he got Pacquiao’s number and still is Pacquiao’s unfinished business. JMM is a counter puncher and he gave Pacquiao nightmares twice when they met. But that was long ago, today, Manny is already in a level way higher than where Marquez is. That’s aside from the weight differences of the two, Pac being a welter where Marquez can not move a little when he fought Mayweather. Likewise, Pacquiao can not go lower than 144 pounds. Manny is the champion and the pound for pound king, so in order for Marquez to land a shot against Pacquiao, he needs to go up, but surely this will be a one-sided fight with Manny emerging as the winner. How about they meet halfway? That can’t be as Manny can’t go lower weights. But on the business side, this fight can generate huge PPVs considering the fan base of both fighters in and out of the United States, just like Mosley vs Pacquiao.
After Pacquiao’s demolition of Margarito, it was clear that Pacquiao has nothing to prove. He had done it as others were never able to. He is really one of the greatest, if not the greatest as Pacquiao haters would argue. But he is still young and still has a lot of time ahead of him, about three more years so that means at least 6 more fights if he fight twice a year. Boxing still needs him, and therefore, he must fight for the sake of the sport. We have a lot of young guns out there and are very much willing to face Pacquiao, as if winning in a lottery, whether they beat Pacquiao or not. Berto, Bradley, Maidana, Khan, and many others are just waiting. They might not sell tickets but they need a much awaited break to make a name in boxing, and be the next generation’s superstars. These kids must be given a chance to prove their worth, because after Manny and Floyd retires, these fighters will help save the sport of boxing from being annihilated by a much bloodier combat sport, by the now popular mixed martial arts that continue to draw bigger and bigger crowd. Pacquiao and Money should help the sport of boxing by giving these fighters their chance of a lifetime, a big time fight that will put them in high pedestal of boxing. Boxing have done a lot more to Pacquiao than what he had done to this sport. Whether he likes it or not, he is heavily indebted to this discipline and to all the people that supported him. Time is getting nearer, it’s payback time. Give the sport what its due, fight these young guns and he will be paying the sport a lot, the boxing that gave him what he has now.
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