By John F. McKenna (McJack): World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao (54-3-2, 38 KO’s) announced the other day that his June 9 title defense against undefeated WBO light welterweight champion Timothy Bradley (28-0-1 NC, 12 KO’s) may be his last fight.
The Sarangani Congressman is becoming increasingly involved in his political career and in the welfare of his Filipino people. He has also reportedly given up late night partying and gambling and has taken to studying the Bible.
Additionally Manny seems to have lost the burning fire and intensity which propelled him to be a great fighter and enabled him to win championships in eight weight divisions. “Pacman” has been more merciful in his recent fights, even imploring the referee to intervene and stop his fight with Antonio Margarito in November 2010 rather than inflict more damage.
What is happening to Pacquiao is nothing new. It is not unusual for fighters who have risen up from the streets of poverty to go on to become great fighters, only to lose that edge while residing in the lap of luxury.
It is fairly certain that without the motivation of fighthing WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. (42-0, 26 KO’s) there would be little incentive for Manny to continue fighting. Who else is out there to really challenge Pacquiao, other than “Money” Mayweather? Boxing fans do not appear to be terribly anxious to see yet another fight between “Pacman” and WBO/WBA lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez (53-6-1, 39 KO’s). Many boxing pundits feel that in the case of Marquez that he just has Pacquiao’s number in the same way that Ken Norton had Muhammad Ali’s number.
There is another school of thought which says that Manny is using his threat to retire to finally nail down a fight with a very reluctant Floyd Mayweather Jr. When the Pacquiao camp offered Mayweather a $50 million guarantee, plus a 55 – 45 split of the revenue, with the winner getting the higher amount to fight Manny it became obvious that Floyd did not really want the fight. Floyd has been content to Tweet Manny things like “Step up punk!” and refer to Manny as “Miss Pacman”, but the reality is that Floyd has not done anything to enter serious negotiations.
The Tweets may be a clever way to incite Mayweather’s fans and stay relevant in boxing, but Tweeting is not a mature way of attempting to put together the biggest Mega fight in boxing history.
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