By Duke Pahulu: There is a reason why Manny Pacquiao is one of only two superstars in the sport of boxing. It’s the same reason why the other one, Floyd Mayweather became a superstar. Matchmaking. After squeaking by Juan Manuel Marquez in their rematch, Bob Arum already set Pacquiao up the latter in terms of both weight and name recognition.

Catching big name fighters at the right time is key to matchmaking. Fighting Oscar De la Hoya after looking bad against Steve Forbes of all people, knowing first hand from Freddie Roach that he can’t pull the trigger and forcing him back down to 147 after seven years fighting at 154 or above set the table for Pacquaio to become a superstar. Mayweather used De la Hoya as well to become a superstar but give Floyd credit for making the fight at 154. With his star power set, Pacquiao went the Mayweather rout and faced Ricky Hatton next.

Kudos for Pacquaio for making the fight at Hatton’s best weight of 140, but Hatton wasn’t the same after Mayweather. Want proof? The ref helped Hatton from getting knocked out by Juan Lazcano. The best fighter Pacquiao fought since the Marquez rematch is Miguel Cotto. Cotto showed some grit against Joshua Clottey but Clottey basically stop throwing in the second half of the fight.

You Pacquiao fans know about Clottey not throwing anything right? I’ll give Pacquiao the credit he deserves for destroying Cotto but who knows how much of Cotto Margarito took form him the year before. After beating a B fighter in Clottey and damaged goods in Margarito and Mosley, he gave Marquez a third fight. Everyone was led to believe because of the bigger fighters Pacquiao destroyed after the second Marquez fight that Pacquiao got better.

Marquez proved Pacquiao just got bigger. Marquez proved that the Myth of Manny that was built in-between the second and third Marquez fight was fiction. There were better fighters Pacquiao should have faced. Joel Casamayor, Juan Diaz or Nate Campbell other than David Diaz. Shane Mosley or Antonio Margarito other than De la Hoya and Ricky Hatton. Paul Williams and Andre Berto other than Clottey and Mosely.

Keep in mind I picked those fighters for the time Pacquiao actually faced those foes. We all want to hate Mayweather for cherry picking opponents over more worthy foes but don’t get it twisted! Manny Pacquiao is playing the same game. It’s just that Mayweather has yet to get caught up.

In the case of Pacquiao, the cracks were shown against Marquez last November. There is a good chance Timothy Bradley will destroy the myth of Manny Pacquiao. There is a reason why Bob Arum and Co. took the Bradley fight. Bradley is the type of fighter Pacquiao has avoided since his heyday at featherweight.

A young, strong undefeated champ willing to scrap. A win over Bradley would prove the Pacman of today isn’t a product of matchmaking. A Pacquiao decisive win in June will be a good step in eventually facing Mayweather. In the end, that’s what everyone wants still. Am I right?