By Chris Williams: Former WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao is in a position to negotiate a fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. now that Pacquiao has been beaten by Timothy Bradley and no longer has a title in his possession. The loss for Pacquiao takes away any chance the Filipino had to ask for a 50-50 deal with Mayweather.
If Pacquiao asks Mayweather now for a 50-50 deal, it may sound more like begging than any kind of legitimate request coming from a position of strength. Getting beaten by Bradley takes away any negotiating muscle that Pacquiao had with Mayweather. Sure, Pacquiao can say that a lot of people think he won the fight, but Mayweather isn’t going to buy that excuse. He’s going to point to Pacquiao’s record and tell him a loss is a loss.
Pacquiao can hurt himself even more in a rematch with Bradley if he decides to fight him in November. Bradley knows how to beat Pacquiao now, and another win by Bradley will take Pacquiao completely off Mayweather’s list of future opponents perhaps forever. But even if Pacquiao beats Bradley in the rematch, the chances are high that it won’t be an impressive performance. It’ll be another fight where Pacquiao looks horrible and old, troubled by Bradley’s movement.
In that case, a win for Pacquiao would be almost like a loss, because it won’t help him show that he’s much better than Bradley, and that in turn will make it all but impossible for Pacquiao to say to Mayweather that he deserves a 50-50 split of the purse.
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