Does another Pacquiao – Marquez fight make sense?

By Boxing News - 07/22/2012 - Comments

Image: Does another Pacquiao – Marquez fight make sense?By John F. McKenna (McJack): Top Rank CEO Bob Arum is set to meet with former World Boxing Organization (WBO) and eight division champion Manny Pacquiao (54-4-2, 38 KO’s) during the first week of August to discuss possible opponents for Manny’s return to the ring in November. To say that Pacquiao’s last fight with new WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley (29-0-1 NC, 12 KO’s) was a huge disappointment for team Pacquiao would be an understatement.

“Pacman” clearly outpointed Bradley with most boxing observers unable to give Bradley more than two or three rounds. Manny was a victim of one of the worst boxing decisions seen in modern times. Still the fight goes into the record books as a loss for Pacquiao. The loss to Bradley comes on the heels of a highly controversial win by Manny over WBO light welterweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez (54-6-1, 39 KO’s) last November. Most fans and boxing pundits ruled that fight in Marquez’ favor although the contest was much closer than the Pacquiao – Bradley fight.

To compound matters the Pacquiao – Bradley fight drew only 900,000 in Pay Per View (PPV) sells. Bradley in the past has been notorious for not being able to bring in huge numbers of paying customers to his fights. It is doubtful if Arum will be keen to put another match together between Pacquiao and Bradley. After all, the consensus of an overwhelming number of boxing fans is that Manny already clearly outpointed “Desert Storm”.

So the dilemma faced by Arum is who does he match up his cash cow with? There has been some talk of attempting to lure former WBA light middleweight champion Miguel Cotto (37-3, 30 KO’s) down to 150 pounds. It is unlikely however that Cotto will take the bait. Miguel more than likely realizes after having already fought and lost to “Pacman” that he cannot handle his speed and power.

That leaves Arum to contemplate yet another match with Marquez. Pacquiao and Marquez drew 1.4 million PPV last November. It is unlikely that another fight will be that successful. Many boxing fans believe that another matchup between the pair will yield similar results, with neither fighter able to win decisively.

Another factor to be considered is that many boxing fans were turned off by the horrendous decision on June 9 which gave Bradley the WBO welterweight title belt.

Some boxing fans are so turned off by the recent rash of poor decisions that they have sworn off ever paying to see a PPV fight again. It is a problem that needs to be dealt with.



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