By Chris Williams: Trainer Freddie Roach sees Manny Pacquiao’s fight against former WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios (31-1-1, 23 KO’s) on November 24th as being potentially Pacquiao’s last fight of his career if he fails to perform well in their HBO pay per view fight at the Cotai Arena, Venetian Resort, Macao, Macao S.A.R., China.
Pacquiao is coming off of not just one but two disappointing losses back to back, and he looks like a poor copy of the fighter that he once was years ago. The age and ring-wear is starting to shock it’s ugly effects on the 34-year-old Filipino now and Roach can’t just explain it away as Pacquiao not being motivated. The way he’s looked goes beyond motivation and more towards aging and too many hard fights.
Roach said to RingTV “If he [Pacquiao] performs well in this fight, then he’ll go on. If he doesn’t then it will be over.”
I don’t think Roach is the one that calls the shots for Pacquiao. If Pacquiao loses this fight then it’s just another loss on his record. I don’t think for a second that Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum will advise Pacquiao to retire if he takes another loss, even if it’s another brutal knockout loss like the one he suffered last December against Juan Manuel Marquez.
I believe the Pacquiao money train will keep moving down the tracks as long as the cash keeps flowing. As Dan Rafael said recently, Pacquiao will likely fight until he’s past his prime. He sees him fighting beyond where he should be fighting and I agree with him.
I think Pacquiao will still be making a lot of money in PPV fights even with him losing fight after fight. He’s got the built in Filipino fan base and it’s like being an old star with a lounge act in Las Vegas. The aging fans will keep coming to see that lounge act even when the singer can no longer carry a tune and has forgotten the words to the song.
Putting Pacquiao out there against pretty much anyone will likely bring in a minimum of 500, 000 PPV buys even with him taking endless losses. I just don’t know much he himself can stand before he retires. If it gets to that point, he might retire out of pride but I doubt Arum will want him to if he’s still making big bank.
Rios has the power to put Pacquiao down for the count in this fight and I’m expecting him to score a brutal knockout if Pacquiao makes the mistake of trying to slug with him. It’s going to end badly for the Filipino if he tries to fight Rios like he’s still a young fighter instead of the aging guy that is in his mid-30s heading towards number 40.
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