Since Floyd Mayweather, Jr. will be doing a little jail time in the early part of 2012, Manny Pacquiao’s opponent for his next fight will likely be one of three fighters: Juan Manuel Marquez, Miguel Cotto, or Timothy Bradley.
Personally, I don’t want to see a fourth fight between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez any more than I want to see a sequel to “Lethal Weapon” or “Die Hard”. The action is decent, but we already have a good idea of how it’s going to play out. A rematch against Cotto is a better option, only because of the fact that Cotto redeemed himself in a rematch with Antonio Margarito and he has shown signs of improving, even at this advanced stage of his career. But Pacquiao’s twelfth-round TKO victory over Cotto in November 2009 was about as definitive as it gets. It wasn’t a split decision that left us with a sense of unfinished business. It was a prolonged beating, followed by a stoppage. True, it would probably be a little more competitive this time around, given Cotto’s ability to make adjustments and the idea that Pacquiao has slowed down a little bit. But do you really want to see either of these two fight again? I, myself, am not particularly interested.
This leaves us with Timothy Bradley, who I think is the perfect opponent at this time. And I happen to believe that his style of fighting would make for a more entertaining match-up with Pacquiao, opposed to Pacquiao-Mayweather.
I’ve never been particularly blown away by Timothy Bradley’s skills. That’s not to say that he isn’t a decent craftsman. But I believe that what makes Bradley so effective is his energy and his enthusiasm and his overall winning attitude. He comes to fight and he’s willing to lay it all on the line. And his wins over Lamont Peterson and Devon Alexander established him as a top 20 pound for pound fighter. A lot of people feel that Bradley ducked Amir Khan this year. But in my eyes, he was clearly positioning himself for a fight with Manny Pacquiao, which is why he signed with Top Rank. And at this point, I think the popular opinion is that Bradley would come out on top if he were to face Amir Khan, given Khan’s recent loss to Lamont Peterson (though some people feel that Khan deserved the decision against Peterson).
Regardless of how deserving Bradley might be of a fight with Pacquiao, a lot of people are still hung up on the idea of a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight. And that’s perfectly understandable. For a while there, it looked like Pacquiao-Mayweather could have been one of those match-ups like Ali-Frazier and Leonard-Hearns. And many people in the boxing world are still keeping their fingers crossed that it will turn out that way. I am not among those people. I do hope the fight happens. And if it ever does, I will be pretty excited. But I believe that it would be a better event than it would be a fight. And I’m not just saying that because Pacquiao looked ordinary against Juan Manuel Marquez. Some people believe that Pacquiao is now past his prime and I don’t think that’s necessarily the case (though it might be). He looked pretty devastating against Shane Mosley in May of this year. I just think that Marquez is the guy who knows how to fight him. Plus, even though Pacquiao had some unfinished business with Marquez, I don’t think he was all that fired up about the fight. Pacquiao had already moved on from the first two Marquez fights by beating guys like Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton. In fact, Joshua Clottey, Antonio Margarito, and Shane Mosley were also opponents where Pacquiao had nothing to prove. And it’s hard for a fighter to keep putting on sensational performances against opponents who aren’t going to take him to the next level if he beats them.
I don’t think Pacquiao-Mayweather would be a great fight because I believe that Mayweather is on a different level. Not to say that Pacquiao isn’t a legitimate threat, but he has a certain obviousness about his approach. And after a few entertaining rounds, I believe that Mayweather’s skills would be the deciding factor and that it would turn into a typical Mayweather event. I respect Mayweather as the best fighter in the world and I don’t think there’s anyone in the world who can beat him right now. I appreciate his performances, but I don’t get overly excited about seeing him fight. I would much rather see Barrera-Morales, Gatti-Ward, or Corrales-Castillo. These big events give you a lot to talk about before they happen. But the fights I just mentioned keep you talking for years after the fact. Some “mega fights” just aren’t what they’re cracked up to be. Wladimir Klitschko-David Haye was a so-called mega fight, but it turned out to be the dud of all duds. A lot of people believe that Pacquiao-Mayweather should happen because it would be good for boxing. That very well might be true, but great fights are what truly keep the sport alive. Nobody outside of boxing knew who Micky Ward was before his fights with Arturo Gatti. But after their three fights, which are now considered to be some of the best in the history of boxing, Hollywood decided to make a movie about his life, which created a whole new awareness of the sport.
Now, you talk about how styles make fights… Can you imagine how Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley would match up? These guys are both well-conditioned, aggressive-minded fighters and I just don’t see how this could possibly be a bad fight. I discussed the possibility of a Pacquiao-Bradley fight with fellow Boxingtalk writer Darrell La Montre recently and he didn’t like the idea because he felt that Bradley stood a decent chance of winning. And if Bradley were to win, it would spoil Pacquiao-Mayweather. One of the things Pacquiao-Mayweather had going for it is that these two fighters stood above everyone else in their weight class. But that time might have passed. In my opinion, Pacquiao-Mayweather missed its window. Spring of 2010 is when it should have taken place. But Pacquiao-Mayweather is not the beginning or the end of the boxing world. And if they don’t fight each other, there are other fights to be made. Right now, I’m keeping my fingers crossed for Pacquiao-Bradley.
Scott Shaffer's editor's comment: I have to disagree with the premise of Doveed's article. Here is the problem I have: this article discusses who Pacquiao should fight now that Mayweather's prison sentence makes him unavailable for the first half of 2012. Doveed defines the universe of potential opponents as Marquez, Cotto and Bradley and chooses Bradley. That's his first mistake. Two of the three candidates (Marquez and Bradley) are under contract to Top Rank, who also promotes Pacquiao. The third (Cotto) is reportedly a free agent, but has been with Top Rank his entire career and remains on very good terms with Top Rank's principal, Bob Arum. Doveed, where is it written that Pacquiao and Top Rank must, or even should, limit their search to opponents under Top Rank's umbrella? Doveed seems to make this assumption, although he doesn't explicitly say so, and to me, that is the flaw in his reasoning.
The winner of Victor Ortiz-Andre Berto II, scheduled for February 11th, is, in my opinion, the most interesting opponent for Pacquiao (other than Mayweather). I fully realize Ortiz would be a difficult negotiation to culminate because of the Top Rank-Golden Boy promotional rivalry, but if Doveed or anyone else is writing about who Pacquaio SHOULD fight, to me the answer is the Ortiz-Berto II winner, not Bradley. The only way I agree with Doveed's choice of Bradley is if the premise of his article is who should Pacquiao fight IF Top Rank decides to keep his next fight in-house.
I consider Bradley the true world champion at 140 pounds (he should have three belts- the IBF, WBC and WBO-- but for sanctioning body politics, and he holds a win over Lamont Peterson, the current WBA super champion). But Bradley does not merit the next shot at Pacquiao because of his decision to avoid Amir Khan last summer. I am not saying Bradley was scared of Khan. I believe his reasons for turning down Khan were business-related, and I am not going to debate whether those business reasons were valid or not (that is the subject of a lawsuit). But I will say Bradley's decision was horrible for the sport of boxing. If Bradley gets Pacquiao next, that sends a message to all the young fighters on the way up that the way to get the biggest fight out there is to avoid the second-biggest fight out there. It is thinking like this that has subjected the sport to unequal match-ups and made boxing vulnerable to MMA, where the athletes generally fight the best guys out there. The road to riches in boxing should not follow the Tim Bradley path of avoiding the next-best guy in your weight class and meanwhile fighting no-hopers like Joel Casamyor while waiting in line for your name to be called. No one wants to watch a champion like Tim Bradley wait in line, and he, like all boxers should be incentivized to fight the Amir Khan in order to get a shot at the Manny Pacquaio.
http://boxingtalk.com/pag/article.php?aid=22700
Personally, I don’t want to see a fourth fight between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez any more than I want to see a sequel to “Lethal Weapon” or “Die Hard”. The action is decent, but we already have a good idea of how it’s going to play out. A rematch against Cotto is a better option, only because of the fact that Cotto redeemed himself in a rematch with Antonio Margarito and he has shown signs of improving, even at this advanced stage of his career. But Pacquiao’s twelfth-round TKO victory over Cotto in November 2009 was about as definitive as it gets. It wasn’t a split decision that left us with a sense of unfinished business. It was a prolonged beating, followed by a stoppage. True, it would probably be a little more competitive this time around, given Cotto’s ability to make adjustments and the idea that Pacquiao has slowed down a little bit. But do you really want to see either of these two fight again? I, myself, am not particularly interested.
This leaves us with Timothy Bradley, who I think is the perfect opponent at this time. And I happen to believe that his style of fighting would make for a more entertaining match-up with Pacquiao, opposed to Pacquiao-Mayweather.
I’ve never been particularly blown away by Timothy Bradley’s skills. That’s not to say that he isn’t a decent craftsman. But I believe that what makes Bradley so effective is his energy and his enthusiasm and his overall winning attitude. He comes to fight and he’s willing to lay it all on the line. And his wins over Lamont Peterson and Devon Alexander established him as a top 20 pound for pound fighter. A lot of people feel that Bradley ducked Amir Khan this year. But in my eyes, he was clearly positioning himself for a fight with Manny Pacquiao, which is why he signed with Top Rank. And at this point, I think the popular opinion is that Bradley would come out on top if he were to face Amir Khan, given Khan’s recent loss to Lamont Peterson (though some people feel that Khan deserved the decision against Peterson).
Regardless of how deserving Bradley might be of a fight with Pacquiao, a lot of people are still hung up on the idea of a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight. And that’s perfectly understandable. For a while there, it looked like Pacquiao-Mayweather could have been one of those match-ups like Ali-Frazier and Leonard-Hearns. And many people in the boxing world are still keeping their fingers crossed that it will turn out that way. I am not among those people. I do hope the fight happens. And if it ever does, I will be pretty excited. But I believe that it would be a better event than it would be a fight. And I’m not just saying that because Pacquiao looked ordinary against Juan Manuel Marquez. Some people believe that Pacquiao is now past his prime and I don’t think that’s necessarily the case (though it might be). He looked pretty devastating against Shane Mosley in May of this year. I just think that Marquez is the guy who knows how to fight him. Plus, even though Pacquiao had some unfinished business with Marquez, I don’t think he was all that fired up about the fight. Pacquiao had already moved on from the first two Marquez fights by beating guys like Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton. In fact, Joshua Clottey, Antonio Margarito, and Shane Mosley were also opponents where Pacquiao had nothing to prove. And it’s hard for a fighter to keep putting on sensational performances against opponents who aren’t going to take him to the next level if he beats them.
I don’t think Pacquiao-Mayweather would be a great fight because I believe that Mayweather is on a different level. Not to say that Pacquiao isn’t a legitimate threat, but he has a certain obviousness about his approach. And after a few entertaining rounds, I believe that Mayweather’s skills would be the deciding factor and that it would turn into a typical Mayweather event. I respect Mayweather as the best fighter in the world and I don’t think there’s anyone in the world who can beat him right now. I appreciate his performances, but I don’t get overly excited about seeing him fight. I would much rather see Barrera-Morales, Gatti-Ward, or Corrales-Castillo. These big events give you a lot to talk about before they happen. But the fights I just mentioned keep you talking for years after the fact. Some “mega fights” just aren’t what they’re cracked up to be. Wladimir Klitschko-David Haye was a so-called mega fight, but it turned out to be the dud of all duds. A lot of people believe that Pacquiao-Mayweather should happen because it would be good for boxing. That very well might be true, but great fights are what truly keep the sport alive. Nobody outside of boxing knew who Micky Ward was before his fights with Arturo Gatti. But after their three fights, which are now considered to be some of the best in the history of boxing, Hollywood decided to make a movie about his life, which created a whole new awareness of the sport.
Now, you talk about how styles make fights… Can you imagine how Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley would match up? These guys are both well-conditioned, aggressive-minded fighters and I just don’t see how this could possibly be a bad fight. I discussed the possibility of a Pacquiao-Bradley fight with fellow Boxingtalk writer Darrell La Montre recently and he didn’t like the idea because he felt that Bradley stood a decent chance of winning. And if Bradley were to win, it would spoil Pacquiao-Mayweather. One of the things Pacquiao-Mayweather had going for it is that these two fighters stood above everyone else in their weight class. But that time might have passed. In my opinion, Pacquiao-Mayweather missed its window. Spring of 2010 is when it should have taken place. But Pacquiao-Mayweather is not the beginning or the end of the boxing world. And if they don’t fight each other, there are other fights to be made. Right now, I’m keeping my fingers crossed for Pacquiao-Bradley.
Scott Shaffer's editor's comment: I have to disagree with the premise of Doveed's article. Here is the problem I have: this article discusses who Pacquiao should fight now that Mayweather's prison sentence makes him unavailable for the first half of 2012. Doveed defines the universe of potential opponents as Marquez, Cotto and Bradley and chooses Bradley. That's his first mistake. Two of the three candidates (Marquez and Bradley) are under contract to Top Rank, who also promotes Pacquiao. The third (Cotto) is reportedly a free agent, but has been with Top Rank his entire career and remains on very good terms with Top Rank's principal, Bob Arum. Doveed, where is it written that Pacquiao and Top Rank must, or even should, limit their search to opponents under Top Rank's umbrella? Doveed seems to make this assumption, although he doesn't explicitly say so, and to me, that is the flaw in his reasoning.
The winner of Victor Ortiz-Andre Berto II, scheduled for February 11th, is, in my opinion, the most interesting opponent for Pacquiao (other than Mayweather). I fully realize Ortiz would be a difficult negotiation to culminate because of the Top Rank-Golden Boy promotional rivalry, but if Doveed or anyone else is writing about who Pacquaio SHOULD fight, to me the answer is the Ortiz-Berto II winner, not Bradley. The only way I agree with Doveed's choice of Bradley is if the premise of his article is who should Pacquiao fight IF Top Rank decides to keep his next fight in-house.
I consider Bradley the true world champion at 140 pounds (he should have three belts- the IBF, WBC and WBO-- but for sanctioning body politics, and he holds a win over Lamont Peterson, the current WBA super champion). But Bradley does not merit the next shot at Pacquiao because of his decision to avoid Amir Khan last summer. I am not saying Bradley was scared of Khan. I believe his reasons for turning down Khan were business-related, and I am not going to debate whether those business reasons were valid or not (that is the subject of a lawsuit). But I will say Bradley's decision was horrible for the sport of boxing. If Bradley gets Pacquiao next, that sends a message to all the young fighters on the way up that the way to get the biggest fight out there is to avoid the second-biggest fight out there. It is thinking like this that has subjected the sport to unequal match-ups and made boxing vulnerable to MMA, where the athletes generally fight the best guys out there. The road to riches in boxing should not follow the Tim Bradley path of avoiding the next-best guy in your weight class and meanwhile fighting no-hopers like Joel Casamyor while waiting in line for your name to be called. No one wants to watch a champion like Tim Bradley wait in line, and he, like all boxers should be incentivized to fight the Amir Khan in order to get a shot at the Manny Pacquaio.
http://boxingtalk.com/pag/article.php?aid=22700