Pacquiao Never Meeting Mayweather Leaves a Hole in His Resume
It has become apparent that Manny Pacquiao will not fight Floyd Mayweather this year, and perhaps won’t ever. Mayweather could be idle for the rest of the year, while Pacquiao will fight in November. He’s going up to 154 lbs to attempt to win a historic 8th world title in 8 weight classes. As great as that sounds, he’s not fighting Sergio Martinez, who is the Middleweight champion, and also shares the distinction of being perhaps the best Junior Middleweight in the world… nor is he fighting Paul Williams.
Instead, Pacquiao will fight either Miguel Cotto for the WBA title in a rematch of their catchweight welterweight bout, or Antonio Margartio for the WBC Title that Martinez vacated. I don’t think the fans really want to see either of those fights, and it’s time that Pacquiao and his camp share the blame for the clash against Mayweather crumbling apart.
Pacquiao busted Cotto up pretty bad in their first fight and I don’t think a few pounds will make that much of a difference. Margarito really doesn’t deserve a title shot, much less a fight against Pacquiao. By now everyone knows what happened in the dressing room before the Mosley fight. Margarito’s reward for being suspended for cheating and then coming back and looking average against an average fighter in his comeback fight is a chance to fight the best in the sport and win a world title? That’s a joke. Even though I believe Mayweather is ducking Pacquiao, Pacquiao is also going to be tarnished a little if the fight never happens.
The whole drug testing bit is bogus, but Pacquiao could have went through with it. I don’t think Pacquiao is using anything, but him not agreeing to the blood testing leaves doubt in some people’s heads. It probably was an issue of principles, Pacquiao didn’t want to give Mayweather the control. I understand that. However, Manny’s career resume will have a hole in it if the fight never gets made. A lot of people don’t want excuses. They just want to see the fight.
Getting back to reality, what happens next if Pacquiao defeats Cotto or Margarito, and negotiations fall through next year for a Mayweather fight once again? Pacquiao could retire, but I hope not. There could be some big time fights that would challenge the Filipino star before he hangs up the gloves. That’s the one thing we all can agree on. We want to see Pacquiao challenged.
By next spring, Paul Williams, Sergio Martinez, Tim Bradley, and Devon Alexander could all be in position for a fight with Pacquiao. Lurking in the background is always Juan Manuel Marquez depending on how his fight with Juan Diaz goes and if he takes a fight at 140. I would really like to see a third Marquez fight, even though the odds are slim. Just so maybe we could have a definite conclusion to the rivalry.
The point is that the best way for Pacquiao to continue his Hall of Fame career is to continue fighting fighters who represent challenges. Morales at 130, Hatton at 140, Oscar at 147, those were all fights were people weren’t sure Pacquiao could do, but he passed each one of those tests. There are bigger challenges for him right now than Cotto or Margarito.
