What’s next for the pound for pound Pacman?
When Manny Pacquiao stepped into the ring on November 13, 2010 against Antonio Margarito, the Pacman was treading dangerous waters as he faced a man who outweighed him by 17 pounds and who had a large reach and height advantage over him. But in the end, speed and Pacquiao’s stiff power proved to overcome all of those obstacles as he won yet another world title, thus doing what no other fighter in the history of boxing has done, win world titles in eight different weight divisions. So after the brutal beating he gave to Margarito, who will be brave enough to step into the ring with the best fighter in the world? Here are some possible scenarios of who could be next a line for a shot at the Pac Man.
If the great Juan Manuel Marquez can get past the aggressive Michael Katsidis this Thanksgiving weekend, Marquez will try to make his case for why he should be the very next opponent for Pacquiao. Remember, this is a guy who gave Pacquiao life and death twice, and I am not sure if the Pacman camp would want this headache again. If a possible third showdown were to happen between the two legends, Marquez may have trouble with the now bigger Pacquiao, but Marquez’s boxing style will always give Pacquiao trouble because Marquez is a great counter-puncher that can brawl if he has to.
“Sugar” Shane Mosley has expressed interest in fighting the Pacman next if the chips fall correctly in his favor, but really, do we want to see Pacquiao retire another great fighter who is past his prime? Mosley gave us some great excitement in his fight with Floyd Mayweather when he had Mayweather seriously hurt in the second round of their fight, but was dominated by Mayweather from the third round to the end of that fight. In Shane’s last fight against Sergio Mora, boxing fans saw a stinker of a bout that ended in a draw. A fight pitting Mosley and Pacquiao together would just be another brutal pounding by Pacquiao and would not add any more substance to Pacquiao’s legend.
There is another good fighter who can now stake his claim on why he should be considered as the next opponent in the Manny sweepstakes, middleweight champ Sergio Martinez. What was supposed to have been one of the best fights of this year turned out to be probably the best knockout of the year as Sergio Martinez knocked out Paul “The Punisher” Williams in the second round of their anticipated rematch this past Saturday night to successfully defend his middleweight title against one of the most feared fighters in boxing. The knockout of Williams was impressive, but I am not sure if he will be able to handle Manny’s speed and power, and after seeing what he did to the bigger man in Margarito, it could be a very frustrating and painful night for Martinez.
Honorable mentions that could possibly be the next opponent in the Manny sweepstakes are Timothy Bradley, Andre Berto, or even a rematch with Miguel Cotto.
Most of the next fight scenarios sound good for the Pacman, but in the end the only fight that the boxing world wants to see is Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. Floyd, can you please come out and play? I don’t want to hear about anymore drug testing. I don’t want to hear about court and trials, all I want to know is can Floyd face his fear and fight Pacquiao. Those we really know me, know that I am a Mayweather fan, but with the way Floyd has conducted himself during the negotiations of a possible fight with Pacquiao in the past, all signs point to either Floyd Mayweather being scared or being greedy.
I do not believe that it is greed, because if a fight were to happen between these two, Mayweather could probably retire after the fight, and if he wants to be considered as one of the best fighters of this era, he is going to have to man up and fight not just Pacquiao. I do believe that a fight will happen between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. Who do I think will win? I still believe Mayweather, given that Mayweather will get on his bicycle, bide his time when he wants to sit in the pocket and pick off most of Pacquiao’s shots, while effectively counter-punching the Pacman on his way to a unanimous decision. In saying all of that, I feel that Manny Pacquiao is one of the greatest fighters of all time, but if he can put a blemish on Mayweather’s unbeaten record, in my opinion, Pacquiao should be considered as the best fighter to have ever lived.
