After Errol Spence Jr. ruined Mikey Garcia?s plans to become a five-division world champ with a cool, masterful performance, there was a bit of fire to conclude the PPV telecast.
Multi-division world champ and current WBA welterweight titlist Manny Pacquiao, who was in attendance at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, was brought into the ring for a manufactured ?showdown? moment?and Spence smartly seized the opportunity.
?He?s been here before, he?s broke records before, he?s a legend of the sport and it would be my honor to fight him next,? Spence told the world with the Filipino icon just feet away.
?Yeah, why not? We?ll give the fans a good fight,? Pacquiao answered.
And, with that, fans went wild, the media wet themselves, and Team Spence started pricing new cars.
But then, to the ringside interviewer?s ?would you like to fight Spence right here in AT&T Stadium? question, Pacquiao went full-on noncommittal.
?I?m, um so happy to be here in, uh, uh, Dallas and, uh, I?m hoping that I will be back here soon,? Pacquiao womp-womped.
A day or two later, though, Pacquiao reinforced those happy Pac-Errol thoughts.
?He doesn?t really hit that hard,? Pacquiao told Filipino journalist Nick Giongco, in reference to Spence, who he compared to 2001 TKO victim, super bantamweight Lehlo Ledwaba.
But to save you the time and energy you?ll be wasting on non-stop back-and-forth ?will they or won?t they fight? drama in the coming weeks, months, and maybe years, I?ll just be the bearer of bad news and the crusher of dreams right now?Manny Pacquiao isn?t going to fight Errol Spence Jr., ever.
As I wrote elsewhere:
?The only way you?re going to get Pacquiao in the ring with Spence after this recent performance is with tranquilizer darts and an oversized butterfly net.?
No, Pacquiao ain?t ?yellow,? but he ain?t dumb, either.
The 40-year-old first ballot Hall of Famer is at the stage of his career where opponent selection is especially important and, at the risk of dashing another illusion, it was always a key component to his success as a fighter (as it is with almost every other top fighter as well). When going through the risk vs. reward checklist, a Spence matchup for Manny comes up as just slightly more favorable than a meet-up with a threshing machine.
Unless Spence can somehow bring Mayweather money to the table (or something significantly greater than current Spence money), Pacquiao and the remnants of Team Pacquiao will wisely pass on this headache.
Pacquiao was probably in Arlington last Saturday to stake his claim to a victorious Mikey Garcia?a fighter who, because of his small size and more modest athleticism, would fit the bill of the ?right? present tense Pacquiao opponent.
If new adviser Al Haymon can talk Pacquiao into a Spence bout, then he truly is the Svengali people claim him to be. But, barring mind control hypnotism, it?s just not going to happen. Pacquiao didn?t come to Premier Boxing Champions to take fire from Errol Spence. He?s there for the Adrien Broners of the PBC and maybe an Omar Figueroa or two before grasping at a big-money Floyd Mayweather rematch. If a Mayweather 2 doesn?t materialize, then maybe, maybe, he opts for a less dangerous Keith Thurman, whose recent preference for a more movement-based boxing style affords some plausible ?he ran from me all night? deniability in case of a loss.
But, again, Pacquiao ain?t fighting Spence. Nope.
