Manny Pacquiao unabashedly covets another shot at the unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr., but he is not about to waste his remaining time in the sport waiting for the latter to make up his mind.
Pacquiao, 40, recently posted his first successful defense of the World Boxing Association (WBA) ?regular? welterweight (147 lbs.) title with a decision win over Adrien Broner. Pacquiao immediately challenged Mayweather to a rematch of their May 2015 megabuck showdown, but he has yet to receive a positive feedback.
All point to Mayweather caving in to public pressure (and the lure of the almighty dollar) and accepting Pacquiao?s challenge. But in the event Mayweather decides to take his sweet time, Pacquiao is looking at the fistic menu for another palatable foe.
Pacquiao had earlier expressed interest in fighting the winner of the March 16 showdown between International Boxing Federation (IBF) welterweight champ Errol Spence Jr. and challenger Mikey Garcia. Pacquiao, however, reportedly wants to return to the ring as early as May and there is no way the winner of the Spence-Garcia fight will be available that early.
An opponent who is available is WBA ?super? welterweight king Keith ?One Time? Thurman. Yes, believe it or not, Thurman is the other WBA champion in the welterweight class. He is actually recognized as the genuine champ in the WBA welterweight division, with Pacquiao?s WBA belt often referred to by international writers as a ?secondary? crown.
Blame it on greed. The WBA has this absurd policy of promoting a ?regular? WBA champion to ?super? WBA champion if said boxer wins the equivalent title of rival organizations like the WBC, WBO and IBF or posts a number of successful defenses.
Case in point: Thurman was the WBA ?regular? welterweight champion in 2015 and was eventually elevated to ?super? champ status in 2017, the year he defeated WBC counterpart Danny Garcia to unify the WBA-WBC welterweight titles. Herein lies the greed: If the boxer is promoted to super champ status, the WBA vacates the regular belt and taps two challengers to fight for it. In effect, the WBA has two champions in one weight class: the ?super? champ and the ?regular? champ. This amounts to more sanctioning fees for the WBA.
After the WBA declared the WBA ?regular? welterweight throne vacant with Thurman?s ascension to ?super? champ status, Pacquiao claimed the regular crown with a seventh-round knockout win over Lucas Matthysse in July 2018. This explains why the belt Pacquiao holds is branded as secondary: it only originated from Thurman?s reign. The WBA has previously stated that it will work on limiting its champions to one per weight class, but the ?super? and ?regular? champs continue to exist. There are even occasions when the WBA names an ?interim? champion, thus resulting in three titleholders in one weight class.
Noting the foregoing circumstances, Thurman (29-0, 22 knockouts) makes for the ?ideal? opponent for Pacquiao at the moment. Thurman is coming off nearly two years of inactivity and looked very rusty in scoring a decision over Josesito Lopez on January 26. Thurman was nearly knocked out by Lopez in the 7th round.
Thurman?s style and struggle against Lopez are arguably the reasons why trainer Freddie Roach singled out the former as the ideal foe for Pacquiao before Mayweather. Thurman is currently not at his sharpest (the layoff was due to an assortment of hand and elbow injuries) and was even a disappointment against Garcia two years ago. Moreover, if Pacquiao beats Thurman, he will get universal recognition as WBA welterweight king.
Thurman cannot wait to get back in the ring because he wants to make up for the lost time. Pacquiao, at his age, cannot afford extended periods of inactivity as his body can bog down anytime.
Pacquiao figures to be the favorite should a fight with Thurman materialize. Against Lopez, Thurman showed his weakness opposite pressure fighters, ironically the style Pacquiao effectively employed against the defensive Broner.
Of course, if Mayweather changes his mind earlier than expected, Thurman and the rest will be instantly eased out of the picture. Until then, Pacquiao may want to fill-up the void with a fight against Thurman that figures to be knuckle-buster.
