The fistic feud between Bob Arum and Oscar de la Hoya does not matter to the general public.
The feud between Juan Manuel Marquez and Manny Pacquiao, a continuing argument borne of 24 highly competitive prior rounds, does.
Sometimes, it is not only about the money.
Sometimes, the easiest opponent is the right opponent.
Sometimes, it’s about history, about legacy and about finally settling the Juan Ma-Pacman ?beef,? about putting some finality on their glorious, hyphenated ring saga.
Juan Ma is not being careful in what he wishes for.
All he’s asking from Manny is a major payday and to be ushered into retirement in the forceful manner that Pacquiao led Mr. de la Hoya and Mr. Hatton into career change.
And, if Pacquiao is thinking about having one final fight in his homeland, then Marquez is the perfect guest to bring to Manila.
Manila or Las Vegas, either metropolis, can host the fight but it would seem that the MGM Grand/Mandalay Bay folks are hungry for the major moolah a Pacman event would bring to one of their properties.
Pacquuaio’s May fight can also be perfectly timed for the festive, Cinco de Mayo Mexican holiday as if Chapter Three of Juan Ma-Manny is not enough to cause a stir among the Mexican populace.
Sorry, Sugar Shane Mosley, but you can sit in the on-deck circle and remain there as No Mayweather Fight insurance for Manny and Arum.
I do believe Pacman has every intention of fighting you, Shane, but he’s got to handle a fight which truly could be called ?Unfinished Business? first.
Marquez-Pacquiao III works on many levels.
For sure, Juan Ma will accept a true welterweight limit of 147 pounds.
This takes physical pressure off Manny. I would not call it a respite but Manny won’t be tussling with a much bigger, much stronger man for a change.
Marquez is also no joke, although he did remind us that Pacquiao leads in knockdowns 4-0 in their series, when he wound up on the seat of his boxing pants in the third round against gritty Michael Katsidis.
(As for the plucky Aussie, he is the kind of true grit competitor who HBO would be wise to keep in its mix rather than punish him for losing. He lost to a Hall Of Fame fighter in Juan Ma and he lost gloriously a short time after his jockey brother’s sudden death. HBO needs to reward fighters wh perform admirably like this, it says here.)
I’ve no doubt, neither should you, that the improving still Pacman will spin, fold and mutilate JMM in their third and final episode.
I think Pacquiao stops him in a late round and such an outcome will put Manny’s exclamation point on the end of their entertaining telenovela.
Their competition, even with Marquez’s sometimes sniveling griping afterwards, has done both men proud.
It has done their respective countries proud.
Right now, Mosley does not matter.
(It is ironic to see Golden Boy pushing Juan Ma and obliquely threatening to take renegade VP Shane to court over his contract because he bolted to see if he can win the Pacman Sweepstakes. You might think the Goldens would be happy to see Mosley and Bernard Hopkins make their exit and clear the way for younger talent.)
Maybe later Andre Berto will matter but he means less than zero right now.
Only one fight matters and Freddie Roach has already co-signed it.
I can’t see Uncle Bob dropping the ball here, especially since Golden Boy gets paid no matter who Manny fights.
Let’s get busy before the holidays, boys.
Mayweather is still on pause.
With Floyd on the sidelines, only one fight matters.
And, besides, I never knew until I saw those snazzy teeshirts but apparently Marquez beat Pacman twice already.
Let Juan Ma try for a 3-0 series sweep, lol.
I bet he’d give the tee-shirt right off his back for the very chance.
