Manny Pacquiao’s recent decision victory over ‘Sugar’ Shane Mosley last weekend in Las Vegas was so uneventful and lacking in suspense or action that the biggest story emerging from that win is what exactly the future holds for the WBO welterweight champion of the world. Now 32 years old, Pacquiao’s time in the sport is extremely precious and with a potentially huge fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. not on the horizon, his options are a touch limited.
As reported by Lem Satterfield at BoxingScene.com earlier today, it does appear as though Juan Manuel Marquez has agreed to terms on a third fight with his Filipino rival, whom he battled to a draw in May of 2004 and lost a split-decision to nearly four years later. But the fight is far from a lock, as Golden Boy Promotions has the right to match any offer that is thrown in the direction of the Mexico City star, and Arum mentioned two other names that would be in the mix.
<--- Slideshow: Reliving the Pacquiao-Mosley event, from the final presser to the fight itself
IBF junior welterweight champion Zab Judah and WBC and WBO junior welterweight titleist Timothy Bradley are also on Arum’s mind if a Marquez fight can’t be made. Judah is a slick southpaw with power who is enjoying a career renaissance while Bradley is regarded as one of the sport’s most complete and strong-willed champions at the moment, having defeated the likes of Devon Alexander, Lamont Peterson, and Kendall Holt in recent outings.
There is definitely a lot of factors in play and with that in mind I reached out to HBO analyst Larry Merchant to get his thoughts on everything for our weekly column. While not thrilled with the current situation Pacquiao finds himself in, or the result of the Mosley fight for that matter, Merchant was still able to weigh in with his perspective.
Continue reading below for some sound bytes from Larry…
Thoughts on Manny Pacquiao’s victory over Shane Mosley… “I thought it was just a move we’ve seen before in which the great young champion is too quick for a great old champion. And in this case the great old champion elected to survive. So I don’t think that what happened was Pacquiao’s fault at all, although maybe he was a little too respectful of Mosley early on, which is understandable. My experience is that when a good professional fighter elects to not engage, that he can make nothing happen.”
Surprised that Mosley didn’t get stopped after suffering a knockdown in the third round? “No. For two reasons. For one, I know his history. The guy’s had a great chin. Prior to that he fought everyone for eighteen years as a pro and went down twice in one round. And secondly, it didn’t look like a devastating punch. I don’t think that Mosley was hurt. He didn’t even looked dazed but it obviously had an impact on what he was going to do in the fight. Because, as we’ve often seen with Pacquiao, the opponent never sees the punch coming, because he’s so quick and he’s so versatile. And that’s a scary kind of thing for a fighter, to know that he can get hit at any moment from any place.”
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The instinct of self-preservation… “And since [Pacquiao’s] started to fight big guys, the only guy that’s really fought him was Cotto, who really fought back. But Cotto got beaten up pretty badly. Margarito might have gotten retired, as did De La Hoya. Hatton also called it a day. All of them made a lot of money so it was convenient that they could walk away. I’m also thinking of the kid from Ghana, Joshua Clottey. He was also intimidated by Pacquiao’s speed. And just went into a shell. It was disappointing that Mosley did something similar in a different style. Given how much of a warrior Mosley’s been for so long of a time, but the instinct for self-preservation can kick in in this scenario and that’s what happened.”
Pacquiao’s best option… “I question whether any of them is a formidable opponent. The Marquez fight is a natural for another fight because of how well Marquez did in their first two fights. But at his age and at the weight he would have to fight Pacquiao, I don’t think it is much of a fight, personally.”
Not hyped about Zab Judah… “To me, a fight with Judah, I’m rolling my eyes. Judah has admirably and cleverly reinvented himself as a guy who is not really interested in engaging opponents either. So if you want another bad fight, you can be sure to get that with him.”
Analyzing Timothy Bradley… “As for Bradley, I don’t know if he would be a good fight or not. Bradley doesn’t generally make crowd-pleasing fights. But he’s smart and quick and probably the guys who are gonna give Pacquiao problems are going to be younger, equally quick fighters. Not older, slower fighters. Of the three he would probably make sense.”
Wild card Victor Ortiz… “In my own mind, I think the guy who probably makes the most sense right now is Ortiz. And we know why the fight cant’ be made. But, doesn’t he make the most sense right now? But Ortiz works for another promoter and Bob Arum is only interested in fighting guys he has the promotional rights to.” Advertisement
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Bob Arum’s motives… “He’s maximizing Pacquiao’s value. Because, any of the fighters you name, and the guy I just named, all would make the biggest paydays of their careers fighting Pacquiao. Knowing that, Arum is luring fighters away from others promoters when he can or making deals with other promoters who he feels he can live with. So it goes. It’s a business.”
The best story… “It doesn’t meet the very high expectations that Pacquiao has had, in terms of his performance. But there are some things a fighter can’t control. What are they going to do next and how does that factor into their decision on who they might fight? If they fight Marquez, assuming that Golden Boy doesn’t meet their offer, there will be a lot of stories and narratives on that fight. The big Mexican fan base will buy into the fight and they will make another big payday. There’s not much question about that. I think that’s Arum’s number on priority; making money. Of the three you mentioned, Marquez is the best story and has the best fan base.”
Sounds like Pacquiao-Marquez III? Not so fast. Looks as though Golden Boy’s Richard Schaefer is toying with the possibility of matching the offer on Marquez with a September showdown against newly-crowned WBC welterweight champion Victor Ortiz in Las Vegas. Stay tuned for Merchant’s thoughts on that scenario in the second part of our interview later tonight….
Chris Robinson is based out of Las Vegas, Nevada. He can be reached at [email protected]
