In less than two weeks, Manny Pacquiao faces Juan Manuel Marquez for the third and most likely final time. These two men have fought an entertaining 24 rounds so far and on Nov.12th look to make it another 12 rounds to remember. However, while many fans hope to see another close fight between Pacquiao and Marquez, the outcome should be one sided in favor of Pacquiao.
As talented as Marquez is, he is also 3 years older. Yes, styles do makes fights, but Marquez’s best fights are behind him. Pacquiao is in the prime of his career and with this 3rd fight being a little more personal to Manny, I do not expect the fight to go past 8 rounds. But no matter if the fight ends early or goes the distance in the end, Manny Pacquiao will be the winner.
So…Where will Pacquiao go from here?
A couple months ago Top Rank, Manny Pacquiao’s promoter in somewhat of a surprise signed former Light Welterweight champion, undefeated Timothy Bradley. What’s not so surprising is that Bradley is also on the undercard of Pacquiao-Marquez.
Is Bradley being showcased for a possible fight next May with Pacquiao? Bob Arum, CEO of Top Rank has done a fairly good job at keeping most of Manny’s previous fights in-house..or atleast against non Goldenboy opponents. If boxing fans had their wishes heard, then Floyd Mayweather would be Pacquiao’s opponent in May, but that won’t happen no matter how much fans call for the fight.
Therefore, Top Rank will look most likely look in their own stable before reaching out to any other promoter for possible opponents and since Manny has already beat most guys around his weight class signed with Top Rank, Bradley seems more and more likely.
The bout for Bradley would be a huge pay off as Bradley declined a possible fight with Amir Khan this past summer because as Bradley put it “was too early for the fight”. Bradley also passed up a million dollar payday when he declined to fight Khan. It was a highly questionable stance for a fighter that does not have a huge fan following; million dollar paydays do not come around every fight. However as surprising as the decision seemed 5 months ago, it now seems as though Bradley may have made the right choice. If Bradley beats Joel Casamayor as many believe he should and does it in better fashion than his fight with Devon Alexander then I will be surprised if it’s not Bradley come May.
And then…
This past Saturday many boxing fans were excited to see the rematch between Luis Concepcion and Hernan Marquez. However, as exciting the first fight was, the second did not last as long. It was an entertaining round but in the end, Marquez took Concepcion out with three knockdowns and the 1st. It was a little disappointing to see such a great first fight between these two fighters to see the second end so fast, but then I realized that even Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo’s second fight ended in similar fashion. After their 1st fight was an instant classic their rematch only lasted 4 rounds as Castillo knocked out Corrales in the 4th. Sometimes rematches just don’t live up to the original.
Bradley the ducker on PPV…no thanks I don’t care who he’s fighting he’s not worth the money. This guy is so sloppy and the risk factor of catching a headbutt is extremely high with this clown. He should have to get through Khan before even being considered for a big fight. The whole angle would be he’s undefeated going into the fight but we all know surely he’ll come out with a K.O. loss on his record between 6 to 8 rounds unless he goes into survival mode then maybe he’ll actually make it to the end of the fight if Pacquiao doesn’t pursue the K.O. Who knows maybe when Pacquiao is ready to sign the contract, Bradley will find something to complain about and duck that fight as well he’d certainly do us a favor if he did.
I really hope this is not mannys next fight.
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