On Wednesday, Top Rank’s Bob Arum confirmed to various media outlets that a third fight between Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley has been finalized for April 9, 2016 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas in what could be the final bout of Pacquiao’s storied career.
As with any major fight announcement, fans’ reactions on social media were swift and emotionally charged, with opinions ranging from mild disappointment to downright anger and disgust. Here are some of the best raw streams of consciousness from both fans and boxing insiders brought on by the fight’s announcement, courtesy of Twitter:
Pacquiao vs Bradley III? Pac fought Marquez 4x’s. Who the hell wants to see these guys fight 3 & 4 times? What are ya’ll doing at TR?
— Shane Mosley (@ShaneMosley_) December 31, 2015
Few cared about a second Pacquiao-Bradley fight. Fewer will care about the third. Disappointed MP didn’t go for the toughest test: Crawford.
— Chris Mannix (@ChrisMannixSI) December 30, 2015
Why fight at all when no one is interested in Pacquiao vs Bradley 3 #PacquiaoBradley3
— Efren Barvosa Music (@EfrenBarvosa) December 31, 2015
Why Boxing Does Not Need Another Manny Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley Fight: https://t.co/Pw4EfngrVw via @Slantnews
— Clint Combs (@combscm2) December 31, 2015
#PacquiaoBradley3 really? Yawn…who in the world wants to see this again? #MayPac2 needs to happen instead
— Michael Huh (@MichaelHuh3) December 31, 2015
.. Bob Arum has ruined boxing. #PacquiaoBradley3 NO one wants to see this but Bob.
— Abdi’rahman Ibn Awf (@Abdi112) December 31, 2015
@danrafaelespn #PacquiaoBradley3 seems to me that Bradley was the worst choice of the three. Khan brings more $. Crawford improves legacy
— Lucas Roy (@bigwhitedog76) December 31, 2015
One final thought before bed; as a Pacquiao fan, I don’t give a shit about #PacquiaoBradley3 Bradley lost twice, end of. #boxing
— Marcus (@Pockerss) December 31, 2015
@BobArum no! very disappointing for you to have him end a career with someone he slapped around twice #PacquiaoBradley3
— Dan Palichat (@dmuc93) December 30, 2015
#PacquiaoBradley3? Seriously, the only the thing going for it is that it’s more appealing than Mayweather V Berto was! Bore off.
— Tom Shaw (@tomshaw20) December 30, 2015
Not watching #PacquiaoBradley3 just not interested in seeing these two fight again
— Andrew (@AJ_G39) December 30, 2015
Joel Diaz: People Don’t Want To See Pacquiao-Bradley Again! https://t.co/FpTXTmlXSh #boxing
— BoxingScene.com (@boxingscene) December 30, 2015
Someone on my page described Pacquiao-Bradley III perfectly: Not a bad fight, but a useless one.
— adam abramowitz (@snboxing) December 30, 2015
Not all of the reactions were negative, though. Some of the more easily pleased human beings on Twitter were at least able to express level-headed, mild contentment at the announcement of a Pacquiao-Bradley trilogy:
Not a surprise Manny Pacquiao & Top Rank agreed to fight Timothy Bradley. Made the most sense to them, stylistically & economically. #boxing
— Francisco A. Salazar (@FSalazarBoxing) December 31, 2015
Hell yeah!! Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley will happen for third time, Bob Arum says https://t.co/7EurI9jvXH
— EMOtionalWrath (@EMOtionalWrath) December 31, 2015
Pretty upset that Bradley is Pacquiao’s last fight but I’m excited because they will both go toe to toe. #PacquiaoBradley3
— C (@carldeveraa) December 30, 2015
With Pacquiao-Bradley III set in stone for this spring, some fans are left pining for “what could’ve been.” Many clamored for Pacquiao to try to lure Floyd Mayweather Jr. out of retirement for a lucrative rematch, or wanted Pacquiao to select an elite opponent that he’s never faced before like Terence Crawford, Amir Khan or Adrien Broner.
The first two fights between Pacquiao and Bradley – despite the outrageous scoring in the first fight in which Bradley was gifted a ridiculous decision – were not incredibly competitive, with Pacquiao clearly out-boxing Bradley in both instances. No one, including Bob Arum himself, should be surprised by the extremely negative reaction thus far to the announcement of the third fight.