It’s 2014 and in the world of boxing the fight that still gets the most press is the one that was to happen 5 years ago and is yet to happen today. That fight of course is Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao. Even when Mayweather went on to fight Canelo Alvarez last September in a bout that was called “The One” which at the time was considered the super bowl of boxing. Immediately after the fight, the name Pacquiao was brought up to Floyd Mayweather Jr. at the post fight press conference after Mayweather outclassed Canelo Alvarez.
Even as Pacquiao lost a controversial decision to Tim Bradley and was seen sleeping on the canvas against Juan Manuel Marquez, his name was brought up to Mayweather. Now that Pacquiao virtually shut out Brandon Rios, he heads on a collision course with Tim Bradley this April in Las Vegas to right the wrong many people feel happened in June of 2012.
Mayweather-Canelo was a success topping over 2 million buys and smashing revenue records. But even as Mayweather counted his millions to the bank, he can’t escape the name Pacquiao. Pacquiao was in New York for the kick off press conference in New York this past week, and he could not escape the name Mayweather. I asked Pacquiao is he was bothered that even as his next fight was being announced, that he couldn’t escape his contemporary of this era. Pacquiao stated, “I’m not bother by the name Mayweather but I think my name bothers Mayweather because the fans want it and it’s the fight everyone wants.”
While we may or may never get Mayweather-Pacquiao, we are getting the rematch of Pacquiao-Bradley. Pacquiao feels the rematch will be a completely different fight. “The difference this time is I will put more on gas and more aggression and the killer instinct I need to prove. I told Freddie (Roach) sometimes I’m just nice in the ring. I think this time around I’m going to make sure I have that instinct in the ring,” Pacquiao told ThaBoxingVoice.com.
Bob Arum says that this fight needs no promotion because it’s a 50-50 fight. The first fight had odds of 9-1 in Manny Pacquiao’s favor. Does that say more about Tim Bradley’s improvement or Manny Pacquiao’s decline? Pacquiao feels its Tim Bradley’s improvement. “We have to believe that Bradley is different, that he’s improved a lot since then. We’ve seen that in his last two fights with Ruslan (Provodnikov) and (Juan Manuel) Marquez. I expect him 100 percent condition and 100 percent to fight and we’ll be prepared.”
