Manny Pacquiao Will Fight Floyd Mayweather and Then Retire: Doubtful

by Colin Linneweber, Senior Analyst

As expected, WBO world welterweight champion Manny “Pac-Man” Pacquiao severely outclassed former IBF welterweight titlist Joshua “The Hitter” Clottey to earn a lopsided unanimous decision victory last weekend at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX.

Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 KOs), the first boxer in history to win seven world titles in seven different weight divisions, acted as a puncher and Clottey (35-4, 20 KOs) played the role of a willing punching bag.

Tom Pennington/Getty Images

The final punch statistics showed that Pacquiao landed 246 of 1,231 punches in comparison to Clottey’s paltry total of 108 of 399.

Now that Clottey is an utter afterthought, Pacquiao’s promoter, Bob Arum, will begin to seek for the Filipino icon’s next opponent.

The public has long clamored for a matchup that would pit Pacquiao versus “Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs).

Unfortunately, an extremely lucrative Pacquiao-Mayweather prizefight seems unlikely because the two insanely stubborn and egotistical camps haven’t been able to agree on a drug testing protocol at this juncture.

Mayweather is now scheduled to fight current WBA welterweight champ “Sugar” Shane Mosley May 1 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

A potential adversary that has been mentioned for Pacquiao is disgraced former WBA, IBF and WBO welterweight titleholder Antonio “Tijuana Tornado” Margarito.

In order for Margarito to even be eligible to scrap, he first needs to regain his license to box.

The “Tijuana Tornado” had his boxing license justifiably revoked by the California State Athletic Commission for “at least a year” last February after it was confirmed that he attempted to battle Mosley (46-5, 39 KOs) with a plaster-like substance inside of his hand wraps.

Thankfully, Margarito was caught and proved to be a cowardly charlatan by officials at the Staples Center in Los Angeles before the match began and he had the opportunity to seriously injure Mosley with his cement fists.

Once Margarito had his illegal hand wraps removed, the “Tijuana Tornado” was promptly brutalized by Mosley and defeated by ninth round TKO.

Margarito is the quintessential tough and rugged Mexican pugilist in the ring.

Nevertheless, his attempted actions against Mosley are a cardinal sin in boxing and they should never be forgiven.

Plus, Margarito is simply not in the same sphere as Pacquiao is as a boxer.

Pacquiao’s trainer, Dedham’s Freddie Roach, said he would like to see “Pac-Man” fight Mayweather and then forever retire from the vicious sport of boxing.

“Mayweather and be done with it,” said Roach, 49, a four-time trainer of the year who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease last decade. “There are no more challenges out there. I know there are some fights, but will the general public really want to buy that? I’d like to see him go out on top and not be one of those cases that stayed too long.

Manny has things to fall back on that others don’t. He’s an actor, a singer, he’s running for Congress. Why is Roy Jones still fighting? Because he doesn’t know anything else but boxing. Manny does.”

Roach (39-13, 15 KOs) fought as a professional lightweight for nine years himself and he blames his ailment on competing in the Sweet Science for too long.

“People ask me, ‘Why would you want the guy you make the most money off to quit?’” said Roach. “We’ve done well with each other. I’d rather see him quit than go on after Mayweather. It is more important to me that he has a long and healthy life when this thing is over.”

Boxing fans want, and deserve, to see Pacquiao versus Mayweather.

Sadly, boxing has aptly been called “the red light district of sports” and fans rarely receive what they warrant.

Despite a purse that could pay both prizefighter’s in excess of $30 million apiece, Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather will never fight.

Typically, boxing and its deprived fans will be the biggest losers yet again.

Now, in the meantime, Bob Arum just needs to find Pacquiao another slouch to lambaste.

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We can really tell what will happen if ever Pacquaio fight Mayweather, but I know the world is really excited about this.

The Final Score: Manny versus Mayweather. Now, Please!

Manny Pacquiao enters the boxing arena. The crowd erupts. Even in the middle of Las Vegas, he hears the cheers from Filipinos many time zones away. Yet when Pacquiao files his certificate of candidacy, aiming for a congressional seat in Sarangani, he hears neither thunderous applause nor deafening roars. All he gets are curious looks and raised eyebrows. Oh sure the media frenzy never abandons him. Amidst the shower of flashbulbs, however, Pacman has to realize that politics in this country rarely inspires.

Pacquiao has every right to pursue his political ambitions. If his dream is to annex a chair in the Batasan Complex with his numerous title belts, let him chase that dream. It’s unfair to say that Pacquiao shouldn’t run for public office because he’s just an athlete. We sent Freddie Webb and Robert Jaworski to the Senate after all. It’s likewise unfair to prevent Pacquiao from joining the political derby because he can’t quote Hemingway. Eloquence isn’t a basis for integrity, you know.

There is joy, no matter how fleeting, in watching Pacquiao raise a title belt. It’s a sight that unites, albeit artificially and temporarily, a country. In contrast, Pacquiao shows off his accomplished COC and the nation shrugs its shoulders. It has little to do with Krista Ranillo. Perhaps Manny can blame every other corrupt politician roaming our 7,100 islands for the lukewarm response. Filipinos love their heroes in boxing gloves. They abhor thieves and alleged mass murderers in three-piece suits. A successful boxer is an honest fighter. A successful politician is…well. A well-fought bout, a well-played game are described as beautiful. A sporting event, league or personality suddenly turns ugly when politics rears its unwelcome head. Politics and sports mix as well as barong and maong. So when Pacquiao stubbornly insists on joining the election Cirque du Soleil, the dissimilarity between Manny the pugilist and Manny the aspiring public official is as jarring as Manny’s brutal left hook.

Thankfully Bob Arum is in town. Let’s get this Pacquiao-Mayweather super bout finalized and let sports distract us from the fatal flaws of some of our government leaders. Efren Peñaflorida and many others like him are doing what they can to make the Philippines get on its feet. Unfortunately, Peñaflorida can’t pack cinemas, arenas and barangay plazas the way Pacman can. I wish people would set aside one Sunday in a year for Peñaflorida, Tony Meloto et al. the way they do for any Pacquiao bout. But since Filipinos are more excited over heroes who punch opponents than champions who push kariton-classrooms, I’m willing to work from there.

In these extreme times, Pacquiao’s higher purpose isn’t to peddle Manny Pacquiao versus Roy Chiongbian. Pacquiao’s higher purpose is to divert attention from politics at the least, inspire national pride at the most. They say Pacquiao versus Mayweather might happen in March 2010. I say March should come sooner. This country needed Pacquiao versus Cotto after Ondoy-Pepeng. It needs Pacquiao versus Mayweather now more than ever after Maguindanao. – GMANews.TV
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I think  Pacquiao has nothing to prove in boxing, but politics is simply a different world compared to the career path that made Manny Pacquiao known around the world.