The once great champion now lies motionless on the canvas, with only the referee serving as a buffer between preeminence and reality…
We’ve seen this movie before. It happened to Roy Jones Jr. It happened to “Hitman” Hearns. It even happened to the great Mike Tyson, in the first round!
But this knockout loss was particularly damaging to Manny “Pac-Man” Pacquiao. Long considered either the #1 or #1A pound-for-pound fighter in the world, Pac-Man would suffer a humiliating defeat at the hands of Juan Manuel Márquez last Saturday night in Las Vegas.
This was the fourth meeting between the two pugilists, the first of which took place in 2004 as featherweights. The fight ended in a draw, which subsequently led to a 2008 rematch at super featherweight. The bout ended in a controversial split decision win for Pacquiao and three years later, the two squared off again in November of 2011 in the Welterweight Division (147 pounds). Pacquiao was victorious yet again, this time via a majority decision, in what some boxing pundits described as “robbery“. This observer not only believed that Márquez should’ve easily won the third fight, but that of the 36 action-packed rounds we’ve witnessed between these two men, Márquez actually won between 20 and 25 of them, despite not having won a decision.
Now that Pacquiao has received his comeuppance, of sorts, the boxing world is left wondering what the next move is for the soon-to-be 34-year-old Filipino megastar.
Sidebar: Questions about Márquez’s new physique and links to Angel Hernandez have created a cloud of steroid speculation after the knockout victory. For now, we’ll give Márquez the benefit of the doubt.
In the off chance a boxing novice is reading this, you may view the term “megastar” as hyperbole. But Manny Pacquiao is a Renaissance man, which is why he is one of the most famous and celebrated athletes in the world today. He’s a congressman in his native country. He has also successfully launched acting and singing careers. He’s even an honorary member of the 2008 Boston Celtics NBA Championship team (whatever that means). But now Pacquiao has inexplicably gone from revered athlete and public figure, to laughingstock literally overnight.
So what’s the next move for Manny? Rematch? Retreat (back to the Philippines)? Retire? It’s a very difficult decision to say the least.
For starters, his Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach has now lost his last five fights (two of which were Pacquiao’s) and seems to have lost his touch for winning the big fight. Roach also trained former world champions Amir Khan and Julio César Chávez, Jr., but both men lost under Roach’s tutelage in 2012. Khan has since left Roach, citing a lack of time commitment from his trainer, since he was flying back and forth between the U.S. and the Philippines to train Pac-Man. Given the hectic schedules of both fighter and trainer, it would seem reasonable for Manny to wonder about making a change the same way Amir Khan did.
Manny probably wants to do a little more of this after his trainer called him out.
Recently, Pacquiao also turned his life over to God and has focused more on his Christian faith. While this is commendable, Roach, prior to the fight last Saturday, expressed concerns that Manny’s born-again faith could rob him of his competitive edge. It is evident that Pacquiao and Roach have not on the same page of late. Though Manny was still able to control the fight for large stretches of time, he was unable to prevent Márquez from robbing him of his consciousness.
Given his career accomplishments to date and his varied interests, Pacquiao could easily elect to hang up his mitts for good and few people would hold it against him. The issue is, Manny is a fighter at heart above anything else— even above being a boxer, Manny Pacquiao is a fighter. Despite saying in the post-fight interview that his decision to fight Márquez again would be “up to the promoter” (again highlighting the ostensible apathy he has for boxing), it is unlikely he would go out that way.
Which begs the question, who is his next opponent?
Would he really want to climb into the ring with Márquez for a fifth time? A fifth time?!?. This ain’t the 1940s and they ain’t Sugar Ray & the Raging Bull. Hell, I’m not even sure if there were five Police Academy movies. While the fights with Márquez have all been entertaining, both men may be apprehensive to get into the ring with one another for a fifth time.
Pac-Man could pursue a rematch with Timothy Bradley, against whom he lost in June. But the decision that Bradley won over Pacquiao was so controversial, it failed to provide Bradley with the credibility or stardom necessary to warrant a rematch. This is why Manny instead decided to fight Márquez a fourth time; the payday was simply bigger than anything a Bradley rematch could have generated.
There are other fighters with some name recognition that Manny could look towards for his next bout at 147 pounds. Guys like Victor Ortiz, Andre Berto, and to a lesser extent Paul Malignaggi are out there, but like a Bradley rematch, none of these fights would be the type of draw that typically accompanies the Pac-Man. Plus, it would be hard to justify rewarding Ortiz and Berto with a Pacquiao fight given their recent struggles.
The option of moving back up to junior middleweight (154 pounds) is a possibility, but the best big-money fights there would be against Austin “No Doubt” Trout or Canelo Álvarez, two naturally bigger and significantly younger and hungrier fighters. This is probably not the move, considering Manny just got a visit from Mr. Sandman at the hands of Márquez.
Sidebar: Even when Pacquiao defeated Antonio Margarito for the WBC Junior Middleweight Championship, it was at a catch-weight of 150 pounds. Manny has never been in the ring with guys as big as Trout & Álvarez.
C’mon man. This is getting ridiculous.
If he moves back down to junior welterweight, he’ll have to deal with the likes of Brandon Rios or 140 pound champion Danny Garcia, if he wants another big payday. At his age and with 60 professional fights under his belt, Manny Pacquiao is definitely in it for the money and he doesn’t have tons of time to be messing around with tuneup fights. However, one is definitely in order before if he decides to climb in the ring with someone like Danny Swift (just ask Peanut).
Sidebar: The fact that we’re even suggesting a tuneup fight for Pacquiao is saying something. But yeah, I think it’s necessary. Manny was just on television crying with his wife after the Márquez fight. He desperately needs to get his confidence back up.
Oh yeah, then there’s that other guy. The best fighter in the world, who Pacquiao has been trying to get into the ring with for three years. Most people seem to believe any hopes for a fight between Manny and Floyd Mayweather, Jr. were permanently dashed after the knockout loss on Saturday, or if nothing else, the sizzle for the fight would be long gone. This narrative seemed reasonable in the moments after the fight, but anybody who has ever followed the sweet science knows that you can never say never in boxing and by now, fans shouldn’t be this naive.
The biggest “super-fight” that is still out there is Mayweather/Pacquiao and if both men agreed to do it today, the sports world would explode, just as it would have had Manny knocked out Juan Manuel. The money would still be there, the pay-per-view buys would break records and both men would take home the largest purses of their careers.
The problem for Pacquiao is this two-fight losing streak will cost him millions in negotiations with Floyd, who already didn’t want to give Manny a 50/50 split when he had won his last 15 fights dating back to 2005. Another issue for Manny, assuming the two sides could ever get past their bad blood and come to an agreement, is how he would even deal with “Money” Mayweather’s size, historic hand speed and counter-punching ability. Floyd is a counter-punching tactician that reduced a future Hall of Fame counter-punching wizard in Márquez to a rank amateur in their 2009 fight. He’s also beaten overly-aggressive fighters, like Ricky Hatton, from pillar to post…literally!
Sidebar: If you want to laugh, watch this Floyd Mayweather interview on Manny Pacquiao.
With all things considered, Pacquiao could try his hand again at Márquez, he could move out of the welterweight division in search of new competition, he could even walk away from the sport altogether to focus on politics and The Word (and making Hennessy commercials). But if he cares anything about his legacy, he must iron out any potential issues that exist with Freddie Roach (or simply give Roach his walking papers), humble himself, narrow his focus as much as he can onto boxing only and sign on for a tuneup bout or two before taking on a top notch fighter.
He doesn’t need to fight Juan Manuel Márquez again because he’s already beaten him twice. Manny Pacquiao must find a new challenge to reinvigorate his zest for boxing. And if he ever wants to reach or exceed the levels of success that led to him receiving Fighter of the Decade accolades from multiple boxing institutions, he must challenge the still undefeated Floyd Mayweather. It’s the only way he can clean up the mess that was made of his career on Saturday night.
At this point, Manny needs Floyd more than Floyd needs Manny. The negotiating table will not be kind to him, but this is part of the penance Pac-Man must pay if he really wants Floyd, the money and his last shot at becoming a once-in-a-generation prizefighter.
First, Manny must decide whether or not he wants it.