Top Rank promoter Bob Arum gives Manny Pacquiao a “good chance” of defeating WBA welterweight champion Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero if they fight next. Arum says Romero (17-2, 13 KOs) is “less of a boxer” than WBC belt-holder Mario Barrios, who fought Pacquiao, 46, to a 12-round majority draw last Saturday night on July 19th.
Arum believes that Pacquiao would be “competitive” against the other welterweights as well. He stopped short of saying he thinks he would give WBO champion Brian Norman Jr. problems. That would be going a little too far in his praise for his former fighter, Manny. If Pacquiao fought Norman Jr, the result would be similar to his fourth fight against Juan Manuel Marquez, with him getting knocked unconscious.
Arum on Pacquiao-Barrios Draw
“A good result was the draw. I was scoring it. I couldn’t make the fight, but I watched it from home,” said promoter Bob Arum to Fight Hub TV, talking about the Manny Pacquiao vs. Mario Barrios contest. “I had Manny winning six out of the first nine rounds, and then I had him. Then I had the other guy [Barrios] winning the last three to make it a draw.”
A draw was a good score for the fight, because Pacquiao gave up the last three rounds. There were three additional ones that he had appeared to lose to Barrios. Fans obviously were rooting for Manny to win, and they weren’t happy that he failed to get the win. That wasn’t a robbery, though.
“One judge had it 5-4 for Manny after nine rounds, and therefore, he gave the fight to Barrios. It was that kind of fight. You have to give tremendous credit to Manny at his age for him to have performed the way he did against a much younger man,” said Arum about Pacquiao.
The journeyman Abel Ramos showed how limited a fighter Barrios was last November when he fought him to a 12-round draw in a fight that many boxing fans had him winning. It’s great that Pacquiao looked good for a 46-year-old, but he didn’t perform as well as Ramos did in his fight against Barrios. Again, Ramos is a journeyman, and not a top-tier fighter.
Pacquiao’s Chances Against Romero
“I think Manny would be competitive against any of those people, and I think Romero is less of a boxer than this guy that Manny just fought, who would be ideal for Manny. I give Manny a good chance to win against Romero,” said Arum.
Rolly would obviously be less of a threat to Pacquao compared to WBO welterweight champion Brian Norman Jr. The fact that Manny didn’t choose Norman Jr. tells you all you need to know about his lack of confidence in beating him. If he thought he was up to the task, he would have selected him because there would be more to gain than against Barrios, who is seen as the weakest link.
Romero’s punching power would be a nightmare for Pacquiao. His face was lumped up as it was against Barrios. Fighting Rolly would result in Pacquiao taking a lot of punishment, and he might not make it through the fight.
