By James Slater: In an ideal world, superstar and (still, according to Ring Magazine) Pound-for-Pound king Manny Pacquiao would move in only one of two directions in his next fight: towards a fourth fight with Juan Manuel Marquez or towards a mega-fight with Floyd Mayweather Junior.
Should Pac-Man opt to fight anyone aside from one of these two greats next, fans everywhere will be hugely disappointed with their hero. But which of the two hugely appealing fights should Pacquiao shoot for?
In the interest of fairness, Pacquiao should certainly give Marquez another chance; a fourth chance of beating him. Many, many fans and experts feel the amazing 38-year-old did just that this past Saturday, although Pac-Man diehards claim their hero did enough to have beaten his bogeyman. Promoter Bob Arum spoke from the ringside in Las Vegas on Saturday, and he spoke of his desire to promote a fourth meeting next May. Pacquiao has also expressed interest in facing Marquez again; no doubt because he too feels he lost the third fight and wants another opportunity to fully remove the thorn that is “Dinamita” from his side.
No-one will be able to complain too much if Pacquiao chooses to go this route next – apart those fans who still crave seeing Pac-Man and Mayweather in the ring together, of which there are many. There are literally millions of people who want to find out once and for all who the better fighter is between Pac-Man and “Money” and these people would prefer Pacquiao did all he could to get Floyd into the ring instead of the Mexican.
It really will be a crying shame if Pacquiao and Mayweather never meet, but it will be hugely unfair for Marquez if he doesn’t get another chance to put things right against Manny. Pacquiao and his team have a tough choice ahead of them right now – Mayweather or Marquez? There is no other fight out there that means anything for the Filipino, but the truth is, he could lose either match-up.
A proud fighter, I think Pacquiao will agree to face Marquez once again. Mayweather and his fans may scream how Pac-Man has avoided the unbeaten 34-year-old, but it will burn Pacquiao a lot more if he walks away from boxing having failed to prove his dominance over the single most testing opponent of his entire career.
I predict Pacquiao and Marquez will collide again next May. Where this will leave Mayweather, for the time being at least, is anyone’s guess. There have been whispers, however, that suggest Pacquiao’s stable-mate Amir Khan may face Mayweather sometime next year. Could this intriguing bout go down in May?