By Robert Jackson: Turning down a $40M guarantee offered by Floyd Mayweather Jr. to fight, may have its virtues, but could also come back to haunt Manny Pacquiao. Recently released unofficial documents show that Pacquiao purses have not in most cases reflected the stated guarantees for those fights. With Cotto now facing Mayweather and Marquez looking to be facing Lamont Peterson, the next available opponent for Manny Pacquiao’s next fight may be the newly signed to Top Rank fighter Timothy Bradley.
Prior to signing with Top Rank, Bradley turned down a $1.5M offer to face off against Amir Khan. Bradley not fighting Khan – a mistake in some folks minds, could have brought the California fighter much needed exposure, the same exposure that Lamont Peterson (a fighter already defeated by Bradley) is getting. In gutting out a close but controversial decision over Amir Khan, Peterson has raised his boxing stock to a high level, becoming more recognized in boxing. A masterful performance and victory against Marquez will put Peterson way over the top.
So where does all of this leave or affect Pacquiao? In the face of limited earning power against anyone not named Mayweather, Cotto or Marquez, and with a limited selection of acceptable opponents left to fight, Pacquiao must chose from either lower tier fighters from a boxing skills standpoint or pick from fighters with skills who are not fan favorites.
In any case Pacquiao will be in a situation where the big money guarantees are not available for whichever opponent he chooses, in particular Bradley because of his inability to put fans in seats . So he’ll lose money!! Also to be considered, is, a determined opponent like Bradley comes to win and it won’t be a walk in the park for Pacquiao to beat him. Even a win over Bradley in a less than stellar showing as was the case against Marquez, diminishes Pacquiao further. And let’s not talk about the ramifications of Pacquiao losing to Bradley.
So with Mayweather, Cotto and Marquez moving on to other endeavors, Team Pacquiao and his promoters have a tough sell to garner interest in the next Pacquiao fight, whoever he chooses to fight. Worse case…Amir Khan still doesn’t have a dance partner for his next fight, and wasn’t it he who originally said he thought that “Pacquiao lost to Marquez” before changing his story later?