Philippine News Updates: Manny's Next possible opponent

Manny's Next possible opponent

Published on Sunday, November 24, 2013 9:36 PM // Sports

Manny Pacquiao got himself back in the race last night with a dominant decision win over Brandon Rios in Macao. So what's next for the Filipino superstar as he closes in on his 35th birthday?

With last night's one-sided win over Brandon Rios, will we finally see the long-awaited "dream fight" between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather? In a word, no. In a few more words, it's so beyond unlikely that any lengthy discussion as to why we won't see it is really a waste of time, but here are a few bullet points to lay out why this fight won't be happening

The promoters for Pacquiao (Top Rank) and Mayweather (himself, alongside Golden Boy Promotions) do not work together. At all.
Mayweather is signed to Showtime Sports, which is a deal that will stretch four more fights. Showtime does basically all of their business with Golden Boy and Mayweather Promotions. HBO does not air fights featuring Golden Boy or Mayweather fighters, or fighters advised by Al Haymon, though Edwin Rodriguez did get a pass on that count recently because Andre Ward needed an opponent. Showtime doesn't work with Top Rank, though they've not stated that they wouldn't. It's just the way it is right now. It's HBO and Top Rank vs Showtime and GBP/Mayweather/Haymon, with fighters promoted by smaller promoters getting in here and there occasionally.
The fight should have been made in 2009. It wasn't. Then 2010. It wasn't. Then 2011. It wasn't. Then 2012. It wasn't. This year, it wasn't in such demand, and it wasn't made. The smoke and mirrors angle behind Pacquiao beating Rios is that it makes him a possible Mayweather foe again. Sure, it could. Beating Rios is as useful as beating Andre Berto or Austin Trout, which is what Floyd's last two opponents did prior to facing him. Those are all good wins. But it means nothing in this specific situation, because of the previous two bullet points.

If Mayweather-Pacquiao can happen somehow, then great. I am all for it. It's still a terrific fight and would almost surely break the revenue records set by Mayweather-Canelo, as well as the PPV buy records set by De La Hoya-Mayweather. It would be enormous still, because the vast majority of the PPV-buying public are not your "boxing-heads," but the casual fans who can be told a story about a fight and then buy that fight. To them, this is still The Fight in boxing. We always say that losses shouldn't totally kill someone's career or whatever, and to those fans, they don't. They don't care that Manny was knocked out by Marquez last year, or lost controversially before that. They still want Floyd vs Manny because that's what they want.

But, no, I don't think the fight will happen, and these 400+ words are all I can say about the subject at this point.

So who should be next if we agree that Mayweather is just not a realistic option? Top Rank has a few options that could fit the bill.