Time to move on: Pacquiao Vs Mayweather

By on 10:27 AM

Forget Floyd Mayweather, Jr. If the man who speaks with forked tongue continues to make a mockery of the fight game by insulting the intelligence of the boxing public, he deserves to be ignored. Manny Pacquiao has more than enough on his plate to move forward without Mayweather pulling him back.

At the moment, Pacquiao’s focus must be only on Tim Bradley, the WBO lightwelterweight champion who’s stepping up a notch to challenge the Filipino icon for the WBO welterweight crown at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on June 9. Mayweather, refusing a showdown with Pacquiao, is taking on Miguel Cotto in the same venue on May 5.

Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach is convinced it will take a miracle for Bradley to score an upset. “It’s not an easy fight for Manny but I feel Bradley is just not big enough,” said Roach. Size will be a factor against Bradley who has weighed in no more than 140 pounds in eight of his last nine bouts dating back to 2007. Last year, Bradley fought twice, tipping the scales at 139 1/2 in beating Devon Alexander and 140 in halting Joel Casamayor.

The last time Pacquiao faced a fighter who scaled 140, Ricky Hatton was poleaxed in two rounds. Pacquiao hasn’t scored a stoppage in his last four outings, raising speculation that he may be slowing down. Doubters pointed to his close win over Juan Manuel Marquez by a majority decision as an indication that he may be over the hill.

But remember in 2008 after Pacquiao eked out a split 12-round verdict over Marquez, critics also said the end was near. Pacquiao silenced the detractors by claiming the WBC lightweight crown via a knockout over David Diaz in his next fight and went on to dispose of Oscar de la Hoya, Hatton and Cotto – all inside the distance – in that order. The bounce back led to Pacquiao capturing four more world titles in different divisions to add to his collection.

Coming off a narrow win over Marquez last November, Pacquiao is now in a position to rebound in a big way at Bradley’s expense. He’s been installed an early 3-1 favorite and in my own prediction, Bradley will go in seven.