Manny Pacquiao Beats Tim Bradley: Will Mayweather Fight Him Now?

The Fight

When it was all said and done Saturday night I had Manny further ahead than the judges. After the first round I thought he owned Bradley. I know there were a couple of close rounds early, but I scored those for Manny despite him taking a few power shots from Tim. Overall Manny outpointed him the entire night. I thought Manny clearly won the first fight, and in the rematch he clearly beat him again.

Bradley clearly entered the fight looking for the knockout. His aggressive approach actually surprised Pacquiao. It won him the first round but Pac-Man took over from their and outpointed him the rest of the way. Manny was able to get the great punching angles and punished him all night.

What's Next

Tim Bradley needs to take the next best fight available. They immediately began talking about a third fight between Bradley and Paquiao. That would be better for Bradley than it would Pacquiao. I personally don't want to see a third fight because it's really 2-0 Pacquiao.

I think that Manny has shown that he's the next viable opponent for Floyd Mayweather. It's clear that Manny is the best fight if or when he beats Maidana. I had to agree when Floyd said that a fight with Pac-Man had lost it's luster after the surprising knockout from Marquez and the bad decision in the first Bradley fight. However, it would be hard to say he hasn't clearly worked his way back into the number two spot.

Floyd Wants No Part of the Pac-Man

I have always said that I believed Mayweather could beat Pacquiao if the fight were ever to happen. The fight won't though because Mayweather doesn't want to get into a war that the fight would end up being. He'd be taking a chance late in his career that would diminish his legacy. What he fails to realize is that a win against Pacquiao would put him in the conversation of best ever. I currently have him on the fringe of greatness. A win over Pac-Man would be all that he needed to be listed among Ray Robinson and the best boxers of all time.

He's not going to take the chance. Floyd is going to finish fighting lesser competition and hope because he's undefeated that people will rank him among the greatest. Finishing undefeated has it's benefits, but who thinks Marciano was better than Muhammad Ali or Lennox Lewis? At the end of the day it's who you fight. The fight with Pacquiao has become so big that Mayweather has to make it happen. It will actually hurt his legacy to not have the win or loss on his final record. If the fight never happens it will overshadow all the great wins on his record.