What’s next for Pacquiao?

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Mike Parente, GoLocalProv Sports Editor

Those of you who wanted Antonio Margarito banned for life for his disgraceful hand-wrap controversy last year must admit it was more fun watching Manny Pacquiao turn his face into lunch meat Saturday night in Texas.

Pacquiao’s 12-round annihilation of the self-proclaimed Mexican warrior was as fascinating as it was one-sided, but in the end it was nothing more than a $65 appetizer for the fight everyone from boxing enthusiasts to the common fan truly wants to see.

And until Floyd Mayweather drops the charade and steps into the ring with Pacquiao, boxing will continue to wane in popularity among the common Joes who only watch when it’s a red-carpet event.

The problem is we’re too busy setting the stage for a fight that will probably never happen while ignoring a slew of great fights looming on the horizon, such as Saturday’s middleweight showdown between Paul “The Punisher” Williams and Sergio Martinez – a highly-anticipated rematch that could wind up as the Fight of the Year if it’s anything like the first one 11 months ago.

While this fight won’t cost you $64.99, I can guarantee it won’t draw nearly half the viewers the Pacquaio-Margarito fight drew (roughly 1.4 million, depending on who you believe) despite the fact it promises to be far more entertaining than watching Pac Man waltz unharmed to another lopsided win.

Margarito never had a chance despite his significant advantage in size. He was actually the perfect opponent for a high-volume puncher such as Pacquiao – immobile, defenseless and too stubborn to know when to quit.

Shame on referee Laurence Cole, who could’ve saved Margarito six hours of facial surgery by stopping this fight after the ninth or 10th round when it was clear Margarito was on the verge of irreparable damage. Margarito’s corner deserves blame, too, but I’ve learned through the years that trainers can be talked out of throwing in the towel if their fighter pleads his case well enough between rounds. Cole should know better.

So, too, should the fans who continue plunking down their hard-earned cash for anticlimactic pay-per-view cards. The rule of thumb is that if the main event looks like a dud, then the rest of the card can’t be much better, because no promoter in his right mind would waste a potential sellout at a second venue by putting another must-see fight on the undercard of a pay-per-view event.

Where do we go from here? More importantly, what does Pacquiao’s promoter, Bob Arum, do for his next pay-per-view encore? Despite my claims that fans will eventually lose interest, Saturday’s fight doubled the number of viewers Pacquiao had when he fought Joshua Clottey in March. This might have had more to do with the fact Pacquiao was fighting such a controversial figure, or perhaps fans have decided they’d much rather watch Pacquiao face anybody than watch another Mayweather pay-per-view snooze-fest like the one in May against over-the-hill veteran Shane Mosley.

Arum is sitting on a goldmine, but he and Pacquiao must be careful when choosing the next big move. At what point does Pacquiao bite off more than he can chew in a higher weight class? He’s already dismantled Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto and Clottey, but could he handle Williams or Martinez at 155 pounds? The aforementioned fighters on his hit list were way past their respective primes and didn’t have the speed to keep up with Pacquiao. Williams and Martinez are incredibly fast in addition to being strong.

Perhaps it’s in Pacquiao’s best interest to stay where he is and take on a more formidable opponent such as unbeaten prospect Andre Berto, or drop back down to 140 pounds and compete in a much deeper light welterweight division where he’d have to contend with Timothy Bradley (26-0), Kendall Holt (25-4) or Amir Khan (27-1). A win over someone such as Bradley or Berto would put Pacquiao on another level – a level far above Mayweather, who has a similar reputation for taking safe fights against opponents with no chance of winning.

At the end of the day, none of those fights are as interesting on the surface as a showdown with Mayweather would certainly be, but they might ultimately be more logical for Pacquiao and the sport of boxing in general. And let’s be honest with ourselves – until Mayweather breaks his silence and shows the desire to do anything other than make excuses for why he won’t fight Pacquiao, this Super Fight is nothing more than a dream scenario.

The bottom line is the fans deserve more for their money than what they got Saturday night, even if Margarito deserved every ounce of abuse.