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Manny Pacquiao Vs Mike Alvarado: Is This Fight Really Necessary?

Do you think Manny Pacquiao should retire right now and not fight again?

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By Bradley “The Bulldog” Johnson

Do you really want to see this fight? Better yet, do we even need this fight?

Manny Pacquiao, 59-7-2, 38 KO’s may very well be my favorite fighter of all-time. He is an 8-time world champion that has never been in a dull fight, well maybe one. Turning pro only a month after turning 16 years old and fighting at 106 lbs. or minimum weight. Manny comes from the impoverished islands of the Philippines. Manny Pacquiao was only earning the equivalent of a couple U.S. dollars per fight to help his mother and siblings buy rice and merely survive. After winning several titles fighting out of the Philippines at lower weight classes, his big break came by coming to America and winning on the big stage.

Manny Pacquiao’ s best weight was between 126 and 130 pounds. Fighting and beating current and future Hall of Famers like Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales and Juan Manuel Marquez, but It wasn’t till he choose to move up to the higher weight classes that he became a superstar. Now after being in the fight game for over 23 years, a bunch of great wins and some tough loses, he looks to fight again.

The stage is set, but not yet confirmed, for a bout with former super lightweight champion Mike Alvarado, 38-4, 26 KO’s. April 14th in Madison Square Garden in New York City is where this event is supposed to take place on PPV HBO.

This match up is far from the huge fights filled with anticipation we are used to Manny being involved in. Alvarado although a tough kid and very good fighter, hasn’t had a significant fight since January of 2015 against former rival Brandon Rios. Mike was stopped in the 3rd round of that fight. One year and 2 months prior to Brandon Rios beating Mike Alvarado, Manny Pacquiao beat Rios pretty badly in a one-sided twelve round decision.

So, what does that all mean? Well, I guess not a whole lot. What version of Manny Pacquiao will show up to the ring and how much fire power does he have left? I guess that’s the reason for this bout and is the better question. I believe the former version of Manny Pacquiao would have stopped now WBO welterweight champion Jeff Horn. Instead Pacquiao lost a hard-fought controversial decision back in July of 2017.

It also looks like this is a tune-up fight or showcase fight to set up to a showdown with the winner of the Jeff Horn and Terence Crawford championship fight. A fight a Manny Pacquiao fan also may not want to see for a different reason. We like to see our fighters go out on top and dread the day they become a shell of themselves. We don’t want to watch Muhammad Ali hold on one fight to long as he did against Larry Holmes.

We know Manny has gotten older and we know he is a step slower. We know he is more involved with his countries politics then he is with his fighting career and has been for a long time. We just don’t want to watch him go from a bit old, to too old in one night, which happens to a lot of fighters. The cruel realities of life can be magnified in the boxing ring 100 times over.

With all that being said, of course I will watch my all-time favorite fighter once again walk to the ring with that big smile on his face and take in the sights from the edge of my seat with nervous anxiety with every punch he takes and jump out of my seat with exhilaration with every punch he and lands. Hoping the man with such humble beginnings who has done more for his country than maybe any man that has come before him still has one or even two comebacks still left in the tank before riding off into the sunset.

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