Manny Pacquiao Let Down Boxing: Why His Decision to Fight Timothy Bradley is Bad for The Sport that Made Him!

By Jesse “New School” Wright

Before he was an eight weight class champion, the second highest paid athlete in 2015 or even the most famous man in his home country of the Philippines, Manny Pacquiao was just scraping together enough money to feed his family. As a young child growing up in General Santos City, he began work at a young age and made money any way possible from fishing the docks to hustling doughnuts for a small mark up on the streets. Boxing was his ticket from being a poverty stricken survivalist to achieving a level of fortune and power reserved for the most elite. Throughout his growth of success, he’s stayed humble and given back, and for that he is beloved by many in his home country of the Philippines. In the ring he’s gone to war and shed blood to show his gratitude to those who paid to see him fight. He never let his fans or his country down, but with his decision to fight Tim Bradley he is letting down the very sport that made him who he is today.

The general gripe that many boxing enthusiasts have against Pacquiao’s decision to fight Tim Bradley is that it is a fight they don’t want to see. They have already fought twice with the first fight being a poorly scored decision in favor of Bradley and the second being an easy decision victory for Pacquiao. A third fight is seen by many as pointless as the better man has already made his case two times over now. There were new challenges out there for him that were in strong consideration including Terrence “Bud” Crawford and Amir Khan. With all that being said, Pacquiao does not owe it to the fans to fight anybody. In an article written earlier on RSR, Tareq “Philosopher” Almashini illustrated that point perfectly. In short, he explained that Pacquiao’s retirement fight was the one fought against Floyd Mayweather, JR. and anything additional would simply be a bonus. After taking the unnecessary risk of fighting Juan Manuel Marquez a fourth time and suffering a terrifyingly violent knockout loss, one could argue that he gave the fans everything they deserved and should’ve retired with that fight.

Pacquiao’s farewell fight isn’t for the fans though; it’s for the sport of boxing. Pacquiao should know this as his own success as a premiere Pay Per View star came when he defeated Oscar De La Hoya. De La Hoya was one of boxing’s biggest PPV draws in the early 2000’s when Pacquiao was still making his name. In his swan song fight, De La Hoya did not take the safe route; he unselfishly gave Pacquiao the opportunity he needed to be a megastar. It was De La Hoya’s way of passing the torch on to a future star and allowing boxing to thrive in a future that he would no longer be a part of competitively. Tim Bradley already had his shot twice now. Terrence Crawford is still very young and very close to breaking through as a star with a victory over a marquee name opponent. Just as De La Hoya passed the torch to Pacquiao eight years ago, it is now time to pass it on again.

Out of the three names given by Top Rank Promoter Bob Arum, Crawford is the one who seems to have the most star potential. Though he has still not proved himself as the elite fighter in his own weight class of junior welterweight, he is a young fighter that fans love. A fight with lineal junior welterweight champion Viktor Postal will not generate the exposure Crawford needs to gain mainstream popularity. Adrien Broner would be a good name to generate attention in a fight for his WBA title. Unfortunately, you would have a better chance of winning the lottery and scoring a date with a ringcard girl in the same week than seeing that fight come to fruition. The reason being that the promoters of both fighters are not on negotiating terms (Top Ranks Bob Arum handles Crawford and Al Haymon represents Broner).

Crawford and Pacquiao do share the same promoter in Top Rank which would have made this an easy fight to organize. It is in the best interest of Top Rank to make this fight in order to build the brand of Crawford who could potentially be a cash cow moving forward. Many will argue that Crawford hasn’t done enough to earn a shot. Here’s a better argument: Has Tim Bradley done enough to deserve a third fight with Pacquiao? The answer is no. Let’s also not forget just two fights ago Pacquiao fought a guy by the name of Chris Algieri who had no business even stepping in the same ring. Floyd Mayweather brought up the match between Pacquiao and Algieri when criticized for taking an easy retirement match against Andre Berto. Speaking of which, it should be noted that Mayweather, JR. is guilty of choosing a relatively weak opponent for his farewell fight.

To all of those who argue that Mayweather, JR. is no better than Pacquiao in his decision to fight Berto before closing curtains, you are 100% correct. Mayweather. JR. also achieved his PPV status with a victory over De La Hoya just a year before Pacquiao did the same. The only potential saving grace for Mayweather is the high likelihood that Berto was not his final opponent as it was more so a marketing point to sell the fight. In the case of Pacquiao however, we are dealing with a person who is beloved for his willingness to give back. He puts others before himself which is why it is surprising that he is not paying it forward.

Pacquiao’s future after boxing looks bright. He already has his eyes set on a Senate seat in the Philippines beginning in May, just a month after the scheduled Bradley fight. If successful, he will achieve his ultimate goal of helping to improve the country that he takes so much pride in. In the past three decades he gave the boxing world everything his body and heart could offer. The only thing he will not leave boxing with is an heir to carry on the legacy. Crawford’s star will grow over time, but it will be a much taller mountain to climb. It’s just unfortunate that Pacquiao will leave without paying back the favor to the sport of boxing.

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