Manny Pacquiao Next Fight: After Beating Chris Algieri, Is Floyd Mayweather Next for PacMan? [Poll]
In Manny Pacquiao's latest fight Saturday, he defeated Chris Algieri via unanimous decision in a 12-round fight.
Pacquiao retained his WBO Welterweight title with that win. Despite being five inches shorter, having a six-inch reach disadvantage and being five years older, Pacquiao dominated the fight from start to finish. Algieri was previously 20-0 before this fight with eight knockouts in his career.
Even though Algieri lost the first fight of his career, he did show great resilience by refusing to stay down and avoiding a knockout. Pacquiao knocked Algieri down six times, including a huge left hook in the 10th round. Overall, Pacquiao landed 229 punches to Algieri's 108.
So, what now?
Pacquiao now has 57 career professional victories, and the 35-year-old Filipino looked great in his convincing victory over Algieri. Pacquiao left little time for fans to speculate on who he wants to face next. Immediately after his win in Macau, China, Pacquiao once again redirected his desire to face WBA Welterweight Champion Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Just last week, Pacquiao appeared in a Foot Locker commercial where he shows huge excitement in a potential fight with Mayweather. After defeating Algieri, Pacquiao stood in the ring and yelled out, "He's going to fight me? Yes! Yes!" imitating his own commercial.
Mayweather still does not have a scheduled opponent for his next fight. Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum, is doing everything in his power for a potential super fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao. Unfortunately, Mayweather has not shown any desire to face Pacquiao whatsoever.
Mayweather has faced Marcos Maidana in each of last two fights. Maidana is an average boxer, but he isn't in the same league as Pacquiao or Mayweather. If Mayweather were to face Pacquiao, he would have to get in much better shape, as he does turn 38 years old this coming February.
More and more many sports analysts believe that Mayweather may be afraid to face Pacquiao, and he is "ducking him." Even though Mayweather has an unblemished 47-0 record, he refuses to fight the best boxers today. A fight with Pacquiao, Keith Thurman or even Timothy Bradley would certainly change people's minds. Bradley will face Diego Gabriel Chaves on Dec. 13, and his 2015 schedule is still open. Arum has said in the past that Mayweather is "afraid" of Pacquiao because he hates to face left-handed boxers.
It appears as if the only person who doesn't want this fight to happen is Mayweather.
Contract negotiations and blood testing have been a constant battle between both camps since as far back as 2008. A fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao would definitely be the "fight of the year" and would gross more money than either have ever made in a previous fight. The television and pay-per-view ratings would be higher than ever, but is that enough to finally convince "Money" Mayweather to sign on the dotted line?
Mayweather is undefeated in his career, but his legacy is taking a huge hit because he refuses to face the very best. Muhammad Ali may have lost five times, but he still fought the best in the world, including Joe Frazier and George Foreman. Even Sugar Ray Robinson lost 19 fights, but again, he always squared off with the best boxers in the world.
Pacquiao is a three-time "Fighter of the Year" award winner and was named the "Fighter of the Decade" for the 2000s. Mayweather needs to prove his doubters wrong and face Pacquiao in his next fight before time runs out.
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