Timothy Bradley vs. Manny Pacquiao fight aftermath, and how it possibly affects a future Pacquiao vs. Mayweather bout.

The boxing world was shaken up on Saturday June 9, 2012. The highly anticipated fight between Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao, and Timothy "Desert Storm" Bradley took place on this date. Bradley, an undefeated fighter in the prime of his career came into the bout an obvious underdog. Manny Pacquiao, who is considered by many to be the current "pound for pound king" of boxing, stepped into the ring to face Bradley after his controversial win against Mexican fighter, Juan Manuel Marquez last November. After a hard fought battle between Bradley and Pacquiao, boxing fans and experts were shocked at the results. Timothy Bradley pulled off the upset, defeating Manny Pacquiao, thus claiming the WBO Welterweight Championship belt. Bradley was awarded the fight by split-decision. Judges Duane Ford and CJ Ross scored the fight 115-113 in favor of Bradley. The third judge, Jerry Roth ruled the fight 115-113 in favor of Pacquiao. Regardless as to how fans feel about the controversial decision in this fight, Pacquiao's seven year streak of consecutive wins has come to a sudden halt. Pacquiao's loss has a few notable consequences for him. It also throws a monkey wrench in any possible match against Floyd Mayweather Jr. In this article I'm going to discuss how Pacquiao's loss to Bradley affects a potential fight with Mayweather. These are strictly my own opinions. I hope you enjoy reading.

In December of last year I wrote an article titled, "Floyd Mayweather Jr's jail sentence, and how it affects a potential fight with Manny Pacquiao." You can read that article here, but I'm going to bring up and touch on a few points that I made in that article in this one. Anyone who somewhat follows boxing knows that the "Megafight" between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr is what the world wants to see. Not only have fans of boxing been longing to see this fight made, but the fans in the sporting world in general have also been campaigning for it. There have been many accusations made on both sides as to why the fight hasn't been made. The closest the fight came to becoming a reality was back in 2010. Pacquiao reportedly agreed to fight Mayweather on May, 10 2010 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. However, there were disagreements between both camps regarding random Olympic-style drug testing. After not being able to come to an agreement on the time frame of testing leading up to the fight, Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum said the fight was off. This decision disappointed many of those who were certain the fight was going to happen. It also brought into question whether or not Manny Pacquiao was using banned performance enhancing substances. This is an argument that is still questioned by many today.

In November of 2011, it was announced by Floyd Mayweather Jr's advisor, Leonard Ellerbe that Mayweather would be returning to the ring on May 5, 2012. This was around the time where Floyd Mayweather Jr was dealing with legal issues stemming from a domestic battery charge filed by the mother of his kids, Josie Harris. After taking a plea agreement and being sentenced to 90 days in jail, Mayweather was ordered by a judge to surrender to authorities on January 6, 2012. However, since Mayweather had previously reserved the MGM Grand Garden Arena for his May 5th bout, the date that he was to surrender was changed to June 1, 2012. Negotiations began once again with Manny Pacquiao and his camp following Pacquiao's victory over Juan Manuel Marquez in November of 2011. Mayweather reportedly offered Pacquiao a flat fee of $40 million dollars with no pay-per view revenues going to Pacquiao. On the other side of the equation, Pacquiao's camp wanted a 50/50 split of the revenue that would be generated from the fight. Mayweather held firm to not give up a 50/50 split by any means, which lead to the fight not happening again. Mayweather would go on to face Miguel Cotto on the May 5th date, win the fight by unanimous decision.

The blame game for why Mayweather and Pacquiao haven't fought yet has become endless downward spiral. Some feel that Mayweather is scared and views Pacquiao as a legimiate threat to beat him. Mayweather is undefeated (43-0), so naturally a guy who has never lost wants to keep his record in tact. Others feel that Pacquiao has used banned substances throughout his career, and that he would test positive during a random drug testing scenario. Others feel that "Top Rank" boxing's CEO and Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum is the reason why the fight has yet to be made. It must be noted that Floyd Mayweather Jr once was a fighter under Top Rank boxing from 1996-2006. Mayweather accused Bob Arum in 2007 of both underpaying him and under marketing him, which lead to Mayweather starting his own promotional company, "Mayweather Promotions". Although the blame will most likely continue between both camps, critics, experts, and fans alike, it doesn't change the fact that the fight everyone wants has yet to go down. Both of these guys are getting older now.

I personally feel that Pacquiao's loss to Bradley is a definite setback for him in a potential negotiation to fight Mayweather in the future. When a fighter takes a loss in boxing, they not only lose the opportunity to fight big fights, they also lose leverage in negotiating with other fighters and their promoters. If there was an ounce of a possible change of heart from Mayweather to give Pacquiao a 50/50 split, I'm sure it's completely gone now. The one thing that frightened a lot of fans was if either Mayweather or Pacquiao took a loss before they actually fought. One of them losing would easily diminish the demand for a fight between the two, and I think that is exactly what has happened with Pacquiao losing to Bradley. I think that the demand to see Mayweather vs. Pacquiao will drop even more now. This is why it would have been great if they could have fought in 2010. Now I could be wrong, again that is my own personal opinion. At this point it's not known what's next for both Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. Mayweather is currently serving his 87 day jail sentence, and it's not known whether he will fight again or not. There have been rumors that he might retire soon. Timothy Bradley stated after the fight with Pacquiao that he was interested in doing a rematch with Pacquiao in November of this year. However, after the controversial decision this past Saturday, I'm not sure that fans would be excited about a rematch between Bradley and Pacquiao. One thing remains certain; the boxing world was shaken again up on June 9, 2012. I'm sure that people will be talking about the Bradley vs. Pacquiao fight for weeks and months to come. Thanks for reading.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manny_Pacquiao

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floyd_Mayweather,_Jr.#Jail_Term

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Arum

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/261429/sports/boxing/judges-ford-roth-defend-unpopular-bradley-pacquiao-scores-this-isn-t-american-idol