It's been a busy month in boxing so far, and the questions have been pouring in from the fans. Does Manny Pacquiao fight for the money or for his country? Is Saul Alvarez a one-of-a-kind fighter who can beat Mayweather? Should Alexander vs. Maidana be a 12-round fight? What really are the PPV numbers for Pacquiao vs. Marquez III? Although I don't have all the answers, I do have an opinion, so check out what I had to say to inquiring minds who want to know.
If Pacquiao does retire after his next fight against Tim Bradley, I think he will try to come back very soon. He may be devoted to being a congressman and devoted to his religion but in reality everyone knows that boxing is his passion and he'd miss the sport within a few months of retirement. No matter what promises he made to his family, the first wish of all his loved ones for should be to do what makes him happy. i stand by what i say fully when i say this. mayweather fights for money and self-pride. Pacquiao fights for his country, his people, and against poverty. if those aren't good deeds, i don't know what is. thanks for reading my opinion - Sam
BT: I HIGHLY doubt that Manny Pacquiao is actually going to retire after the Bradley fight. He may take an extended vacation and only fight once this year, but like you said, boxing is his passion and what he does best. It's difficult for any fighter to walk away when they're still on top, and as long as Floyd Mayweather is still fighting, Manny will never be able to avoid the constant questions about that fight. I disagree, however, with your assessment that he fights for his country and his people. Sure, outside of the ring he may fight for them against poverty, but inside of the ring, he fights for the same thing every fighter fights for...MONEY! Keep in mind, he nearly walked away from paydays with Ricky Hatton and Oscar De La Hoya because he wanted more money. He's also consistenly demanded higher guaranteed purses in every fight since then. Make no mistake, when it comes to boxing, Manny Pacquiao, like Floyd Mayweather, fights for the money, and in my opinion, that's the real motivating factor that will keep him fighting after June 9th.
I just found out this was going to be a ten round fight. I'm so freaking annoyed by this. Because this favors Alexander, the fight being in St. Louis only favors Alexander. It's clear why they made this a 10 round fight.. Alexanders know it will be easier for Alexander to out point Maidana in ten rounds, than to risk Alexander getting tired in the championship rounds like he has in his last two fights. I hope Maidana knocks that quitter Alexander out! - Jorge Zarate
BT: I assume it's a 10-round fight because no title is on the line, which is typically the case in non-title fights. Because Alexander is ranked #2 in the WBC, Team Alexander actually asked the WBC if they could make the fight a title elimnator, which in turn would make it a 12-round fight, but the WBC President Jose Sulaiman turned down them down, refusing to rank Maidana because "he is a WBA guy". Considering that, I don't think I would say Team Alexander was looking to make it a 10-round fight because they wanted an advantage. That being said, if Team Maidana was concerned about Alexander having an advantage in a 10-round fight, then they never should have signed the contract, especially knowing that they're fighting in Alexander's hometown. Nobody forced Maidana to take the fight. He could have just as easily waited for Robert Guerrero to recover from shoulder surgery. Ironically, now that Guerrero has recovered, he's begging just about everyone for a fight.
hey dude, the event of all events will b Alvarez beating mayweather off his throne. Mayweather won't take on canelo bcuz he knows he wil get stuffed!! Alvarez is a true one of a kind - Joe O'Hare
BT: I'll reserve judgement on Alvarez being a "one of a kind" until I actually see him tested against a "live" opponent. Perhaps we'll get a chance to see what he's really made of when he faces Shane Mosley on May 5th. Personally, I think Shane Mosley will tell us more about Alvarez than Alfonso Gomez and Kermit Cintron did. If Mosley is as far gone as some people claim he is, then Alvarez should look SPECTACULAR against him. If not, then we'll definitely find out if Alvarez is really ready to step up to Mayweather. That being said, I'm not even sure if Alvarez has faced anyone to prepare him for a fighter like Mayweather, so I'm not too sure about your prediction. It will definitely be an event though, and one that will likely take place next if Alvarez is right about being promised the winner of Mayweather vs. Cotto.
Ben, you are by far the best writer for our sport... You are quite gifted my friend and i always go to your site first for my news because i know you will go above and beyond what any other site does. One thing, I've picked up on and seems that every writer is missing "this" is that pacman's ppv numbers have not been released for his last two fights with mosley and marquez.... BA said he thinks the marquez fight would be 1.4million but never officially released it. Dan Rafael said in his friday chat last week that Bob will no longer be releasing PPV numbers hence why he hasnt released cotto vs marg II, pac vs sugar, and pac vs marquez III. If these numbers were no where near Floyd's #'s, this makes a strong case that FLoyd does deserve more because he was already beating pac in common opponents tremendously before those fights took place... and 1.4 million buys for pac vs marquez III is absolutely laughable in itself, I wouldnt be surprised if it didnt break 1 mill. I would like to see what you can come up with or if you already have this info because I know our boy Floyd would love to see how he owned Top Rank AGAIN!! Keep up the amazing work my friend!!! - Greg B, Columbus Ohio
BT: Thanks for the support. It's funny you mention Pacquiao's PPV numbers against Marquez, because I seem to remember Bob Arum proclaiming at one point that he would indeed reveal those numbers and he guaranteed it would be an official press release from HBO. I guess he changed his mind. From what I know, in past PPVs, it seems like Arum tends to inflate those numbers by about 150-250,000 buys. If memory serves me correctly, they reported that Pacquiao vs. Cotto did 1.25 million buys, but I've personally seen numbers that only total 1.1 million buys. I heard something similar for Pacquiao vs. Mosley, where the number was actually closer to 1.15 million as opposed to the reported 1.3 million. My guess that it was probably the same case for Pacquiao vs. Marquez III. 1.4 million was reported, but it was probably more like 1.25 million. Now whether or not that means Floyd Mayweather deserves more money is up for debate. However, I can confirm that for at least one fight, Pacquiao vs. Cotto, those numbers were DEFINITELY inflated.
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