In 2015, boxing fans finally got to see the fight they had been waiting years for, when Floyd Mayweather beat Manny Pacquiao by decision on May 2. In the year ahead, boxing fans will be clamoring for matchups featuring new stars, such as Canelo Alvarez, Gennady Golovkin, Sergey Kovalev and Terence Crawford.
It's not as if fans will simply forget about Mayweather and Pacquiao. There are compelling fights out there for them, if they are interested in making them.
But 2016 will be about the dawn of a new era. And young stars like Kell Brook, Vasyl Lomachenko and Errol Spence Jr. will be anxious to stake their own claims. There should be plenty to look forward to next year.
Timothy Bradley will leave Puerto Rico on Saturday either elated or utterly disappointed. That much was evident when it was revealed Monday that former pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao will announce the next, and presumably last, opponent of his storied boxing career on Friday’s truTV telecast in San Juan, where Bradley will be working as a ringside analyst.
Bradley, the welterweight champion from Cathedral City, has recently stated that he would fight Pacquiao, the former eight-division world champion, if Pacquiao opts to enter the ring with him once again. Bradley defeated Pacquiao in 2012 to capture the signature win of his fight career. Pacquaio won the rematch two years later, though Bradley has since regained the welterweight title he initially won from, and then lost to, Pacquiao.
Pacquaio has been biding his time since having surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder following his May 2 bout with Floyd Mayweather Jr. He’s reportedly been considering Bradley for a rubber match out of a pool of candidates that also included unbeaten Terence Crawford and British fighter Amir Khan. But all signs point to Bradley being the selection, given that Pacquiao’s choice will be announced on the telecast Bradley will be working on Friday night.
It’s fair to question whether Top Rank Promotions, which has a contract with both Pacquaio and Bradley, and hosts fight cards on truTV, would endorse an announcement of Pacquaio’s next fight on the telecast if Bradley were not the choice. Crawford will reportedly be in attendance at the fight.
If Pacquiao were to select Bradley, it would confirm what two independent boxing sources with connections to Pacquiao told The Desert Sun earlier on Monday. The sources, speaking under the condition of anonymity because of the delicate nature of the announcement, said that Pacquiao had ultimately chosen Bradley (33-1-1, 13 knockouts) over Crawford because of Bradley’s reputable name in the sport and Pacquiao’s familiarity with him.
Whether it turns out to be Bradley or not, the fight will take place on April 9 in Las Vegas on pay-per-view, and will earn Pacquiao a guaranteed $20 million. Bradley, who made $6 million for each of the first two fights with Pacquiao, would perhaps be in for his richest payday yet if he were the choice.
Bradley, 32, is scheduled to leave Puerto Rico on Saturday and travel to New York, where he will be reunited with trainer Teddy Atlas to receive the Ring 8 Fighter of the Year award. It could turn out to be a valuable opportunity to begin making preparations to defeat a fighter who some believe beat Bradley twice, in spite of what the final scorecards read.
A Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38 knockouts) fight with Khan is one most boxing fans have been clamoring for, and one that has been rumored for years. Kahn was widely viewed as the most logical opponent for Pacquiao, though Crawford is a rising star in the sport and Bradley was beaten soundly last year after winning on a controversial decision in the first bout.
Ultimately, though, Bradley appears to present the best option for Pacquiao. He’s a fairly big name, a world champion, and someone Pacquaio has had success against in the past. And because it may be Pacquiao’s last fight, that alone could be enough to generate interest and pay-per-view buys. In addition, Bradley tore a calm muscle early in the second fight and, if healthy, the fight could be more interesting this time around.
Bradley is coming off a solid 2015. He beat Jessie Vargas by unanimous decision on June 27, and then became the first fighter to knock out Brandon Rios, on Nov. 7, to show that he can still fight at a high level. He switched trainers, from Joel Diaz to Atlas, in September, which seems to have rejuvenated him a bit.
At the very least, there should be plenty of storylines to go along with a Bradley-Pacquiao III. If Bradley is indeed the choice, and is able to defeat Pacquiao after the year that he’s had in 2015, he’ll be able to take a giant leap closer to the Hall of Fame, and perhaps set himself up for something even bigger later next year.
Andrew L. John covers boxing for The Desert Sun in Palm Springs, Calif. Contact him at andrew.john@desertsun.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Andrew_L_John.
Manny Pacquiao has left the door open to the possibility of a rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jr. next year.
Pacquiao, 36, revealed in a television interview that he intended to retire from boxing in 2016 to further his career in politics – but is hoping to fight one last time before he steps away from the ring.
An intriguing meeting with former training partner Amir Khan has previously been mooted but a rematch with Mayweather, who beat Pacquiao on points in May, would be the more obvious (and money-spinning) conclusion to the Filipino’s career.
The unbeaten Mayweather has already announced his retirement, but many informed observers believe he will fight once more in a bid to surpass Rocky Marciano’s record of retiring with a record of 49-0.
“I think I’m ready [to retire],” Pacquiao said. “I’ve been in boxing for more than 20 years.
“I prayed to God for guidance and I am happy about it.”
Pacquiao added that he hopes to fight once more before entering politics – a career change that he believes will become his focus.
“I will have to give up the other things that require my attention,” he added.
“If you are a senator, your focus should only be your job and your family.
“I will not be absent because the whole country would be my responsibility.”
Filipino boxing legend Manny Pacquiao says he is likely to retire from the sport after one more fight next year.
Pacquiao, who lost to Floyd Mayweather in his last fight, wants to run for a seat in the Philippines senate in 2016.
Britain's Amir Khan is one potential opponent for 36-year-old Pacquiao, with American Terence Crawford among the other contenders.
"I think I'm ready. I've been in boxing for more than 20 years," the six-weight world champion told ANC.
"If you are a senator, your focus should only be your job and your family.
"I will have to give up the other things that require my attention."
Pacquiao said he "cannot say" whether his last fight would be a rematch against Mayweather, with the American having pledged to retire after his defeat of Andre Berto.
The Filipino, who underwent surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff after the fight against Mayweather, boasts a fight record of 57 wins, six losses and two draws.
Manny Pacquiao will return to fight in 2016 but it could be the Filipino’s last if he wins as a senator in the Philippine elections, according to boxing promoter Bob Arum.
"He's [going to] fight again next year but his goal is to become a senator in the Philippines, which he will be next year, and then to be president,” Arum, the founder of Top Rank Promotions which handles Pacquiao's fights, declared to TMZ.com. "I think Manny will retire once he's elected to the Senate of the Philippines which is next year ... he's [going to] hang up the gloves."
This is not the first time Arum has said that Pacquiao has plans for the presidency in his country. In April earlier this year, Arum said that the Filipino has plans on running for a senate seat in 2016 and for president in 2022.
Pacquiao is coming off a loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. last May 2, 2015 when he aggravated a shoulder injury and eventually needed surgery. The Filipino boxer is pegged to be out from six to nine months from the time of surgery before full recovery. Pacquiao is expected to be back in action in the early part of 2016.
Among the rumoured opponents for Pacquiao is British boxer Amir Khan in a fight possibly held in the Middle East, according to separate reports.
The election in the Philippines is scheduled on May 9, 2016. Pacquiao was elected to the House of Representatives in the 15th and 16th Congress of the Philippines in 2010 and 2013. Pacquiao has yet to announce his plans for the 2016 elections.
Not everyone believes that Floyd Mayweather’s fight this Saturday against Andre Berto really will be the final one of his career. But the undefeated welterweight remains insistent that it will, in fact, be his swan song.
On Tuesday, Mayweather was asked a question that assumes he is about to exit the stage. Who does he think will replace him as “the best fighter in the world”?
Mayweather paused to consider his answer, then said, “We don’t know, really.” But when pressed to offer a name, the 48-0 boxer had this to say:
“I really cannot say, I mean, we’ll just have to see.
“Probably Manny Pacquiao. We can’t just take it away from him because he lost to me.
“Probably, I would say Manny Pacquiao.”
Interesting words, considering how poor Pacquiao looked in their May mega-fight won by Mayweather in a unanimous decision. After that desultory contest, the Filipino fighter said that he had badly injured his shoulder while training, a claim that Mayweather mocked in a July Instagram post.
More recently, Mayweather’s father said that Pacquiao was “a liar with no skills.” Currently, Ring magazine rates Pacquiao No. 6 in its pound-for-pound rankings (Mayweather tops the list).
It’s possible that Mayweather is just trying to put a more positive spin on his fight with Pacquiao; if he can convince people that his opponent that night is the heir to his crown as the sport’s best, then his own victory will look that much better. However, Mayweather still has some convincing to do on the issue of Berto’s worthiness, at least to judge from reports that hundreds, if not thousands, of tickets are still available for that contest.
LIL WAYNE's manager has been accused of failing to pay for top tier tickets for the rapper to attend a slew of high-profile events, leaving a bill of £74,625.
Bosses at Tickets of America and White Glove International claim the Lollipop hitmaker enjoyed ringside seats for the Floyd Mayweather, Jr. boxing clash against Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas in May (15), worth £42,188, prime seats for the 2013 Super Bowl, costing £8,750, and courtside tickets for three top basketball games, priced at £6,875 each, in addition to a few other events between February, 2013 and June, 2015.
However, they claim Wayne's manager Cortez Bryant has yet to pay them for the tickets and now they are suing, reports TMZ.com.
The disgruntled plaintiffs have filed suit against Bryant and Wayne's Young Money Entertainment record label, although the rapper himself has not been named in the court papers.
