Pacquiao-bradley rematch? Waive purses first!

The only way any rematch between Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley can gain acceptance and credibility is if both fighters waive their respective purses from the fight, as well as all other earnings from pay-perview shares in favor of their favorite charities.

Anything less than that and any rematch featuring both fighters will always be tainted by suspicions that their first fight was rigged in such a way that it becomes almost necessary for a return bout to be held.

Look at it this way. There are only two boxers left in the world who can command the kind of interest that would rake in the money — Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. In fact, according to the latest Forbes listing, Mayweather (#1) and Pacquiao (#2) are the world’s richest athletes.

Unfortunately, and mainly because of money, the fight the whole world wants to see never happened. And it remains doubtful if it will, not only because of money issues, but also because Mayweather is in prison, serving time on a domestic battery conviction.

Mayweather has been sentenced to only a few months in prison, with eligibility for early release on good behavior. Nevertheless, he will be out of shape when he gets out and would not likely risk tarnishing his unblemished record.

That leaves Pacquiao as the lone big money-maker in the world of boxing today. Any fight out there that does not feature Pacquiao is not likely to make the cash register of Bob Arum or any other promoter ring like crazy.

To drive home the point, Arum had to guarantee Pacquiao a purse of $26 million, plus hefty shares in the ppv, just to get him to fight the non-marquee Bradley who, on the other hand, got the biggest paycheck of his life worth $5 million.

If it had not been Pacquiao whom Bradley fought earlier this month, it would have been a ho-hum fight as far as the cash register is concerned. And Bradley would not have merited a $5 million paycheck. His opponent would have earned even much less.

But because of Pacquiao, the lights of Las Vegas lit up once more. The hotels were packed and the casinos hummed. Ancillary business in the gambling and resort capital of America booms whenever Pacquiao fights there.

In a word, Pacquiao is simply pretty darn good business. There was a problem though with PacquiaoBradley — no pretty darn good business remains on the horizon after it, not even with Pacquiao looming large in it. A fourth fight with Juan Manuel Marquez is already a big fat joke. With nobody of credence left to fight other than Mayweather, Pacquiao-Bradley had to be squeezed of whatever it was worth. And if a rematch was the last shot anyone can take to make big money, you can just imagine how many would do almost anything to make that shot.

But if Pacquiao blasts the daylights out of Bradley, which he is very capable of doing, what reason would there be for a rematch? The last big money ever to be made out of boxing would be made on the Pacquiao-Bradley of June 9 (June 10 in the Philippines).

As it happened, however, Pacquiao did not blast the daylights out of Bradley. He did come close to doing so in the middle rounds but, looking back, I now doubt very seriously if that was the intention. In fact, that was the first fight I saw of Pacquiao missing so many easy shots.

As the whole scandalized world knows by now, Bradley escaped with a split decision. WBO, the sanctioning body of the fight, was moved by the scandal to review the fight with five new judges, all of whom awarded the fight to Pacquiao.

But the decision cannot be reversed. Besides, it does nobody any good, least of all boxing, to have decisions reversed. Anyway, it was a fight that Pacquiao clearly won, regardless of how many times it will henceforth be reviewed and judged again.

Yet, there is now talk of a rematch, with even a November date. Most surprisingly, and at least very disappointing to me personally, Pacquiao seems all too eager to go for the ride. What will it cost the fans this time, another $26 million? And our credibility to boot for a farce?

‘Pacquiao seems all too eager to go for the ride. What will it cost the fans this time, another $26 million? And our credibility to boot for a farce?’