Would Bob Arum throw Pacquiao to the wolves in lieu of impending retirement? Can Jermain Taylor succeed in his most recent comeback? Does anybody care for a second helping of Hopkins-Dawson? Find out the answers to these questions and more in this week's "From Pillar to Post"!
Bob Arum Prepping For Life after Pacquiao
Though we've just rung in the New Year, all eyes are on 2013 for Manny Pacquiao and his impending future. Pacquiao has stated his intention to run for Governor of the Sarangani Province, and considering Pacquiao's recent performances and the fact that he's getting older and may not be at all happy with his promotional situation, it's a very realistic possibility that he'll put more focus on his political career. Pacquiao and his camp have been pushing for a long-awaited fight with Floyd Mayweather to materialize, but a mixture of Mayweather's incarceration, as well as his money-grubbing boss, will again indefinitely postpone the super fight that will never happen.
What WILL happen instead, in my opinion, is that Pacquiao will return on May 5th in a fourth fight against Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas, and should Pacquiao get through that fight, he'll find himself ringside opposite Timothy Bradley at year's end before calling it a career. If anybody knows boxing though, they know that Arum isn't going to let Pacquiao escape from his wrinkly clutches without some measure of insurance on his end, and that possibly means that Arum may be setting up Pacquiao for a loss in this coming year.
When you consider all the jawing that Bradley and Marquez have been doing the past few weeks, Pacquiao's political aspirations, the rash of poor performances, and this interview from Marquez, can you see Arum trying to turn the gears for a Bradley-Marquez match? In Arum's eyes, Pacquiao may retire this year, leaving him with no cash cow or big attraction, and it's unlikely that Arum will be fine with such a windfall. What I could see happening instead is Marquez beating Pacquiao in their fourth fight, and Pacquiao retires, leaving Marquez being billed as not only the man who beat Pacquiao, but the pound-for-pound best fighter in boxing.
That will lead us into another mega-fight in the fall with Marquez opposing Bradley and Arum reeling in the profits. Arum's filicide of Pacquiao, the destruction of his own creation, will be for one reason only and that is to keep the old man making money regardless of how tasteless or classless it is. To Arum, at the end of the day, it's always about business.
Taylor's Quest for Redemption Begins
Jesse Nicklow may never be in a marquee fight again, but he served his purpose in acting as a punching bag for the return of former Middleweight king Jermain Taylor, who battered him en route to a mid-round stoppage last week. Taylor will be taking a few more fights to get the ring rust off, but his quest for a title may not be as easy as one thinks when looking at the state of the Middleweight division. I do think Taylor will find himself in a title fight later this year, maybe against Felix Sturm, which is a more than winnable fight for him, but the rest of the division may not be so friendly.
The other current champions at Middleweight, which consist of Sergio Martinez, Dmitry Pirog and Gennady Golovkin, are well-rounded and heavy-handed fighters who can provide Taylor a lot of grief. Golovkin gets my endorsement as boxing's best kept secret. He is a monster and God help Taylor if he got in the ring with him. Pirog is no pushover either, but his unwillingness to fight outside of Russia is a problem.
Lest we forget, Taylor was beaten into a two-year retirement after being brutally knocked out back to back by Carl Froch and Arthur Abraham in an ill-conceived stint at 168. It's not going to be easy for Taylor to get back on the top of the mountain like he did in his younger years, but I'll be cautiously watching as he tries.
Dawson-Hopkins II? No Thanks!
Now that Bernard Hopkins has his belt back and is presumably near full health, it looks like he may find himself a Showtime date in a rematch against Chad Dawson, as unfortunate as that is. I was ringside to watch the debacle of their two-round "fight" and I honestly was hoping that both men meant what they said in going opposite directions after the fight. Being that Hopkins doesn't have enough negotiating power to convince Lucian Bute to move up to 175, and that Dawson can't get Jean Pascal to come to the US for their rematch, they're looking at each other again.
Their first fight was a bore, but I guess since there is a title on the line and given the controversial ending of their first fight, that's reason enough for it to happen, but it's another tough fight to watch. Though nothing has officially been announced, SOMEBODY has to fight Hopkins and the only person that may be willing to do it is Dawson, who will no doubt try to establish himself as the better man and the division's top fighter. Well, here's to hoping that this one makes it on the network circuit and not the pay-per-view one.
Danny Howard Wants You To Pick Your Potshots!
Starting next week, I will be hoping to host a weekly mailbag with your questions, comments and opinions about what's going on in the sport of boxing. Send me your love, hate, discern or concern, whatever, but please send it to dhoward@fighthype.com for your chance to be featured on the Pillar to Post Mailbag starting next week! Hope to read what you guys have for me and check you out next week!