Who will be the next Pac-man Contender?

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Manny Pacquiao has been in the news a lot lately.

Manny was a slight favorite over Keith Thurman at online betting sites that offer boxing action, like Nitrogen Sports.

That said, the fact that Pacquiao was the favorite was actually artificial. Kieth Thurman was actually set as a -135 favorite by Las Vegas and online betting shops. But, because of Pac-Man’s massive worldwide popularity, action dictated a shift in the lines.

This was a case where the public turned out to be correct. It was a hard fight for Manny, yet he prevailed in a 12-round split-decision win. However, the 40-year-old fighter took a lot of shots, which leads us to one of the latest headlines.

Bob Arum recently went public saying that he fears Manny Pacquiao could end up like Muhamed Ali. Arum is Pac-Man’s former promoter. And not just for a hot second. Arum was with Pac-Man for years, and he’s worried that if Manny keeps fighting at this age, he’ll end up with brain damage.

Pac-Man is the oldest WBA welterweight champion in history. But Arum points out,

”he looked good in that fight [against Thurman], but if you watch the fight, he took a lot of punishment, and he’s over 40.” 

His concerns are valid. The body doesn’t heal in it’s later years like it does when it’s younger. So, this brings us to his next fight. Should he even fight, or just retire as the champ?

On September 28th we’ll have the privilege of seeing two great fighters clash in the ring. Errol Spence and Shawn Porter will fight for the welterweight unification of the IBF and WBC titles. As the WBA champion, Pac-Man would most likely face the winner if this match in a three-organization unification title fight. Terrence Crawford is another fighter on the shortlist for Pac-Man’s next fight.

According to Arum, Spence is the clear pick for the Spence vs. Porter fight, and he doesn’t think Pac-Man should fight him. Spence is currently a -600, heavy favorite over Porter. Spence has a lot of power, especially on the inside. Porter is a mauler, which plays into Errol Spence’s fighting style. To have success against Spence, it’s better to be moving nimbly off the back foot. But Porter swarms and mauls, which will put him in danger of getting caught by heavy shots on the inside.

Even other professional fighters are pretty much unanimous on the outcome of this fight. So, will Manny Pacquiao take on Errol Spence after inevitably wins? What about Floyd?

The world would love to see a rematch between Pac-Man and Mayweather, and there has been a video circulating where Floyd himself states that there will be an upcoming super-fight between him and Pac-Man. However, Mayweather recently went on record stating that he was paid 2.2 million dollars to make that video and that another fight between Pac-Man and ‘Money’ will never happen. So where does that leave us? It leaves us waiting expectantly for a fight with another world champ. A guy like Spence is a cut above Thurman, so it leaves me wondering if he has enough left to fight a 29-year-old champion who’s at the top of his game. The same goes for Crawford who wants to fight Pac-Man. Terence Crawford has held multiple titles in three different weight classes and has never lost. 26 of his 35 victories have come by Knockout.

So who should Pacquiao fight next? The answer to that is best left up to Manny.