You can’t help wondering how things would have turned out if Pacquiao’s career had been handled more like Mayweather’s. After all, Manny has been a major pay-per-view star since stopping Oscar De La Hoya in 2008, and he has a proven track record of selling a million or more pay-per-view buys almost every time he fights.
But unlike Mayweather, who for many years has personally and painstakingly selected his opponents — many competing at least a few pounds above their natural range or a few years beyond their prime — Pacquiao is frequently matched up with the most commercially viable foe, weight and style be damned.
So why haven’t Pacquiao’s opponents been as carefully selected as Mayweather’s? And why, now that his career is in jeopardy following back-to-back defeats, is he fighting Brandon Rios, an extremely dangerous opponent with the sort of punching power that could conceivably leave Manny facedown on the canvas again?