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By Kirk Jackson
By now it’s common knowledge within the boxing world, Manny Pacquiao, one of boxing’s brightest stars, signed an extension that will carry out till the end of 2016, with his long time promotional company, Top Rank.
A company responsible for producing many of boxing’s biggest fights, many of which included Manny Pacquiao.
But as of late, Top Rank has placed their prized pupil in reruns of the same episodes, (repeatedly facing foes such as Juan Manuel Marquez and Timothy Bradley) to go along with crappy fights on the undercard.
The Pacquiao-Marquez rivalry is great. They create magic in the ring, producing classic fights, but don’t you think fighting four times is enough? Why fight a fifth time? What’s going to change this time around?
A third fight to cap the trilogy with Timothy Bradley is understandable, although not necessary. Feeding Pacquiao fighters who have not earned the right, or do not stand a snow ball’s chance in hell of beating Manny is not appealing either.
So with this extension, we will be tuning in to watch Manny fight other in-house Top Rank fighters. Fighting Marquez for a fifth, sixth and seventh time, possibly fighting Ruslan Provodnikov, fighting Mike Alvarado or maybe facing Brandon Rios for a second and third time.
The loyalty Pacquiao has towards his promoter Bob Arum and to the promotional company that helped transform him to the star he is today is admirable. May not be the wisest thing however.
For all that Top Rank has done for Pacquiao, and with all of the wonderful things Pacquiao has done for the company to expand their business and generate money for the company, there is still some mishandlings that have taken place within the company.
Try to remember, Manny Pacquiao hired VisionQwest back in 2011 for a reason.
But before they could complete the investigation and track down the missing finances from Manny Pacquiao’s accounts, the very same man that hired them, fired them. The firing came into fruition because of the insistence of Top Rank associates, the same people VisionQwest was investigating.
At a press release that took place during the investigation, President and CEO of VisionQwest Resources Group Michael Lodge, commented on the matter.
“The main reason why VQ (VisionQwest) was hired to look into the missing money was because Manny believed that his fight promoter was not paying him his fair share.”
That’s probably why Pacquiao has issues with taxes back in the Philippines. The mishandling of his financial advisors messed him up. He is being taken advantage of. Why do you think Floyd Mayweather refuses to do business with Arum?
Working with Top Rank is actually a detriment to Manny Pacquiao. There is the unresolved, missing money mysteries taking place, along with another issue of there being a lack of selection of opponents to choose from.
This “Cold War” we have between promotional companies Top Rank and Golden Boy is a detriment to the sport and unfair for the fans.
We are robbed of seeing the possibility of Manny Pacquiao vs. Danny Garcia or against Marcos Maidana for instance. Because of this “Cold War,” we will not see Floyd Mayweather vs. Timothy Bradley.
With the extension, we sure will not see Mayweather vs. Pacquiao. Manny Pacquiao’s former Strength and Conditioning Coach Alex Ariza would certainly agree.
“It’s not about what’s best for the fighter. It’s clear as to why the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight has never happened. It’s always about what’s best for Bob and his agenda..”
Quotes courtesy of Ben Thompson, from Fighthype.com
