Pacquiao vs Marquez: Loss Will Not Hurt Pac-Man's Marketability
There are two boxers that are the face of the sport today. One is Floyd “Money” Mayweather, with his loud-mouth approach to the sport that has not been seen since the days of Muhammad Ali. And the other is the very loud marketing machine from the Philippines, Manny Pacquiao.
Manny is a great fighter; however, all great fighters suffer a loss in their career. Ali lost, “Sugar” Ray Leonard lost, Tyson lost—pretty much, you name a great fighter, and a majority of them have lost at some point in their career.
It’s why if Pacquiao happens to lose this fight against Juan Manuel Marquez, it will not hurt Manny's marketability.
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For example, the 32-year-old boxer—in his last five emphatic wins over Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto, Joshua Clottey and Antonio Margarito—amassed over five million pay-per-view buys on HBO Sports, making him the biggest foreign draw in the United States since the system became common practice.
Pacquiao also has sponsorships to brands including Nike, San Miguel, McDonald’s, Hewlett-Packard and EA Sports. Pacquiao has been on commercials, plugging those HP tablets.
Pacquiao has a singing career that he’s trying to promote as well. He even recorded a single that you can find in the commercial for the HP tablet.
He has even put himself on talk shows to promote his fights, his singing and whatever else he wants to promote.
Win or lose, Pacquiao will accept the outcome in the same humbleness that he has shown in every fight of his career. You will not see Pacquiao go off on poor HBO Boxing talking-piece Larry Merchant, like Floyd Mayweather did after his last fight.
You will see Pacquiao talk to Larry about the fight, while doing a good job in fielding questions about the fight that everyone wants to see against Mayweather.
If Manny happens to lose against Marquez, either by knockout or by decision, it will not hurt the publicity for the eventual fight against Mayweather.
That’s the fight that every boxing fan—hardcore or casual—wants to see, no matter what the boxers' records are. They want to see that fight for all of the promotion and hoopla surrounding the event.
Because what sells tickets is how well you promote the fight. And win or lose on Saturday, Manny Pacquiao is one of the best salesmen in the world.
