Manny Pacquiao: What a Clear Victory Will Prove to Floyd Mayweather

Anything and everything that Manny Pacquiao says or does is interpreted in relation to Floyd Mayweather Jr., and vice versa.

If Pac-Man should so much as sneeze accidentally at the mention of Money May's name, it prompts a firestorm of controversy and furthers the Cold War narrative that's brewed between boxing's two biggest stars.

Okay, so maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but the fact that Pacquiao will be back in the ring on June 9th should nonetheless be of particular importance to Mayweather's camp.

And by Mayweather's camp, I mean just Mayweather, since he'll be sitting in solitary confinement in the South Tower of the Clark County Detention Center when Manny meets Timothy Bradley at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Pacquiao will be out to prove that he's a much better fighter than the Pacquiao who last stepped between the ropes against Juan Manuel Marquez and emerged with a somewhat controversial majority decision in his favor. Pac-Man threw and landed more punches than Dinamita, though the Mexican contender, with his superb defensive tactics and careful avoidance of Pacquiao's furious fists, gave the Filipino phenom his toughest fight since...well, the last time these two had faced off.

Bradley is a younger, leaner fighter than Pacquiao or Marquez, but isn't expected to last long against the reigning WBO Welterweight champion. According to Malaya Business Insight, Freddie Roach, Pacquiao's trainer, has compared "Desert Storm" to Ricky Hatton for his aggressive (and somewhat undisciplined) style in the ring. 

Hatton, as you may recall, didn't last long against Pacquiao back in May of 2009, suffering a knockout at the 2:59 mark of the second round.

Pacquiao could certainly use a devastating finish of that sort against Bradley to reassert himself as one of the two best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, and prove to Mayweather that he's no pushover.

And, perhaps more importantly, that he deserves no worse than a 50-50 split of the pie if he and Money May finally put on the fight that everyone wants to see. Floyd has been reluctant in the past to grant Manny an even share of the money, suggesting that he, not Pacquiao, would be the one driving the bus, so to speak.

A dominant showing by Pacquiao, though, on the heels of Mayweather suffering a solid beating in his win over Miguel Cotto, just might turn the conversation a few degrees. So might Money May's 90-day jail sentence, during which Pacquiao will have the public spotlight all to himself, while Mayweather stews in a cell.

It'll give Mayweather that much more reason to not take Pacquiao lightly, and grant Pacquiao that much more leverage when the two return to the negotiating table.

Hopefully, just in time to put these two in the same ring this fall.

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