Manny Pacquiao: Gay Marriage Comments Destroying Hype for Fight vs. Tim Bradley
Are you aware that Manny Pacquiao is scheduled for one of the biggest fights of his life in less than a month?
Sure doesn’t seem like it with the way America is currently talking about PacMan.
Less than a month before his monumental battle against Tim Bradley, nobody is talking about the match. Everyone wants to know why Pacquiao is against gay marriage and why he was misquoted.
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I’m not here to speak on the issue, but I would like to know why in the world he is talking about such a polarizing topic this close to his June 9th bout.
He has been in exile for seemingly the entire 2012 calendar year in American media, presumably handling his duties as a government official in the Philippines while also training for this fight. He could have made these comments in January and the backlash would be long gone at this point.
Instead, it has overshadowed what looks to be a classic fight.
After watching the judges gift wrap PacMan a technical decision over Juan Manuel Marquez in November, questions surrounding his ability to beat another top welterweight began to swirl.
Bradley is no chump.
The 28 year-old (28-0, 12 KOs) is much quicker than Pacquiao and is more than capable of pulling off the upset. Sure, the vast experience of PacMan (54-3-2, 38 KOs) helps, but it remains to be seen just how focused he is on this match.
There is no doubt his fists aren’t as fast, his ability to take a pounding has diminished and his hunger has subsided.
It sets up a very even match that should be garnering much more hype than what the Floyd Mayweather and Miguel Cotto fight received. This is a fight that could very well be decided in the 12th and final round.
Instead, the country is outraged by his comments and is labeling him some sort of monster.
Boxing fans know this isn’t true, but regardless of how people perceive him right now, they are thinking about his opinions rather than his performance in a ring.
That’s not what you need when trying to promote arguably the biggest fight of the year. Pacquiao made a grave error opening his mouth and it will be interesting to see if the PPV numbers take a hit because of it.
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