Manny Pacquiao: Regardless of Outcome, Pac-Man Must Fight Again

Manny Pacquiao is man of many talents, but the boxing world will still need him after his fight with Timothy Bradley.

Pacquiao has thought about retirement recently, even telling a Filipino radio station that God told him call it quits soon, according to Yahoo Sports.

In addition to his distinguished fighting career, Pacquiao has also been elected to Congress in the Philippines, released albums and appeared on television shows and in movies.

Despite this renaissance man's array of skills, he still has unfinished business as a fighter.

Pacquiao has yet to go against Floyd Mayweather, who is still considered the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

A Pacquiao-Mayweather bout would be boxing's most hyped event in years.

The golden days of Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier are long gone, and competition among heavyweights has been uninteresting in recent times. The sport's most popular attractions have been the fighters in the lighter weight classes, and the two biggest stars are Mayweather and Pacquiao.

Boxing's biggest pay-per-view fight was Mayweather's bout with Oscar De La Hoya in 2007, with 2.4 million households buying the rights to watch. Mayweather's last fight, with Miguel Cotto, sold significantly worse, reaching 1.5 million households.

In 2007, Mayweather and De La Hoya were the sport's most recognizable figures. Pacquiao's wide-ranging interests and rags-to-riches story have allowed him to supplant De La Hoya as one of boxing's two biggest stars.

The Filipino fighter has been able to cast himself as the anti-Mayweather through a low-key demeanor and philanthropic work.

Both fighters have gained huge followings for wildly different reasons, but this will only adds to the appeal of their possible matchup. 

The two have tried to negotiate terms to make a fight happen, but all dealings have eventually devolved into soap opera, and the two camps have failed to deliver the fight that everyone wants to see. 

If the two sides can come together and finally make the fight happen, there will still be massive interest, and the drawn-out negotiations will likely prove to have added to the buzz.

But neither fighter is young: Pacquiao is 33 years old and Mayweather is 35.

This matchup needs to happen soon.

If and when it does happen, it will undoubtedly be the most marketable fight since Mayweather vs. De La Hoya, and it may end up being significantly more popular.

If this fight does not happen, the sport of boxing will take a massive hit. A failure to put the sport's two best fighters and biggest stars in the ring together will cast a shadow of illegitimacy over the way boxing is run.

Pacquiao needs to take care of business against Timothy Bradley, and then let God know that his retirement will have to wait until after his bout with Mayweather.