Manny Pacquaio: Why a Win vs. Bradley Will Entice Pac-Man to Continue Fighting

A victory for Manny Pacquaio over Timothy Bradley is a great reason for the legend to continue fighting.

The most notable of reasons would be a match against Floyd Mayweather Jr. After all, the two are among the best ever and easily the top boxers of their era.

Now, before we get all fanatical about the Pacquaio versus Mayweather possibility, let's view some other reasons why a win over Bradley will entice Pac-Man to keep putting up the gloves.

Defense Opportunities

Heading into this fight with Timothy Bradley, Manny Pacquaio has successfully defended the WBO Welterweight title three times.

Obviously a win makes that four defenses and it simply provides Pac-Man with the open-ended option to defend his title for a fifth time. Pacquaio first won the Welterweight title back in November of 2009, so having it for almost three years is arguably his most impressive accomplishment.

This fight also comes a little more than six months after Manny fended off Juan Manuel Marquez. So it proves Pacquaio takes full advantage of the limited boxing opportunities to remain on top as he gets older.

Enhanced Resume

Bradley enters the fight at 28-0 and is in the midst of his prime.

That said, he's arguably the best boxer in his prime right now that has yet to face Pacquaio. With a career record of 54-3-2 and riding a 15-match win streak, Pacquaio adds a significant amount of validity to his career resume.

Pac-Man is currently in the discussion for the greatest pound-for-pound boxer of all time and the only way he remains or reaches his own pedestal is by winning. The good news is that a loss doesn't put a damper on anything as Pacquaio will still go down as a legend.

So to some extent there's no added pressure, but a win provides an additional opportunity to keep pushing for that undisputed "best ever" status.

Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Speaking of vying for that undisputed "best ever" status, the colossal match that everyone wants to see would be the ultimate decider. Also, this era of boxing cannot go without Manny Pacquaio versus Floyd Mayweather Jr. as it would be in the best-match ever discussion.

Mayweather sits at 43-0 for his career and won earlier this month over Miguel Cotto, so a Pacquaio win over Bradley would certainly brew this fantastical matchup even more.

With eight different world titles to his credit, Mayweather would easily be the most prestigious fighter to face Pacquaio and vice versa. Considering that Manny will be 34 by year's end and Mayweather being 35, one dance in the ring between these two would be the perfect finish to each career.

In short, let's hope Pac-Man wins, that way hope remains alive to increase the probability of this fight.

John Rozum on Twitter.