Mayweather vs. Pacquiao: Mega-Fight Still Just as Appealing to Fans

Despite Manny Pacquiao's head-scratching defeat at the hands of Timothy Bradley Jr. on Saturday night in Las Vegas, boxing fans would still salivate for a Pac-Man vs. Money Mayweather mega-fight next summer.

All inclinations from promoter Bob Arum are that there will be a Pacquiao-Bradley rematch next November, as Saturday night's fight featured a tremendous amount of controversy. Bradley escaped via a split decision, in which two of the three judges scored the fight 115-113 in favor of the undefeated American Bradley.

Virtually no one in the ringside media had Bradley winning the fight though, as Pacquiao landed nearly 100 more punches and dominated in the power punching category, landing nearly 200 power punches.

One word describes Saturday night's decision: Tragic. 

But looking beyond the result, there is hope for the super fight between boxing's best.

Pacquiao's entertaining style of boxing is why fans love him, and why they want to see him in the ring against Floyd Mayweather as soon as possible, regardless of what happened this weekend. 

Mayweather is still undefeated and that will keep the massive amount of money in play. Unfortunately Pacquiao's mystique has taken a hit, for the first time in over seven years. But given the circumstances of his loss, and the fact that he will have the opportunity to avenge his welterweight title in the coming months, Pacquiao can still draw a crowd.

The potential for Pacquiao to concede and give up on a 50-50 split has increased dramatically after Saturday night's wake-up call. Pacquiao now knows he can't wait around forever and hope Mayweather folds. If Pac-Man slips up against Bradley a second time around, then the mega-fight will be history and we will be talking about Bradley vs. Mayweather in a matchup of two undefeated boxers.

Saturday night's result proved that anything can happen, and that time is wasting for both Pacquiao and Mayweather, who is currently serving a jail sentence for domestic abuse. 

This fight can still happen, and fans still want to see it. 

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