Pacquiao-Marquez 4: Why KO Loss Helps Possible Mayweather Showdown

After his surprising sixth-round knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez, Manny Pacquiao has a lot of thinking to do regarding his career in the ring going forward. One of the main plans should involve the long-awaited fight with Floyd Mayweather if Pacquiao wants to salvage his legacy in the ring.

With the loss, it marks the first time in his his 16-year career that he has lost consecutive fights, but that shouldn't deter Pacquiao from making a return to the ring. Going out without trying to vindicate his late career performances would be a bad move legacy-wise for Pacquiao.

The superfight that the world has been waiting for and hoping for over the past few years should be closer to happening now that Pacquiao has shown that he is a very beatable fighter.

Mayweather has been said to have been dodging Pacquiao because he didn't want to risk tarnishing his beloved undefeated record.

Now that it appears that Pacquiao has lost a bit of the skills that once made him one of the most feared fighters in the ring, Mayweather may jump at the opportunity to give Pacquiao another loss, possibly sending the eight-division champ into retirement in the process.

With Mayweather yet to return to the ring since being released from jail back in August, a tuneup bout before a Pacquiao showdown would be likely. If Mayweather is successful in his return, rumored in May (per ESPN.com), then a Mayweather-Pacquiao showdown taking place in September could be as good a time as any for the super bout to finally come to fruition.