Manny Pacquiao Has Nothing to Gain, Everything to Lose in Fighting Marquez

At this point in his career, WBO welterweight champion Manny "Pac-Man" Pacquiao has essentially conquered every challenge he has been faced with. As a result of that, he enters nearly every fight in a no-win situation.

The same will be true when he takes on Juan Manuel Marquez for a third time on Nov. 12. Pacquiao has been involved in two controversial decisions with Marquez, one of which ended in a draw and the other which resulted in Pacquiao winning by split decision.

While Pacquiao was never able to beat Marquez decisively, there is no real reason to risk it all by fighting him for a third time. If Pacquiao beats Marquez easily next week, he will have simply done his job. If he beats him controversially, doubt will begin to creep in. If he manages to lose, he will no longer be viewed as the best pound-for-pound fighter on the planet.

That distinction would likely go to Floyd Mayweather, who may be Pacquiao's next opponent, should he beat Marquez. Plenty of sticking points would have to be smoothed out before a Pacquiao/Mayweather dream fight could happen, but it is a possibility as long as Pacquiao beats Marquez.

If Pacquiao finds a way to lose, however, it would all but kill the super fight before it could get started. When it comes to a Pacquiao vs. Mayweather fight, the main draw is that it would pit two of the greatest fighters of their generation against each other.

Mayweather proved he could still fight at an extremely high level by knocking out Victor Ortiz, but a loss would cause Pacquiao to lose much of his luster. All a win would do is keep alive the possibility of a Pacquiao/Marquez fight. On the other hand, a loss would destroy it, and that is a heavy burden to carry.

Pacquiao obviously had to fight somebody in the meantime, until negotiations can possibly get back underway with Mayweather, but he should have chosen a safer opponent. Familiarity might have been a reason for choosing Marquez, but Marquez is equally familiar with Pacquiao.

Perhaps Pacquiao believes he knows of everything that Marquez can throw at him and is confident that he can finally score a convincing win over him. However, the past two fights between the two has shown us that Marquez has the ability to stick around and that is a dangerous prospect for Pacquiao.

When push comes to shove, I do believe Pacquiao will come out on top. However, Marquez has proven capable of handling everything that Pac-Man can throw at him, so this bout certainly won't be a walk in the park.