Pacquiao vs Marquez: Looking Ahead Would Be Costly Mistake for Pacquaio

Manny Pacquiao is in an interesting spot in his fight against Juan Manuel Marquez. It's not too dissimilar to what Floyd Mayweather Jr. encountered vs. Victor Ortiz. 

There are a few differences, but both men were up against a very tough opponent with the capability of beating them. In the case of Pacquiao and Mayweather, a loss would really diminish the potential payday that the two could generate with a fight against each other. 

It's weird that so much attention has been focused on a fight that hasn't come all that close to happening, but that's the state of boxing right now. It's two biggest names haven't fought. Until they do, the hype will not stop. 

Well, the hype will not stop as long as both Mayweather and Pacquiao keep winning. 

But should either one of them lose, we might have a serious problem on our hands. 

I actually believe that a loss from either or both of these two men would increase the chance that the fight would happen. But it wouldn't be a dream fight and it would hurt the bottom line for both.

That's the problem for Pacquiao. 

The biggest difference between Marquez vs. Pacquiao and Ortiz vs. Mayweather is this:

Ortiz had never fought Mayweather before. Marquez has not only fought Pacquiao before, but has given him two of the toughest fights of his career. 

Marquez has fought Pacquiao to a draw once and split decision another time. He is older than Pacquiao, which was not the case with Ortiz vs. Mayweather, but Marquez certainly has the ability to step up and beat Pacquiao. 

So, if Pacquiao looks ahead towards a potential payoff bout vs. Mayweather, he will lose that very payoff. The fight may be more likely, but it just wouldn't be as interesting.

My prediction is that Pacquiao will win by a unanimous decision. I stand by that, but I know that it can go either way. 

If Pacquiao loses, the "Dream Match" is lost.