Pacquiao vs. Marquez 3: Why Pac-Man Must Win for the Sake of Boxing

Even with such a hyped bout as Manny Pacquiao vs Juan Manuel Marquez happening tonight in Las Vegas, the sport of boxing cannot escape the shadow of mixed martial arts.

The same night that Pac-Man and his rival Marquez go at it for the third time on pay-per-view, UFC on Fox will be showing Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos battle for the UFC heavyweight title for free on cable.

MMA and UFC in particular have taken the fighting market by storm in recent years, converting many boxing and pro wrestling fans and cutting into profits of both industries.

Boxing has been staggering along over the past several years, with only a handful of epic battles to its name, while mixed martial arts has been rising from a culturally looked down upon sport to one that now commands mainstream coverage and broadcasting.

Manny Pacquiao is one of if not the biggest draw boxing has right now. It cannot afford to see one of the faces of its industry lose such a big fight. If Pac-Man were to lose, it may bring Marquez into the same sort of spotlight, but it would take several fights to bring him into the elite status of a Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather Jr.

That's the kind of time boxing doesn't have. I'm not one of those who believe that boxing would die and be phased out of the American sports limelight, but it does run the risk of becoming the NHL to UFC's NFL if it hasn't already.

Casual and hardcore boxing fans alike should want to see a Pacquiao victory tonight in order to ensure a great amount of coverage of the fight, along with the possibility of one day seeing Pacquiao take on Mayweather Jr.