What's At Stake For Manny Pacquiao?

This Is His Comeback Fight Pacquiao needs to prove that getting knocked out was a fluke. Winning this fight would make the statement that he's still a factor in the fight world and not just fighting for checks. Glory and relevance better fuel him because a loss could change the perspective on who he is or is supposed to be. Will he still be Pac Man or does he become Sugar Shane Mosley, where he fights but nobody cares? Perception on just how good a fighter he was might be forgotten if he loses, but those IG memes with young Simba looking on in tears with papa Pac laid out on the canvas will live on forever.

Pac Man’s Legacy Is At Stake When Manny was a monster, people could argue he was the best fighter on the planet and “other” fighters were ducking him. Funny the difference a year makes, because now to even suggest Manny’s the man is laughable. A loss this weekend is a right jab to his already hurting legacy. He’ll be reduced to just another hall of famer instead of an unquestioned elite boxer of his generation.

Losing opens up questions and controversy If Pacquiao loses questions of whether he ever used PED’s at one time will pop up. His peers, like Mayweather and Marquez, have only got better, so why not him? He lost to Timothy Bradley in a controversially close fight, but a fighter as great as Manny shouldn't have reached a decision. Perhaps his struggles with Marquez are like Roy Jones Jr. with Antonio Tarver, were Marquez just has Pac’s number. But if he keeps losing, people will think he’s just lost the fire that made him Manny.

Brandon Rios Has Already Won Rios is in an “everything to gain, nothing to lose” situation. If he wins, he’s a star on the rise and immediately boosts his name by taking out one of history’s top fighters. If he loses but puts up a good fight, it’s simply a stepping stone for him. Either way, he comes out unscathed. Unless, obviously, he gets knocked out in the first three rounds.

A Manny Win Breathes New Life To A Fight With Money May The more decisively Manny runs thru his next opponents, the more potential this fight has. Once Mayweather’s contract with Showtime is up he’ll retire, so there’s a small window. Best case scenario: Manny beats Rios, puts together a string of wins and Mayweather gives people the fight they've always wanted on his way out. Manny has to get back on his star shit though. He has to get back to the fighter that beat Miguel Cotto, Antonio Margarita and Shane Mosley handedly. After all, it’s the way Pac Man chewed fighters up that made people mention him and Mayweather in the same breath. If not, Mayweather basically coasts through the rest of his career without a reason to even consider fighting Pacquiao.