Manny Pacquiao upcoming fight with Adrien Broner proves he's still a big draw stateside

Mark Ortega

Manny Pacquiao upcoming fight with Adrien Broner proves he's still a big draw stateside image

LOS ANGELES -- Though he hasn’t fought on U.S. soil in two years, Manny Pacquiao proved Tuesday that he can still draw a big crowd stateside. Pacquiao met Adrien Broner for the second time in as many days -- this time at the Waldorf Astoria in Beverly Hills after a stop Monday in New York. The two drew a big crowd of reporters and fans, with a sizable Filipino following in support of Pacquiao.

Pacquiao and Broner square off Jan. 19 at the MGM Grand. It’ll be Pacquiao’s first fight in Las Vegas since a win over Jessie Vargas at the Thomas & Mack Center in November 2016. But it’ll be the 14th time Pacquiao has fought at the MGM Grand and 20th time in Las Vegas overall. Many of those fights will go down as some of the best in the sport’s history, as well as the biggest moneymakers.

In his last bout, Pacquiao earned his first stoppage in nearly a decade when he knocked out Lucas Matthysse in seven rounds in July. Though Pacquiao remains one of the biggest names in the sport regardless of his recent performances, that victory helped convince MGM Resorts president and COO Richard Sturm he wanted back in the Manny Pacquiao business.

“I was really pleased to see how well he looked with Matthysse,” Sturm told Sporting News on Tuesday. “I want to make him a household name at the MGM and we could see him even at 40 continue fighting. Bernard Hopkins fought until 50 -- he was looking good and in great shape and the same thing holds true with Pacquiao. If you look at what he’s done with Matthysse and that continues, he’s going to be very relevant in the future.”

Pacquiao says he tried something different in preparing for Matthysse than in his previous fights.

“One week before the fight, we just trained one time,” Pacquiao said, mentioning the rest helped him feel stronger on fight night. In the past, Pacquiao had pushed it harder in the week before a fight.

It’s been reported Pacquiao is bringing longtime trainer Freddie Roach back into the picture, but he downplayed the notion a bit Tuesday. He said Roach has always been welcome into his camp. Roach told SI.com’s Chris Mannix on Tuesday he hasn’t heard from Pacquiao directly -- and until that happens there will be no reason for them to reunite. Pacquiao said if Roach were to return, it would be in an advisory role to help out Buboy Fernandez.

Pacquiao side-stepped the questioning by saying Fernandez is really fat and it would be better for him to get a workout holding the mitts instead of Roach. The Filipino legend said he would split his training camp between the Philippines and America.

But what is drawing Pacquiao back into the American limelight? His signing with Premier Boxing Champions was proof he’s looking for more challenges, and Al Haymon’s got nearly the entire relevant welterweight division to match with Pacquiao, win or lose.

“When I stopped boxing, I just realized watching some fights I feel so lonely even though I'm busy with my work in the Senate as a public servant,” Pacquiao said about continuing to fight. “But I really miss boxing when the time comes. I feel lonely because boxing is my passion. I grew up in boxing. That's the reason.”

There’s been criticism from some whether or not Broner has earned the payday, but the numbers don’t lie.

“It would be disingenuous for me to say his ratings don't play a role on what it is but that's really not us making that decision,” Showtime Sports president Stephen Espinoza told Sporting News.

“When people start voting with their eyeballs so to speak and they're not watching him anymore, then he won't be on TV. People are essentially saying that they enjoy watching him or enjoy rooting against him and that's why they watch it.

“When it comes to Broner, the criticism is he's lost his top-tier fights,” Espinoza continued. “I'll tell you this, if he were getting blown out or not fighting 12 rounds, then there'd be a different result. But he's losing to Maidana and had every excuse in the world to pack it in and he didn't. And he probably won the 11th and maybe 12th. Same thing against Shawn Porter. Comes out and fights all 12 rounds. You can fault Adrien for a lot of things but you can't fault his effort in the ring. If a fighter generates viewership, gives a good effort, and is in exciting fights -- that's somebody we won't apologize for putting on Showtime.”

Now let’s not confuse Broner for Arturo Gatti, but there’s a lot of truth to what Espinoza says regarding the Cincinnati native. It’s a perfect first fight for Pacquiao under the PBC banner and Broner is a legitimate dance partner that should do a pretty solid number of PPV buys in January.

Pacquiao seemed to enjoy the antics of Broner, which are clearly more responsible for him landing the fight as opposed to his resume. Broner is a more interesting opponent to casual fans than Matthysse, Jeff Horn, Vargas, or Timothy Bradley because casual fans see him on TMZ and in other news.

“[Broner’s] a funny guy,” Pacquiao said. “I think after his boxing career, he could have another career as a comedian. I don’t get upset about the jokes. I can’t help but laugh when I look at his face.”

Despite an 11-year youth advantage for Broner, the eight-division champion Pacquiao is currently a -260 favorite and Broner a +200 underdog, per online sportsbook 5Dimes.

Pacquiao made it clear he won’t be overlooking his opponent, even as bigger fights loom should he emerge victorious. Pacquiao bumped into Floyd Mayweather in Japan in September and his longtime rival said he was considering ending his retirement to give Pacman another shot.

“Of course I want the rematch to stop people asking me about Floyd Mayweather,” Pacquiao said. “I'm sure people will stop asking me about the rematch if the rematch will happen. Let's focus first on January 19 because we can't underestimate my opponent Adrien Broner. He's fast, he's a good boxer also. I have to do business first January 19.”

Mark Ortega