Manny Pacquiao's back-to-back losses against Juan Manuel Marquez and Timothy Bradley may have put a serious damper on a potential bout with Floyd Mayweather, but his thorough beating of Brandon Rios should at least keep the fight in the realm of possibility.
For years, the matchup of Pacquiao vs. Mayweather has teased fans.
Looking past all of the he-said, he-said arguing the two have done, their styles would make for a great fight in the ring. Mayweather, the undefeated boxer with a defense that can be compared with the all-time greats. Pacquiao, the ultra-aggressive mauler with the tenacity and aggression to test that defense.
These two were meant to put on the fight of this era in boxing. However, Pacquiao's recent struggles have made the fight a lot less viable. Even though Pacquiao's reputation was never built around the aura of invincibility that Mayweather carried, it has been built around the idea that both fighters were Nos. 1 and 2 on the pound-for-pound list.
With Pacquiao's two losses to Bradley and Marquez, that argument couldn't be made. It's hard to justify calling Pac-Man one of the top two boxers in the world when he has two losses in a row. In fact, those losses have permanently damaged the fight for some, such as Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated.
Even after a win over Rios, there's still weight to that argument. Heading into his latest bout he was No. 5 on ESPN's pound-for-pound rankings, and beating Rios isn't likely to move him too far up when those rankings are reconfigured.
However, the problem isn't really whether Pacquiao is still the second-best boxer in the world. Even though Pac-Man shined in his victory over Rios, it's clear that he doesn't have the same power that he once did.
The real question surrounding the logistics of the fight is whether Mayweather can continue finding enough quality opponents to finish his career without cashing in on a big payday against his longtime rival and potential opponent.
Pacquiao has said publicly, as recently as his post-fight press conference after his win over Rios, that the ball is essentially in Mayweather's court:
Mayweather famously signed a new deal with Showtime back in Feb. 2013 for six fights over the span of the 30-month contract. He has has since fought twice with decision victories over Robert Guerrero and Saul Alvarez.
That leaves four fights for Mayweather to fulfill for the length of the contract. It's still very likely that he finds four other opponents to fight other than Pacquiao. Timothy Bradley remains undefeated, while fighters like Amir Khan and Bernard Hopkins have also been bandied about as potential names he could go after.
But with Pac-Man's win over Rios some just won't be able to shake the feeling that he could still give Mayweather a run for his money.
And that should be enough to keep the possibility of the one-time dream fight alive.
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