Merchant not giving up on Mayweather-Pacquiao

MACAU – He has seen countless great fights featuring big-name boxers. And he hopes to see one more in his lifetime.

Legendary boxing commentator Larry Merchant believes a showdown between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. is still likely.

The 82-year-old boxing sage is in this vibrant city to do commentary on Pacquiao's fight with Brandon Rios on Sunday for an international broadcasting outfit. And although he thinks Pacquiao might’ve missed a step, Merchant believes the Pacquiao of old will show up during the bout set at the Cotai Arena here at the Venetian Resort.

Merchant is joining most of his colleagues in picking Pacquiao to get past Rios.

“He might not be as strong or as fast as before, but he is still Manny Pacquiao,” Merchant told philstar.com. “But Rios is tough, so we’ll see.”

Pacquiao is eyeing no less than a knockout win over Rios to get his career back on track after suffering back-to-back losses, including a brutal knockout setback against archrival Juan Manuel Marquez last December.

An impressive win by the fighting congressman over Rios will likely pave the way for a rematch with Timothy Bradley, or even make possible the anticipated meeting with Mayweather.

Merchant is not losing hope over a Mayweather-Pacquiao showdown.

“(Lennox) Lewis and (Mike) Tyson still fought after several years (of failed negotiations). So it’s just an issue of money,” Merchant explained, alluding to the mammoth Lewis-Tyson heavyweight clash in 2002.

Merchant has done commentary on most of Pacquiao’s US fights, from the then skinny Filipino’s US debut against Lehlo Ledwaba in 2001 to his crowd-drawing main event bouts in Las Vegas.

And he’s hoping to do the same for Mayweather-Pacquiao.

(Editor’s note: This special coverage of the Pacquiao-Rios fight here in Macau is made possible by Cebu Pacific Air, why every Juan flies.)