Steve Farhood: “Pacquiao didn’t threaten Mayweather, but if he can look good against Bradley, it’s a different ballgame”

The boxing schedule in 2016 has gotten off to a slow start, as the first two months of the year have not seen much in memorable fights and has seen large gaps between meaningful TV bouts. The fights this weekend in which HBO and Showtime had competing cards marked the real start of the boxing year and has boxing analyst Steve Farhood excited for what is ahead.

In part 2 of my “On The Ropes” boxing radio interview with Steve Farhood, I discuss with him one of the most anticipated bouts of this year, Pacquiao-Bradley 3. Farhood also shares his views on if he believes Pacquiao’s next bout will be his last and the possibly of seeing a rematch between Mayweather and Pacquiao. Lastly Steve talks about the upcoming year for Showtime boxing. Here is what Steve Farhood had to say.

Jenna J: The next big fight set on the schedule is Timothy Bradley vs. Manny Pacquiao. Do you think Teddy Atlas being in the corner of Bradley will change the result at all?

Steve Farhood: I think it’s certainly energized Bradley. Timothy Bradley is not the youngest fighter in the world and I think that helped him, I think we saw that in the last fight. Can he beat Manny? I think it’s all about Manny. We know that Manny beat Bradley twice, got only one decision but beat him twice, and if Manny shows the lack of energy that he showed against Floyd, then he’s very likely to lose this fight. But he was fighting Floyd that night and we know that you can burn a lot of energy trying to hit Floyd and waste a lot of time and energy.

I don’t know, it’s very hard to say, but I think it’s a very critical fight for Pacquiao because if he does win and he looks good, it’ gonna be real hard for him to retire, to leave money on the table is going to be real hard. If he doesn’t look so good or loses, then we may never see Manny Pacquiao again.

Jenna J: If Manny Pacquiao looks good in his fight with Tim Bradley, do you expect him to fight again?

Steve Farhood: I’ve been around too long to ever think a fighter is going to retire. If you asked me a few months ago if Floyd would fight again, I said, “Yeah, I think he’ll fight again,” and it had nothing to do with my understanding of where Floyd’s mind is, it just seems like everybody does fight again, even after they say, “No more.” Floyd has stuck to his guns, we’ll see if he continues to. Every day and every month that goes by, clearly there’s less of a chance of him coming back, but you never know.

I think one of the reason he hasn’t come back is because there’s nobody to draw big money. If Manny looks fantastic against Bradley, would we see Manny and Floyd again? Clearly that would generate more than almost any other match up for either guy. You keep that in the back of your mind, perhaps it’s totally unrealistic, but it wouldn’t shock me if it happened.

Jenna J: What would have to happen for fans to be interested in a second fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather?

Steve Farhood: I think Floyd being away as long as he’s been and as long as he will have been by the time they fight, that in itself I think puts into people’s minds, “Maybe Floyd won’t be so invincible now, he’s older now, he hasn’t fought in a long time.”

If Pacquiao looks great against Bradley, that can sort of confirm the belief of some people that Pacquiao wasn’t Pacquiao when he fought Floyd, and that maybe the shoulder injury was a problem. Pacquiao is going to have to look real good against Bradley so that people believe he has a chance to threaten Floyd. Obviously Pacquiao didn’t threaten Floyd in the first fight and that’s why it was so disappointing, but if he can look good against Bradley, it’s a different ballgame for him.

Jenna J: Is there anything you want to let the fans know about any projects you’re working on?

Steve Farhood: I’m just looking forward to a lot of different stuff. There’s three shows on Showtime in four weeks, ShowBox, Showtime Special Edition on March 5th, and then the studio show. There’s a little bit of everything going on at Showtime, and mixing in Lou Dibella’s shows in New York, I’m staying busy. I think January and February both were quiet months in boxing and I think it’s gonna pick up with PBC, HBO and Showtime in April. It’s gonna be a good year.