Pacquiao/Bradley and consequences

So Timothy Bradley won a controversial split decision over Manny Pacquiao. It matters in some ways, but not in others.

It became apparent a while back that the highly anticipated Pacquiao -- Floyd Mayweather fight was unlikely to ever happen. Who was to blame for that can be debated forever, but in that respect, it didn't matter that Pacquiao lost to Bradley.

Perhaps now Manny will retire from the ring, and get back to his day job as a Filipino congressman. He's a national hero in the Phillipines and it's been suggested he might even become President of that country some day. Lord knows, he's got a few boxcar loads full of money to tide him over. That would matter.

In the meantime Floyd Mayweather is sitting in a 7 by 12 foot cell in Clark county jail, just outside of Las Vegas, while serving a 3 month sentence for domestic battery. That probably matters to Floyd. Media reports said that Mayweather wouldn't be allowed to watch the Pacquiao/Bradley fight on TV, but it doesn't matter. While the guards likely enjoyed watching the fight on pay-per-view, courtesy of tax payer dollars, there can be little doubt that Mayweather was kept informed of the action. But that doesn't matter either. Floyd raked in about $30 million for his last fight just before going to jail, and boxers of that caliber normally take at least 6 months off between fights anyway. It's his down time -- in a couple ways.

Despite the myriad of excuses and/or reasons put forth by the Mayweather camp over the years -- many, including yours truly, thought Floyd was afraid of getting in the ring with Manny. After all, Floyd was, and is, undefeated in his professional career. 43-0. While some might dispute it, Floyd can claim to be the best ever at his weight because he's not only dispatched many world class fighters along the way -- but undefeated is undefeated. Further, despite Manny's prowess in the ring the last few years, and racking up 54 wins, he had 4 losses and a couple draws earlier in his career before the fight with Bradley. Make that 5 losses now. Does that disqualify him from being one of the greatest of all time? Hardly. Cassius Clay/Mohammed Ali got whupped 5 times too over the course of his career, even by Leon Spinks , and many still consider him The Greatest.

All that doesn't matter now because the chances of Floyd and Manny ever getting it on just went from slim to none.

But Mayweather might have another problem. Seeing as how Bradley just beat Pacquiao to become a world champ, and is undefeated as well, Bradley might well start calling out Mayweather. Let's get it on and see who's the best. When Floyd gets out of the 7 by 12, the public will clamor for the fight. It would appear that Mayweather has only two choices. Fight Bradley or retire. At this point, Bradley has all the leverage. He doesn't need to fight anybody else to prove he's worthy of a "supermatch". He's the undefeated champ. He can sit back and wait for Mayweather to come to him.

Whether Floyd will is a good question. He's 35, and Bradley will be 30 in August. In the world of professional boxing, sometimes that matters.

Here's hoping the fight happens in the next year or so, but I wouldn't count on it, because it would make too much sense. And in the world of boxing -- nothing makes sense anymore.

Then again, maybe Floyd has another option. Even if he chooses to retire -- as slick as he is, maybe he can come up with another handy-dandy kitchen item that will fly off the shelves by the millions. He could make megabucks without having to train or suffer all the abuse in the boxing ring.

Yep. I'm talking about George Foreman's grill. I don't care about "rope a dope" or "rumble in the jungle" back in the day. This has to be the best invention since "shake and bake". Or maybe teflon. Foreman's the champ in a more important way.

Perhaps Mayweather will think of something that's equally useful. Maybe even fighting Bradley.

But I wouldn't bet on it.

In the whole scheme of things, it probably doesn't matter anyway.