5 Questions About Manny Pacquiao That Remain Unanswered

Since his knockout loss to Marquez, Pacquiao has fought against inferior competition. Brandon Rios was a natural junior welterweight with no speed. Timothy Bradley had speed but lacked power, and had already been dominated by Pacquiao in their first fight. Algieri had no speed or power and had been knocked down twice by Ruslan Provodnikov, Pacquiao’s former sparring partner.

The truth is that despite dominant victories over Bradley and Algieri, Pacquiao still seems susceptible to getting hit with lead right hands. Is that because he hasn’t respected the power of Bradley and Algieri, or because he hasn’t worked on making that correction with longtime trainer Freddie Roach? Only time will tell.

Since being knocked out, Pacquiao hasn’t fought anyone with the kind of power to test his chin. Rios, who does possess power, was simply too slow to land a meaningful punch, and Bradley and Algieri are two of the lighter punchers in their divisions.

No professional boxer has knocked out Rios, Bradley or Algieri, and while Pacquiao hasn’t scored a knockout victory in his past nine fights, each of those fights were against opponents who had never been knocked out as professionals as well. This is often overlooked when questioning the diminishment of Pacquiao’s power. Having said that, is there any doubt Pacquiao would’ve knocked Algieri out if they fought in 2009?

Since reversing his position on random Olympic-style drug testing, Pacquiao has been vocal about wanting to fight Floyd Mayweather. The problem, however, is that Mayweather fights on his terms, and has stated repeatedly that he won't fight Pacquiao if Bob Arum, Pacquiao's promoter, is involved in the negotiations. But as long as Pacquiao and Mayweather stay active, this question will continue to linger.