Opinion: Please, No Mayweather-Pacquiao 2

That didn’t take long, did it?

All Manny Pacquiao had to do was turn in an impressive performance against Timothy Bradley and the media ran wild with questions about whether we’ll see a rematch between “Pac-Man” and Floyd Mayweather Jr. Please, no.

I don’t care how good Pacquiao looked against Bradley. This version of Pacquiao will never, ever beat Mayweather. To be completely honest, I’d prefer it if Pacqiuao retired, but I just don’t believe he will. Everything surrounding Pacquiao’s so-called retirement has lacked conviction. Never once has Pacquiao made it clear that he is done with boxing. Sure, his wife and mother want him to call it quits and there’s the ever looming question about how much time he will have to spare if he becomes a senator in his home country of the Philippines, but you can see that Pacquiao still loves boxing. If nothing else, he loves the fans and putting on a show. There isn’t a show when you’re passing bills in the senate. Honestly, that’s boring.

All Pacquiao knows is boxing. After two decades in the sport that turned a pauper into a prince and made him richer than he could have imagined, he’s just going to walk away? More importantly, as much as Pacquiao loves to help the people, another hefty $20 million payday couldn’t hurt; and what’s Jinkee Pacquiao going to do when her husband is moping around the house because he has nothing to do? She’s going to have to let him do what he loves. It’s for the better, for him and his country.

With that being said, I just don’t want to see his career continue with a Mayweather rematch. It would make more sense to try to put over a new star in Terence Crawford, who desperately needs a big name to put on his resume. Bob Arum needs someone to take the place of Pacquiao, and Crawford could be it and better for boxing in the long term. Obviously, the short-term effects of a Mayweather-Pacquiao rematch could be financially beneficial to everyone involved, but I fear that it will do more harm than good to the sport. Who’s to say that the same exact thing that happened in the first fight won’t happen in the rematch?

I never bought the shoulder excuse from Pacquiao. Do I believe he was hurt? Sure. Would it have mattered? No. Mayweather isn’t built for highly entertaining fights where he takes risks in order to win. He’ll quietly take away Pacquiao’s guns and likely cruise to another unanimous decision victory. People will be pissed again, the critics who never really watched boxing will declare it dead again and everyone else in boxing will suffer.

If Pacquiao decided to fight again and took on Crawford, you’re almost guaranteed an action-packed fight. Crawford isn’t a defensive dynamo like Mayweather, but he’s no slouch, either. He’s young enough to believe in his skills and have the desire to put Pacquiao to sleep. Pacquiao still has the desire to make a fun fight and, for better or worse, will happily engage in a firefight if Crawford opted to have one. If Pacquiao loses, it’s no big deal. His legacy is set. For Crawford, it would mean the world.

Seriously, who wants to endure another Mayweather-Pacquiao promotion where people who don’t watch boxing weigh in on a sport they know little about? I don’t know about you, but it made my skin crawl when Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith debated about Mayweather-Pacquiao ad nauseam on ESPN’s “First Take.” Too many people will take what Pacquiao did against Bradley as a sign that he can do the same against Mayweather, and that just isn’t true.

It’s going to be a hassle negotiating a price to get Mayweather out of retirement and round out his unbeaten record to 50-0. Because of that, if he does choose to fight, he’s going to be overpaid. Mayweather is a businessman first, so you better believe that his asking price for a return fight will be through the roof. Getting Pacquiao to sign off will be left up to the firmness of Jinkee Pacquiao’s desire to want her husband to retire, but I’m pretty sure there are 100 million reasons why she’ll let him come out and play for one more fight.

However, let’s not hold our breath. We really don’t need these two to have the same damn fight they had the first time around. That moment happened, and it lacked drama. All a Mayweather-Pacquiao 2 fight can do is disappoint fans. Of course, I could be totally wrong and the rematch could be fireworks for 12 rounds. Chances are, that’s not likely and boxing needs to move on.

Andreas Hale is the editorial content director of 2DopeBoyz.com, co-host of the boxing, MMA and pro wrestling podcast “The Corner” and a regular columnist for Sherdog.com. You can follow on Twitter for his random yet educated thoughts on combat sports, music, film and popular culture.