By Brian Mazique

Many have implied Premier Boxing Champions, and Al Haymon are stringing Manny Pacquiao along. Some insist they have him chasing the dangling carrot that is a fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr., only the king of pay-per-view isn’t truthfully interested in a high-profile rematch with the Filipino legend.

The joke supposedly is on Pacquiao as he matches up with many of PBC’s talented, and much younger welterweights in hopes of facing Mayweather at the end of the tunnel. Fighters like Adrien Broner, whom Pacquiao defeated in January, and Keith Thurman, whom “Pac-Man” will face on July 20 are getting huge paydays from meeting the future Hall-of-Famer. Perhaps Pacquiao is the one laughing all the way to the bank.

For his upcoming bout with Thurman, the 40-year-old Pacquiao is set to make a minimum of $20 million. That’s around the same amount he earned when he won a lopsided unanimous decision over Broner.

Even if Pacquiao never gets an opportunity to avenge his 2015 loss to Mayweather, and to collect the massive payday that would come with the rematch, he will have still made more than $40 million over two fights. If that’s what the butt of a joke gets, I’ll be your mark any day of the week.

What’s more, we also have to consider the possibility of a Pacquiao victory. As of now, according to MyBookie, Thurman is a slight favorite at minus-150. Pacquiao sits as a plus-130 underdog. Those odds could change by the time the fight rolls around, but even if the numbers remain the same, Pacquiao has a chance to win.

As Forbes’ Peter Kahn pointed out, Thurman will have a tough time finding sparring partners who can mimic Pacquiao. There aren’t a lot of 5’5″ southpaw welterweights who move and fight like Pacquiao. Also, we must consider Thurman didn’t look his sharpest in his last fight against Josesito Lopez.

The fight was his first in nearly two years, so there was some rust, but there are also questions about his heart for the sport. Does Thurman still honestly want to be a fighter after getting married and establishing interests and passions outside of the sport?

It’s a good question and more cause for pause. If Pacquiao does pull off the minor upset, he’d be in line to face the winner of the Danny Garcia-Mikey Garcia clash or the Errol Spence Jr. vs. Shawn Porter bout. In any case, there would be another massive payday on tap for Pacquiao.

The key for Pacquiao against Thurman, and really for the remainder of his career, will be to avoid major injuries. He’s a boxer, so there are some inherent dangers, but the last thing Pacquiao needs is to be the recipient of another KO loss on par with the one he suffered at the hands of Juan Manuel Marquez back in 2012.

If he can be competitive or perhaps defeat Thurman, Pacquiao will have added another chapter to his legendary career and another handsome payday along the way.

Article courtesy of Brian Mazique & Forbes