Boxing tonight: Manny Pacquiao knows Floyd Mayweather rematch next if he beats Adrien Broner

Manny Pacquiao has enjoyed a boxing career like few others, and it’s a journey that is best represented in numbers.

The 40-year-old made his debut in 1995 and competes in his 70th professional fight tonight against Adrien Broner, with the eight-weight world champion looking for his 61st career win. 20 years on from his first world title win, a second fight with Floyd Mayweather is on the horizon if he defeats Broner who has not won a significant boxing match since 2015.

Modern-day boxing is why Broner gets a title shot tonight despite his lack of success over the past four years. Indeed, his recent record is reflective of his entire personality - someone who can’t quite achieve what he thinks he can with the effort he contributes.

At 24-years-old, Broner was considered by many as the future of the sport, but a series of poor decisions since have left as damaged goods.

Instead of his boxing skills defining his career, Broner has instead had his reputation besmirched by his ill-discipline both in and out of the ring. He won his first 27 fights as a professional and claimed three world titles at three different weights in the process, but he has never looked the same fighter since a crushing 2013 defeat to Marcos Maidana.

A subsequent 2015 loss to Shawn Porter further damaged the allure of Broner, who has looked average at best in recent times, and was beaten down by Mikey Garcia last year.

The man known as ‘The Problem’ has now become a liability. Countless court appearances, charges, worrying Instagram posts and weight gain have led many to believe that he’s past his prime at 29, which leaves Pacquiao, 11 years his senior, the favourite for the fight tonight.

Following a disputed 2017 loss to Jeff Horn in Australia it seems that Pacquiao’s career at the top level was over. Yet Manny is one of the few fighters who goes beyond the sport. In his native Philippines, he’s the President-elect, while to a legion of sports fans he’s the clean face of boxing, who represents the purity of a sport which has been so maligned in the past.

All of his skills are there, although not at the level they once were. Pacquiao’s power has waned over the past decade. His timing is slower too, and the wrecking ball who demolished Ricky Hatton, Oscar De La Hoya and Miguel Cotto is now more conscious of his frailties.

He still possesses tremendous energy, but the snap of his punches has dipped. He can still stun and drop opponents, but the relentless assassin of old has been replaced with a calm storm. Still dangerous, but slightly more manageable.

Has he dipped low enough for Broner to trouble him? Based on the past of his American opponent, it’s unlikely. Despite his many physical attributes inside a boxing ring, Broner has never defeated a truly world class opponent, and Pacquiao is still on the cusp of that level.

Broner’s heart has never been in this game, it’s been in dollar bills and extravagance instead. That’s fine, not everybody needs to love the industry they work in, but in boxing it helps. Loving the sport makes all the difference of intensity in training, in focus, in preparation. Even in his 70th fight, you can tell that the result means something to Manny and a loss is a proposition verging on unthinkable. The same can’t be said of Broner whose inconsistency is only beaten by his frustrating qualities. Boxers like Broner can enjoy once in a lifetime performance, but it seems unlikely it will happen tonight, with so much on the line for Pacquiao.

A rematch against Floyd Mayweather is rumoured to be announced in the ring should the Filipino star emerge victorious, and how ironic would it be if the news was revealed once Pacquiao has defeated Floyd’s old protégé in Adrian Broner.

It’s a rare treat for UK boxing fans that they can watch a fight of his magnitude for free, but the event will be aired free-to-air on ITV4 in the early hours of the morning. A deal between mysterious US promoter Al Haymon and ITV will see a variety of British and American cards airing on ITV channels over the next two years, which is a huge step forward in the fight against overly-expensive events polluting the boxing landscape.

British fans will also be able to watch an intriguing undercard, headlined by Badou Jack and Marcus Browne battling at light heavyweight, while Rau’shee Warren fights Nordine Oubaali for the vacant WBC bantamweight title.