In this week’s mailbag, we tackle your thoughts on Manny Pacquiao’s draw with Mario Barrios and what should be next for the Hall of Famer; Oleksandr Usyk’s standout rematch win over Daniel Dubois and what should come next for both the victor and the vanquished; and what we learned from this past weekend’s other big rematch between Sebastian Fundora and Tim Tszyu.

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PACQUIAO HAS BETTER CHANCE AGAINST TANK THAN ROLLY

I like Manny Pacquiao’s chances more against Gervonta “Tank” Davis than against Rolando “Rolly” Romero, and here's why: Tank is more of a counterpuncher who doesn’t like to take many risks or throw many punches in the ring. Rolly Romero is the complete opposite. He does let his hands go, takes risks and will fight to pursue Manny. 

Playing the counterpunching role with Pacquiao at this stage of his career won’t work. One is going to have to take the fight to the old man, like Mario Barrios started to do in the 10th round, in order to defeat him. I say this because Manny still throws good combos and puts his punches together in bunches well, even at the advanced age of 46. 

-champion4ever

Ryan Songalia’s response: I tend to agree with this analysis. One thing I noticed during Saturday’s fight is that, while Pacquiao has always been at a physical disadvantage by fighting welterweights who will outweigh him by 15-20 pounds, the risk makes less sense now because his speed advantage isn’t as pronounced as it had been. 

Freddie Roach had always told me that Pacquiao could make 135lbs if he wanted to, and that 140lbs would be a better weight class for him to be competing in, as he sometimes had difficulty maintaining a weight above 140 in training. 

Tank Davis is probably the best drawing fighter in America aside from Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, and he is much smaller physically than Romero or Barrios. It depends which version of Davis shows up, as Pacquiao has traditionally struggled with counterpunchers (see Juan Manuel Marquez), and Davis, when he’s on, is one of the most dangerous counterpunchers of the last decade. 

I wouldn’t discount Davis off the Lamont Roach fight, as Roach’s technical skill gave fewer openings for Davis to work with, which slowed him down and allowed Roach to take over in the second half of their fight. Still, Davis is probably passive enough to give up rounds, which isn’t something you can afford to do with someone as experienced as Pacquiao. 

I still think a Barrios rematch is the way to go for Pacquiao. He has unfinished business there, and Barrios’ habit of fighting off of what his opponent does means he’s still there to be outhustled to a decision.

USYK-PARKER IS PREFERABLE TO USYK-KABAYEL

I’d be more than happy with Oleksandr Usyk defending against Joseph Parker, maybe in Poland, although I’m sure Usyk could sell out Wembley Stadium in his own right. I like Parker because he boxes smart. No one is going to beat Usyk, but I’d pay to watch that one. 

I personally don’t see the appeal of an Agit Kabayel bout, but to each their own. I’m not interested in watching the youngsters challenging Oleksandr; they should have their own World Boxing Super Series after the champion has put his slippers on. 

There will be enough belts to go around to make lots of knockout format fights popular, and also hopefully a tournament will stop anyone just holding one belt hostage forever. 

-Pulmonary Embolii

Owen Lewis’ response: I’d also be happy with an Usyk-Parker fight, but I’m plenty intrigued by the style matchup Usyk and Kabayel would produce. Every time Usyk fights, we have to listen to takes of how he’s vulnerable to the body because Artur Beterbiev once dropped him with a shot in the amateurs. 

It’s an overblown narrative, but Usyk has been hurt to the body before. And Kabayel is a vicious body puncher. He also has the fierce work rate that seems necessary just to hang with the heavyweight king. If you haven’t seen Kabayel’s destruction of Zhilei Zhang in full, I recommend watching it – I’d sign up for Kabayel against anybody after that. 

As for a heavyweight WBSS after Usyk retires, sign me up. To me, his legacy will primarily be one of bravery and efficiency – in just six years at heavyweight, he unified the division, fighting and beating every big name besides Deontay Wilder (who had severely declined by the point Usyk could feasibly have fought him). What better way to continue his example and maintain the division’s hot streak than by trying to make sure the belts stay together?

DANIEL DUBOIS IS DAMAGED GOODS

Dubois rebuilt from the Joe Joyce loss. He rebuilt from the first Oleksandr Usyk beatdown. Now what? Line up Luis Ortiz? See if Jared Anderson or Otto Wallin are up for it? Fighters rebound from losses all the time, but Dubois just looked lost and humbled, and at some point you are the boxer everyone thinks you are. Sure, at 27, he may have 5-10 years to rebuild. But at some point you're the boxer people line up to pad the win total. He better be hungry and open to new training, because I think he may be damaged. 

-landotter

David Greisman’s response: So you’re saying that “DDD” should no longer stand for Dynamite Daniel Dubois, but rather Damaged Daniel Dubois?

I’d counsel patience on your end but the opposite for Dubois and his team.

Dubois just got his ass kicked by the best heavyweight of this generation. Sure, one can rationally conclude that Usyk took advantage of Dubois’ flaws. But not every heavyweight is going to be as great as Usyk. Dubois will never be a perfect fighter, but he can still step in with the other contenders.

Sometimes the temptation is that a fighter should take some time, work on fixing his flaws and rebuild before diving back into the deep end with the sharks. Heck, I said just that about Tim Tszyu later on in this very mailbag.

But I’d bring Dubois back soon and continue promoting him as a star attraction in the U.K. Get him in the ring often, perhaps starting with a Dave Allen or Frazer Clarke type of domestic attraction, and then ratchet up the level of difficulty. 

If Dubois can once again approach the same version of himself who beat Jarrell Miller, Filip Hrgovic and Anthony Joshua, then I’d enjoy seeing him in with any combination of Efe Ajagba, Martin Bakole, Justis Huni and Fabio Wardley. 

If Dubois succeeds in those tests, then perhaps by that time Usyk will have retired and his titles – if Usyk hasn’t already been upset – will become vacant. Then we can see Dubois against Agit Kabayel or Joseph Parker or even move toward a huge U.K. event with Moses Itauma.

PACQUIAO’S DRAW SHOULD BE A REALITY CHECK FOR HIM

Maybe it's for the best that Pacquiao didn't get the decision against Barrios. If Pacquiao got the title, then he might want to defend it at 47 years old. He looked better than he did in his Anpo exhibition fight, but mostly Barrios was reluctant to throw and gave Pacquiao too much respect. With Barrios, in this case Pacquiao's declined timing didn't matter much, just his power. But really, any other more technical fighter will have a field day with Pacquiao's deteriorated timing. That's why he lost to an already older Ugas. 

-elf

Kieran Mulvaney’s response: Unfortunately, Pacquiao performed sufficiently well that he intends to fight on anyway. And he’s going to take on opponents who are likely to put up much more opposition than a very disappointing Barrios.

The perfect result would probably have been Manny overachieving, getting the win and then re-retiring. I personally think the next best result would have been him losing clearly without being hurt, and re-retiring. Instead, he was sufficiently encouraged to continue.

I agree with your assessment of Pacquiao’s performance: that he was better than expected, but that Barrios made him look far better than he was. In my ringside report, I equated Manny’s performance with late-stage Elvis: still pretty good but not a patch on what he was. But I also wrote a pre-fight article predicting he would be embarrassed and/or hurt, so maybe I should holster my opinions on this for a while.

PACQUIAO AND BARRIOS AREN’T HIGH-LEVEL FIGHTERS

Manny Pacquiao did well for his age, but he didn't look like a high-level fighter. Not even close. Even though Mario Barrios isn't near elite, it's still utterly embarrassing that he fought to a draw with a shot 46-year-old who’s trained eight weeks in about five years. All it shows is winning a world title in this day and age really means nothing when there’s so many belts around – and the likes of Barrios can win one of them. 

-deathofaclown

Lucas Ketelle’s response: It is hard, if not impossible, to be a high-level fighter in your mid-40s. The selling point of the fight resembled that of a pitch someone might make to an executive at a bar. A young champion who has had some success facing an all-time great who is old. Who wouldn't want to see that?  

Barrios’ being unable to weaponize his youth was troubling, if not alarming. Barrios showed a fatal flaw as a fighter: He is too nice. Barrios continued to touch gloves and give Pacquiao respect to a fault. Every era has titleholders who are weaker than others, but we are in a changing of the guard; a lot of the top fighters will soon retire. New faces will emerge, but seeing an old version of Pacquiao have this much success against a fighter in his prime is confusing. 

Was it the greatness of Pacquiao or Barrios’ lack of killer instinct? That will be revealed over the next 18 months. 

FUNDORA RISING, TSZYU IN A FREEFALL

Fantastic performance by Sebastian Fundora. He has improved a lot. He has learned how to fight tall and long. He kept Tim Tszyu at the end of his punches, not allowing him to get inside. Fundora also showed an incredible work rate. He just kept throwing like a machine gun. On the other hand, Tim did not know how to get in without getting punished. He looks to be finished at this level. Interestingly, he quit on his stool like his famous father Kostya did against Ricky Hatton. 

-brankobugarski

Tris Dixon’s and David Greisman’s responses: 

Tris: I’m never comfortable using the word quit, and at the end of the previous round Tszyu was all at sea, badly hurt and probably thought he’d run out of road offensively.

I felt the fight would depend on how well Tszyu did in the first round, and to get dropped gave him a physical and psychological mountain to climb. To his credit, he really tried. He was courageous and game. But he was outgunned and, as you say, Fundora looked way more versatile, boxing at range and in close. He also took some bombs. 

Is it the end for Tszyu at this level? Not necessarily. A couple of wins, some rebuilding of his mind and body, as he can come again. But he’s in an ultra-competitive weight class and it certainly won’t be easy.

David: Even with Fundora’s dominant win over Tszyu in their rematch, we still will never know for sure just what would have happened in their first fight if not for that horrifying cut Tszyu suffered and his team’s poor decision to allow the fight to continue. 

But none of that matters anymore. What matters is where Fundora and Tszyu are with their respective careers now. 

Fundora has gained the confidence that can come with being a world titleholder – remember, the first fight with Tszyu was Fundora’s first fight back after getting knocked out by Brian Mendoza. Fundora has also made stylistic and strategic changes that better accentuate his significant height advantage.

He looked great. Now it’s time to see how Fundora looks against the other titleholders and top contenders at 154lbs.

As for Tszyu, one can say that he’s only lost to two of the top junior middleweights in Fundora and Bakhram Murtazaliev. But he looked hopelessly outmatched in those two most recent defeats.

Will Tszyu be content to continue on against the next tier? I would gladly watch fights between him and Serhii Bohachuk, Jesus Ramos or Keith Thurman, to name just a few. Tszyu could also still sell well at home in Australia, where the likes of Jeff Horn and Michael Zerafa made a solid living long after their limitations were publicly exposed.

Of course, one of the hardest things for a proud fighter to realize is when he just can’t hang with the big dogs. Tszyu and his team will likely believe they can make more improvements and then challenge another top name. They’re going to need to realize that Tszyu has to do better in the interim than the one confidence-booster he took against Joey Spencer.

The allure of big money and big opportunities tends to win out, however. Tszyu and his team should recognize that instant gratification won’t be worth it; this is a long-term rebuilding project that could prove to be a long-term investment.

Want to be featured in the mailbag? Comment or ask a question in the comments section below. Submissions may be edited for length and clarity. We also may select readers’ comments from other BoxingScene stories.