Ellerbe: This is must win fight for both Pacquiao and Broner

By Ryan Burton

LAS VEGAS, NV - Manny Pacquiao scored his first knockout in nearly 9 years when he stopped Lucas Matthysse in Malaysia this past July.

After the fight was over opinions were mixed on whether the old Pacquiao was back or if the knockout was more of a result of Matthysse being a shell of his former self. The hard hitting Argentine retired shortly after the fight.

Mayweather Promotions' CEO Leonard Ellerbe, who is one of the promoters for the Pacquiao-Adrien Broner Showtime pay-per-view event that takes on Saturday night, believes that Pacquiao is still as good as ever.

"He is a very aggressive, relentless fighter who throws a lot of punches from different angles who has beaten a number of great fighters and is a future Hall of Famer. He is eager to mix it up with any and everybody. That is what Manny Pacquiao brings to the table. In this particular fight I think that it just comes down to the timing of the fight, when it is taking place in their careers. Adrien, you can say what you want but he just has to figure out a way to win a fight and this a big fight," Ellerbe told BoxingScene.com.

Pacquiao is currently a 3-1 favorite in the fight. While a loss for either guy wouldn't be the end of either man's career, Ellerbe knows that there will be big opportunities for the winner of the fight.

There has been speculation that the winner of this fight, especially if it is Pacquiao, will face retired former pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. later on this year.

"In my own personal opinion this is a must win fight for both guys, not that if either one takes loss their career is over but it is a must win for what both guys personally want to accomplish in what is left in their careers," Ellerbe explained.

Pacquiao-Broner takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday night on the Las Vegas strip. Badou Jack faces Marcus Browne in the co-feature bout with the vacant interim WBA light heavyweight title on the line.

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