"All the signs say let's do it again!"

-Don King, beaming, after Lewis-Holyfield I

Apologies for adding yet another FanPost to the throng, but as Scott's post takes on the issue of whether we, the hopeless fans, will pay for a Pacquiao-Bradley rematch, I wanted to explore the issue of whether a rematch should happen at all, particularly since Arum and company seem to be asking that question themselves (http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/ct-spt-0611-pacquiao--20120611,0,4962164.story).

I'm not going to get too far into the financial reasons detailed in the (pretty good) link above, although they are major factors. As a comparison, Lewis-Holyfield I sold 1.2 million and was meant to unify the heavyweight division, so there was both a large base and major stakes still in play for the second fight, and when Lewis-Holyfield II dropped to 850K on PPV, it still qualified as a financial success.

Pacquiao-Bradley I was an interesting fight to the hardcore like us, but will likely sell no more than 850K. If Bradley had performed excellently and, let's say, taken a controversial decision in a fight most gave to Pacquiao, a la Johnson-Tarver I, one could expect Bradley's expanded reputation and name recognition to expand the PPV sales. This isn't what happened in almost all eyes except the three Nevada judges, since even the Pacquiao scorecard was much, much closer than almost any civilian card I've seen. Bradley is in a weird position, frankly, his position only marginally improved in spite of that maroon-ish colored belt.

And Manny, without a belt but coming off a fairly sharp performance even with the late-rounds coasting, is right back where he started, but he is one fight closer to the end. If he had one fight left, would you want it to be a Bradley rematch? Is there really any unfinished business there? I'm posing the question without other options, without the matter of what you would buy or wouldn't buy, just as a sheer matter of a Pacquiao-Bradley rematch's utility. Much as I'd love to see Pacquiao shock us by turning Pacquiao-Bradley II into Jones Jr.-Griffin II and destroy the young, talented pretender to the throne, I don't really see a point to it. But I'm curious if the issue really is as one-sided as it seems.