Manny Pacquiao dominated Adrien Broner but will we see him face Floyd Mayweather this year? (Photo: Esther Lin – SHOWTIME)

By Chris Robinson

This past weekend, inside of the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, NV, eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao successfully defended his version of the WBA welterweight title with a dominating 12-round unanimous decision over former champion Adrien Broner.

Pacquiao (61-7-2, 39 KO’s) was simply too accurate, too busy, and too determined for the talented Broner (33-4-1, 24 KO’s), who was held to throwing under 300 total punches the entire duration of the bout. This win comes on the heels of Pacquiao’s impressive drubbing of Argentina’s Lucas Matthysse, who he dropped three times and stopped in the seventh round this past July.

“I proved in my last fight against Matthysse and now I proved it again,” Pacquiao said post-fight. “The Manny Pacquiao journey will still continue.”

Broner is just 29 years old but he looks to be on his last legs as a prizefighter with this particular performance. Still, that didn’t stop the Cincinnati native from declaring that he deserved to win on Saturday.

“I beat him,” Broner said. “Everybody out there knows I beat him. I controlled the fight; he was missing. I hit him clean more times. I beat him.”

Now the question comes down to whether or not we will see Pacquiao step back into the ring to face off with his nemesis Floyd Mayweather. The prospect of Pacquiao facing Mayweather was the talk of the boxing world for several years until the two men finally met in May of 2015, with Floyd walking away with a unanimous decision victory.

If you ask Pacquiao, he’s more than ready for another go with “Money”.

“Tell him to come back to the ring and we will fight,” Pacquiao said. “I’m willing to fight Floyd Mayweather again if he’s willing to come back to boxing.”

Prior to his showdown with Broner, the odds heavily favored Pacquiao, according to the latest statistics from the MGM Grand. Favored at -280 to win the contest (-120 via decision), Pacquiao made anyone who bet on him a winner when all the dust had settled.

But what do the odds makers say about the possibility of Pacquiao facing off Mayweather later this year? It’s hard to say, but one thing that is for certain is that the ball is once again in Mayweather’s court.

Chris Robinson can be reached at CRobinson@hustleboss.com