Manny Pacquiao's Move Back to 140 Pounds Would Be Best Course for 2015

Manny Pacquiao is reportedly considering a move back to the junior welterweight division after his successful WBO welterweight title defence against Chris Algieri on Saturday, and such a move would be the right course of action heading into 2015.

As reported by Ring TV's Lem Satterfield, trainer Freddie Roach is eyeing a bout against Danny Garcia in the event the proposed superfight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. doesn't come to pass:

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Garcia’s a tough guy. One thing about Garcia, he will throw. He’s a heavy puncher. Garcia knocked out Amir Khan. I think that he’s a very good opponent for Manny Pacquiao. The thing is, Manny would have to box a little more and not exchange with him so much.I think that it would be a great fight between Manny Pacquiao and Danny Garcia. It is a fight that I would love to see. I think that the fans would love to see it.

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The 140-pound division holds a number of talented young fighters who have made a name for themselves in the past few years, opening up a new avenue of possible opponents for the Pac-Man.

Garcia takes the cake, but Lucas Matthysse would also make for an interesting fight, as would Ruslan Provodnikov, although Roach is not keen on making that fight happen, via Ring TV's Ryan Songalia.

Fans are desperate to see Pacquiao fight Mayweather, more than any other opponent in the world, and the Filipino slugger echoed the same sentiment after his lopsided win over Algieri, via ESPN's Dan Rafael:

But Pacquiao can't just put all of his eggs in one basket—as much as fans want him to continue pressing for the superfight, he also needs to make sure he has a backup plan in case it doesn't happen.

The 35-year-old dominated Algieri in Macau, knocking him down six times and building a gigantic lead on the scorecards. After 12 rounds, those cards looked almost absurd, per Dan Rafael:

Six knockdowns and no knockouts may sounds as if Pac-Man's power was lacking, but it's important to remember Algieri is a defensive fighter whose record was unblemished coming into the bout. While it became clear very early he was overmatched, the American is not an easy fighter to knock out.

Pacquiao hasn't scored a knockout win since 2009, when he floored Miguel Cotto, via ESPN Stats & Info, although he came close on Sunday:

That statistic is far from damning, but at the same time, it makes sense. The undersized Pacquiao has been going up against bigger, more powerful opponents at 147 pounds for some time now, winning his fights with footwork, blinding hand speed and impressive power.

At 140 pounds, that power would register even more. Roach believes the knockouts would return in the junior welterweight division, via Ring TV's Ryan Songalia:

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There’s a lot of competition in the 140-pound division, a lot of them are going to 147 because they want to fight Manny for the bigger money but as soon as Manny goes to 140 all of those will come back down. He’s never been a big puncher at 147. I don’t think he’s lost his punch or his killer instinct; he’s just been fighting bigger, stronger guys. I think the knockouts will still start coming again at 140.

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With the exception of Mayweather, there's hardly anyone left in the welterweight division that would make for an intriguing card in 2015. Another battle with Juan Manuel Marquez is possible, but the fans would likely rather see Pacquiao fight someone new.

The superfight against Mayweather Jr. could hypothetically go down at 140 pounds as well, or at a catch weight, similar to the Algieri bout. But as long as there's no clear indication that fight will ever take place, Pacquiao has to entertain the idea of dropping weight.

Garcia would make for a fight fans would want to see, at a weight where Pacquiao's power will shine through more. With that in mind, it simply makes too much sense not to leave the welterweight division.

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