Manny Pacquiao: Who's Next for Pac-Man When He Beats Tim Bradley?

If Tim Bradley manages to knock off Manny Pacquiao this Saturday in Las Vegas, it won't be the biggest upset in the sport's history. But it will be quite an eye-opener.

If it goes down like that, most likely the Filipino congressman retires to full-time Bible study. 

More likely, however, things will go according to plan for Team Pacquiao. And the erstwhile pound-for-pound king and his promoter Bob Arum will be looking for at least one or two more big-time pay-per-view events.  

Floyd Mayweather Jr.

I'll start first with the fight everybody wants to see the most, the fight everybody has wanted to see since the early days of the Obama administration.  

I hope I'm wrong, but I doubt it will ever happen. For three straight years—2009, 2010 and 2011— this fight couldn't get made. 

And then it couldn't get made during the first half of 2012, even after Floyd Mayweather Jr. got his jail sentence pushed back to June 1, which would have allowed him to fight on May 5. 

Mayweather fought Miguel Cotto that night instead. Now Pacquiao will meet Bradley, a talented and undefeated champion, but someone more casual boxing fans consider notable primarily for not being Mayweather.

I have my doubts about whether Mayweather would want to take what would likely be the biggest fight of his career straight out of jail.

And if Mayweather isn't agreeable to terms on a fight against Pacquiao in the late fall or early winter, I believe Bob Arum will call bragging rights and find another opponent to cash in on. 

Juan Manuel Marquez

Starting with a May 22 media call, I have been hearing and reading a lot during the past couple of weeks about how Manny Pacquiao had "personal problems" during the final week of his training camp that caused him to fight at less than his best against Juan Manuel Marquez last November. 

Earlier this week, Yahoo Sports Kevin Iole reported that Pacquiao's marital problems distracted him throughout training camp, causing him to lose sleep because of late-night phone calls with his wife. According to reports, Pacquiao's wife at first refused to come to the fight, delaying his arrival and leaving him a short amount of time to warm up. 

Frankly, I don't believe that "personal problems" caused Pacquiao anywhere near as much trouble in the ring as Marquez's footwork and aggressive counter-punching did. 

But if Pacquiao and his team feel like they could have beaten Marquez more decisively, by all means, they should make the fight and prove it.

Marquez has been very vocal about his opinion that he was robbed in both of the past two fights. Clearly,  there is some unfinished business here for both men. 

Miguel Cotto

Miguel Cotto lost a one-sided fight by TKO to Manny Pacquiao in November of 2009. He took a serious beating and a lot of observers thought he was done. 

Instead, he has rebounded well, moving up in weight class and winning three straight against Yuri Foreman, Ricardo Mayorga and Antonio Margarito, before dropping an exciting, competitive decision to Floyd Mayweather last month. 

Cotto is the third-most popular fighter in the U.S. media, behind Pacquiao and Mayweather. He has a large and passionate fanbase, and is one of the few active fighters who Top Rank could successfully promote as an opponent for Pacquiao.

Cotto lost badly last time. But if the fight took place at 154 and he made different tactical decisions, it might end up being at least a slightly different story.  

Mike Jones

At a Madison Square Garden press conference last October, Bob Arum spoke of undefeated welterweight prospect Mike Jones as somebody he viewed as a potential opponent for Manny Pacquiao. 

It's clear that Top Rank has been grooming him that way for a couple of years. In 2011, he fought on the Pacquiao-Margarito undercard, then on the Cotto-Margarito pay-per-view card last December. 

He will be on the card once again Saturday night, fighting for his first world title, the vacant IBF strap, against Randall Bailey. If he can come away with the belt, expect him to move to the top of the line of potential Pacqiao foes. 

Aside from an undefeated record and an alphabet soup title, Jones won't have much to recommend him as a featured pay-per-view opponent. The 37-year-old Bailey, with seven career losses, would be his most notable victory. 

At 6' tall and with an excellent jab, Jones would at least be an intriguing stylistic matchup for Pacquiao.

Dark Horses

There really is a serious dearth of opponents left for Manny Pacquiao. Middleweight champ and fellow pound-for-pound star Sergio Martinez is sometimes mentioned, but the size difference just seems to extreme. 

Because he is a Golden Boy fighter, I think Saul Alvarez is more likely to take the big step up to pay-per-view against Floyd Mayweather. 

Like Mike Jones, Kell Brook is an undefeated welterweight contender who hasn't beaten anybody noteworthy. 

Hot off a win over Amir Khan last December, Lamont Peterson was floated as a possible Pacquiao opponent when Bob Arum went to the Philippines to meet with his client in January. Since then, Peterson has failed a performance-enhancing drug test, leading to the cancellation of his rematch with Khan and putting his career in jeopardy. 

It's worth noting, though, that in a May 22 media call Arum was adamant that Peterson's bad test should not be treated as evidence that Peterson has actually cheated. He offered the same defense of top welterweight contender Andre Berto, who had to drop out of his rematch with Victor Ortiz, but might be resurrected later for Pacman. 

I can imagine Ortiz getting a possible rematch with Mayweather, but I don't see any way Top Rank ever picks him for Pacquiao.

I have an easier time imagining them bringing undefeated Brandon Rios all the way up from 135 pounds, where he hasn't made weight for two fights. I don't think Rios would have a prayer against Pacquiao (I only thought he deserved about three rounds during his recent split-decision victory over Richard Abril), but he would likely make for an exciting fight.