Manny Pacquiao: 5 Fighters PacMan Could Face in His Next Bout
After a lopsided victory by Manny Pacquiao over Shane Mosley at the MGM Grand Garden Arena Saturday night in Las Vegas, the fighting congressman from the Philippines may now look forward to his second fight tentatively scheduled for November this year.
As expected, Bob Arum of Top Rank Promotions will most likely come up with a new shortlist of Pacquiao's possible opponents.
It is possible Arum may still put Floyd Mayweather, Jr. on top of his list but everyone knows the Hall of Fame promoter will no longer take him seriously unless he severs ties with Oscar de la Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions (GBP)
Arum has declared he won't deal with GBP unless Mayweather and de la Hoya and the others included in the Pacquiao lawsuit, issue a public apology for having accused the Filipino boxer of using performance enhancing drugs without a shred of evidence to back up their accusations.
Aside from Mayweather, Arum has mentioned other possible opponents for Manny Pacquiao's second fight this year.
Here are five names who may be included in Arum's shortlist.
Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez
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A few days before the Pacquiao-Mosley fight, Bob Arum has reportedly sent Marquez a proposal to face Pacquiao in November this year.
The reported offer drew a critical reaction from Oscar de la Hoya, saying the timing for the offer was bad since nobody knows what will be the outcome of the fight.
Apparently, the fight purse put forward by Arum has something to do with the outcome of the Pacquiao-Mosley fight.
Upon learning of the offer, GBP's Oscar de La Hoya has criticized the timing of the offer from Top Rank, saying it was disrespectful for Arum to do so pending the May 7 Pacquiao-Mosley fight.
“For me, making that offer shows disrespect to everyone in the press, the people and the fans,” said De La Hoya, who was soundly defeated by Pacquiao via an eighth-round technical knockout in 2008.
“Because Pacquiao has a fight with Mosley and what does this tell you? That Pacquiao will defeat Mosley? It’s not right. Maybe you wait a little bit, until after the fight and you see what happens because in this sport you never know what will happen,” he added.
With Pacquiao's win over Mosley, GBP could do little but to just match Top Rank's offer to Marquez. Oscar de la Hoya claims GBP has still a one year option to match fight offers to Marquez.
Earlier, Pacquiao said he is 80 percent sure Marquez will be his next opponent.
Manny Pacquiao vs. Tim Bradley
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Tim Bradley is a dark horse but Arum mentioned his name right after the Pacquiao-Mosley fight. Bradley has reportedly agreed to face Amir Khan on July 23, but the deal was called off due to disagreement on fight purse.
Bradley was reportedly offered $1.4 million but refused the offer saying it was too low.
Boxing insiders are saying the offer was good enough for him because he had little fan base and his last fight was not impressive.
Although undefeated in his boxing career, Bradley seems overrated and may not deserve a crack at Pacquiao at this time.
Bradley is a lucky guy if he gets the nod of Manny Pacquiao for his November fight.
Manny Pacquiao vs. Zab Judah
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Former IBF and WBO junior welterweight champion Zab is another dark horse who was recently mentioned as possible opponent of Manny Pacquiao and was asked how he would fare against the pound-for-pound king should there be a matchup between the two.
“I don’t know. It would be an interesting fight because we’re both left-handed. But after Kaizer Mabuza I can make more elaborations on that because my style right now is not focused on left-handers," he said.
"My style is focused on fighting right-handers, coming forward, throwing a lot of punches and working his butt off. So that’s the kind of style I’m working on breaking down right now,” he added.
But Judah seems to be more deserving than Tim Bradley being the IBF welterweight champion and a former undisputed welterweight champion.
Judah has fought but lost Floyd Mayweather Jr. and some of Pacquiao's past opponents including Miguel Cotto and Joshua Clottey.
Judah, who is a southpaw like Pacquiao has a fairly large fan base and is easier to sell compared to Tim Bradley.
He is a year older than Pacquiao and taller by an inch.
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Manny Pacquiao vs. Kermit Cintron
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Puerto Rican Kermit Citron was likewise mentioned by Bob Arum as possible opponent for Pacquiao's next fight.
Cintron who is about the size of Antonio Margarito has recently signed with Top Rank. He is rated at light middleweight with a career record of 36 fights with three losses and one draw.
Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach, upon learning of Cintron being groomed by Arum for Pacquiao's next fight, immediately voiced strong opposition to Arum's plan. Roach said no one will buy into the fight with Citron unimpressive fights.
Cintron lost to Antonio Margarito twice and an unimpressive performance in his fight with Sergio Martinez in a match than ended in a draw.
On May 30, 2009, Cintron defeated highly regarded and then undefeated prospect Alfredo Angulo (15-0) by a unanimous decision. His victory over Angulo was about the best fight of his career.
Cintron, who is rated at light middleweight, is just too big for Manny Pacquiao, and as Roach said, he won't allow Pacquiao to fight at over 147.
Manny Pacquiao vs. Sergio Martinez
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Then there's Sergio Martinez, waiting down the line. The problem here is that Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach has said that the Filipino boxer will no longer fight at over 147 pounds.
If Martinez refuses to go down, therefore, the fight will not happen.
Roach, who vowed to keep Pacquiao fighting at the welterweight limit, has said that he really wanted Floyd Mayweather Jr.
However, as everyone knows, the guy seems to be nothing but problematic at this time.
"I was asked about what I thought was the most attractive fight out there, and I said [Floyd] Mayweather, and the second was Martinez—if he can make 147," he said.
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