Manny Being Manny: Who Should Pacquiao Fight Next?

Shane Mosley can take credit in knowing that he stepped into the ring with the best fighter and was credited with a knockdown. So what if he pushed Pacquiao down and didn't win the round on two of the scorecards? It's not his fault that he didn't have the juice to beat Manny at this point in his career. That fact was well known before the fight.

Another fact is that Manny Pacquiao once again made tons of money off of a fight that people would have crucified Floyd Mayweather for taking. Was the Sergio Mora draw so impressive that Mosley deserved a main event payday? Was the Antonio Margarito glove cheating scandal so much in the past that he deserved the huge check for a Manny fight?

At this point, Manny could make millions of dollars from a PPV fighting anyone. That is why he needs to step up his game, and Top Rank needs to stop the grandstanding. The Floyd fight won't happen until Manny takes a hit, because Floyd knows the best way to get the big payday with less risk is to sit on the sidelines and commit random crimes. Less risk in the ring, I guess. Floyd wants to be the main star of that fight, and that only happens after Manny loses and goes down a notch.

Manny in some ways is maximizing his revenue by taking fights where risk is lower and the name recognition is higher. For Top Rank, it's tough to blame them in order to protect their asset. In the process, they are doing greater harm to their sport.

A May 7 Manny fight should have been the peak of a recent wave of incredible boxing. The Maidana-Morales fight included a stunning display in the main event and a great wealth of excitement in the under card. Juan Manuel Lopez got knocked out by a guy with 11 losses. Victor Ortiz and Andre Berto showed a welterweight war. It was once again fun to be a boxing fan. Yesterday didn't live up to the hype at all.

Now there are writers unimpressed with Manny's performance, despite a cramp. The fans were booing after rounds. Other writers like Gregg Doyel of cbssportsline.com have pointed out that nights like Saturday night are why the UFC far outshines boxing in 2011. Following up on Doyel's point, the main star of the MMA is the UFC. The main star of boxing is Pacquaio. He needs to bring it every time, and have his opponent do the same.

After the victory, the discussion of Manny's next opponent began, and the three opponents range from interesting to underwhelming.

Zab Judah is the most interesting opponent to me. He has decent name recognition, will not be called a shot fighter after the fight because he will be 34 in October, and has some power. Judah fought for six years at welterweight and just recently went back down to light welterweight, meaning he has some pop and can possibly do some damage to Pacquaio. Plus, another southpaw fighter could give Manny some issues with the angles that often cause conventional fighters so many issues. Zab has also won seven of his last eight fights and has done a lot of work to at least earn consideration.

Probably the public cry will be most for a third match with Juan Manuel Marquez, especially since Marquez gave Manny his closest fight in the last five years. Marquez is a go forward type fighter who usually bring an exciting style, but I fear this would be a setup for another letdown. Marquez hasn't fought since November and would be 38 by the time another Pacquaio fight came around.

Another big factor would be the weight. The lowest Manny would go is 140, and the last time the two fought was at 130. Marquez has only fought once over 135, and that was the blowout loss to Mayweather in 2009. For name recognition, this fight makes the most sense. For the fighter who got old in 12 rounds factor, this has that potential also. Ask yourself this, if Cotto, Margarito and Clottey didn't badly hurt Pacquiao, how is a smaller Marquez going to do it?

Marquez looks like early Tyson compared with the third person being mentioned, Timothy Bradley. Bradley is undefeated, making him at least a fighter to consider. The problem with Bradley is that he has negative drawing power and a style that could end boxing on a big stage. In the last five years, Bradley has three KO's, all at the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, CA. Every KO must have come with a free New York Strip steak at Porter's. His last big fight was a dud and ugly. Bradley definitely has talent, and in theory would present Manny with the biggest challenge of the three in terms of boxing skill. I just don't see how Bradley could land anything that would hurt Pacquaio enough to win enough rounds.

What about the rest of the field, fighters currently not being considered? Here is where Manny could pick an opponent and make a star. In reality, any fighter that gets to fight Manny and puts in a great effort, even in a loss, would become an immediate star, something boxing needs desperately.

My choice would be Victor Ortiz. Some chatter has Mayweather fighting Ortiz next, which would be a shocking change of direction for Floyd. Ortiz is big enough and is the WBC welterweight champion (as if those matter in Manny's world). He also has an interesting story of redemption, is 24 and has the potential to become the next star of American boxing. If people don't know who Ortiz is, the pre-fight promotion can just put the Andre Berto fight on a loop and the hype will grow. Plus, Ortiz is a southpaw and could provide similar style problems as Judah would. The main question is if he has fought enough high level opponents to compete with Manny.

Andre Berto gained his greatest victory in first loss. Berto took everything Ortiz threw at him and threw back some big blows also. Berto's development would probably be best helped by a few smaller fights before another big fight, but his size and grit and power definitely make him a live dangerous opponent and another potential American star with the human interest side of his background and ties to Haiti.

Fight geeks especially would drool at the thought of a Pacquaio-Marcos Maidana fight. Maidana has power at 140, and fights an incredibly aggressive pleasing style. Maidana can also take a punch, as shown recently by his effort against Morales, and to have a chance against Manny, one needs to have some power and a chin. Maidana's lack of mainstream knowledge probably hurt any chances of him being the next opponent, but he might provide the most exciting fight if it were to happen.

Last but definitely not least is Amir Khan. Khan beat Maidana at 140 and is a huge draw in the UK. If Manny really wanted a big stage for his next fight, Wembley Stadium provides the perfect venue. Khan also fights an entertaining style, but may need some more experience under his belt to truly give Manny a challenge.

Manny and Top Rank have seven potential fighters to face for boxing's next big PPV. As much as it feels like a push business at times, the paying public should be able to get what we want, as long as the want isn't Mayweather-Pacquaio. I would like to think that we have a say with our wallets, but as long as fights make millions, even though their is a complete lack of competitiveness, I sense fighters like Berto and Khan will be at home watching the next PPV disgusted, just like we are.