Manny Pacquiao Running out of Worthy Opponents for His Scheduled November Fight?

Right after Manny Pacquiao's win over Shane Mosley via a unanimous decision Saturday night, Top Rank's Bob Arum announced the Filipino boxing superstar will return to the ring most probably on November 5 or 12.

Arum said he has reserved these dates either at Mandalay Bay or at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nev.

Arum also disclosed he had sent Juan Manuel Marquez a revised offer to face Pacquiao for a guaranteed fight purse of $5 million excluding share in pay-per-view buys. The latest news is Marquez has accepted Arum's offer but the popular Mexican boxer's former promoter Golden Boy Promotions said the company has the right to match Arum's offer.

"And if Marquez wins the welterweight bout at a catchweight of 144 pounds, Arum said, the world lightweight champion from Mexico would be guaranteed a $10 million pay day for a rematch," LATimes.com reports.

"That's where Golden Boy—which promoted Marquez for most of the last decade—might have a difficult time matching the finances," the report added.

Golden Boy chief executive Richard Schaefer said Tuesday he could possibly match Marquez against world welterweight champion Victor Ortiz later this year.

Schaefer said, "I have not received any communication from Juan Manuel Marquez."

If Arum's negotiations with Marquez fails due to Golden Boy's challenge, Pacquiao will be left with no worthy opponent for his next fight.

It may be recalled Arum came up with a short list of possible opponents prior to his May 7 fight which included Shane Mosley, Andre Berto, Sergio Martinez, Juan Manuel Marquez and Tim Bradley.

From this list, Mosley got beaten by Pacquiao last Saturday, Berto was defeated by Victor Ortiz, Sergio Martinez is doubtful as he was reportedly not willing to go down to 147, Victor Ortiz is reportedly facing Floyd Mayweather Jr. for a tuneup fight while Tim Bradley is having problem with his manager in connection with his plan to join Arum's Top Rank.

Outside of these perceived quality or worthy opponents, only a handful of names have been mentioned by the promoters which include Zab Judah, Miguel Cotto and Saul Alvarez, but these fighters have their own fight commitments which may be in conflict with Pacquiao's November schedule.

With only a little over five months to go before his November fight and with few available choices, the fighting congressman may be running out of worthy opponents.