Manny Pacquiao: Pursuing Bout with Sergio Martinez Would Be a Waste of Time

When it comes to Manny Pacquiao, the question is not so much what he's doing so much as it is what he's going to do next.

Right now, Pac-Man is gearing up for Saturday's showdown with Juan Manuel Marquez, who Pac-Man has fought twice already. Ideally, their third and final bout will settle all the unfinished business left over from their first two bouts.

Assuming Pac-Man defeats Marquez (the odds are in his favor), the issue at hand will be who he chooses to fight next. A special emphasis will be placed on Pac-Man upping the ante by choosing an even tougher opponent than Marquez.

The one name that immediately comes to mind is Floyd Mayweather, Jr. If nothing else, a long dreamed of bout with Mayweather is certainly a possibility for Pac-Man, especially seeing as how Mayweather has already teased a May 5 date in 2012 for a possible bout.

If Pac-Man's camp doesn't want to burden itself with Mayweather, the other option could be middleweight champion Sergio Martinez. However, Top Rank CEO Bob Arum, who promotes Pacquiao, says a fight with Martinez would have to come with a few strings attached.

Per BoxingScene.com:

"

Here is the problem with Martinez. Let me tell you the problem with Martinez. Martinez says 'I'll fight him at 150,' but that's bullsh**. That means he'll dehydrate until the afternoon of the weigh-in and come to the ring at 175, which he's done before. What I say is, if you really want to fight Manny Pacquiao - I have a simple way to do it. You said 150, you will fight at 150, then let's go to a commission, and not necessarily this [Las Vegas] commission....maybe New York, maybe Texas, wherever. And say 'both fighters want to do the fight and they want to go back to the old days and we'll weigh in on the day of the fight, at 150. If he wants to do that, we can start talking.

"

One can definitely see where Arum is coming from. If Martinez were to meet Pacquiao in the ring at 175 pounds, Pac-Man wouldn't stand a chance. He's the best pound-for-pound fighter on earth, but there are some obstacles that even he can't overcome.

That said, the idea of Pac-Man doing another fight at 150 is iffy in and of itself. He fought Antonio Margarito at a 150-pound catch weight, but Pacquiao weighed in at just 144 pounds. He was able to win via unanimous decision, but Arum claims Pac-Man was hurting for a month after the fight.

Would Pac-Man be open to another fight at 150? My guess is that he would be, but Arum's proposal has the feeling of something that will lead to messy negotiations. Even if the two sides agree on something, uncertainty will loom. It could be that they get to weigh-in day only to have Martinez weigh in at over 150, which would be a disaster.

In so many words, this seems like yet another pipe dream. In fact, this may be even more of a pipe dream than Pacquiao vs. Mayweather.

Because that's the fight everyone wants to see anyway, Pac-Man's camp is better off finding a way to make it happen.