MANILA, Philippines ? Juan Manuel Marquez of Mexico and Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico have something that Tim Bradley doesn?t as Manny Pacquiao and Top Rank zero in on the Filipino fighter?s opponent for a Nov. 10 playdate in Las Vegas.
Pacquiao and Top Rank had earlier declared that instead of Nov. 10, the boxing star will now see action on Dec. 1 owing to certain issues about scheduling.
But before everyone got used to the new date, Top Rank reverted to the original date of Nov. 10 and it now appears it?ll be the working date for Pacquiao?s much-awaited ring return following his shocking and controversial split decision loss to Bradley last June 9.
Even though Bradley is under contract to grant Pacquiao a direct rematch, it doesn?t look like that is the direction being looked at because of Bradley?s anemic pay-per-view appeal.
The Pacquiao-Bradley bout only drew over 700,000 buys and the number is credited mainly to Pacquiao?s immense popularity.
Paired with Marquez for the third time last year, Pacquiao generated more than 1.4 million subscriptions.
Like Marquez, Cotto is also a tried and tested pay-per-view commodity and when he partnered with Pacquiao in 2009, it drew 1.2 million hits.
The name of Pacquiao?s next foe should be known within the next few days because if Pacquiao and his choice agree to face off in November, they have to head to their respective camps by the first week of September.
Not only that, Top Rank chief Bob Arum has booked Sept. 4 in Los Angeles as the kickoff leg of a multi-city promotional tour.
