THE conditions in the fight contract between World Boxing Council superfeatherweight champion Manny Pacquiao and his Mexican-American lightweight counterpart David Diaz have not yet been ironed out but promoter Bob Arum is already talking about the Filipino ring idol?s next bout.
Arum, top honcho of Top Rank Promotions, said there are several options that the Filipino belt owner can consider should he beat Diaz, including a third match with recent victim Juan Manuel Marquez.
The Paquiao-Diaz 12-round encounter, with the latter?s 135-pound crown on the line, has been set June 28 at the Mandalay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas although amenities as the purse each would receive and others have yet to be finalized.
?There are all sorts of options. He can look at [Joel] Casamayor. He can look at Marquez,? Arum said.
Arum said that Golden Boy Promotions Chief Operations officer Richard Schaefer asked him about Pacquiao giving Marquez another chance so the two can complete a trilogy in the mold of the classic Pacquiao-Eric Morales duels.
?I told him [Schaefer] it?s possible and that for Marquez to face Pacquiao again, he needs to keep himself busy. Richard also asked me about Marquez fighting Casamayor and I told him I?d love to see that fight with the winner fighting Pacquiao in fall,? Arum narrated.
Pacquiao and Marquez fought twice before with the first ending in a split draw and the latest, coming four years later, ending with the Filipino dethroning the Mexican as the WBC super-featherweight belt holder via a 2-1 decision of the three judges.
With the win, the 29-year-old General Santos City-based Pacquiao emerged as the first Asian to rule three different weight divisions.
A victory over Diaz would put Pacquiao in the company of Roberto Duran, Sugar Ray Leonard, Tommy Hearns, Oscar De La Hoya and four others as the only boxers to wear four crowns.
Days after Pacquiao?s split decision triumph over Marquez, or even before that, talks were ripe about the plans to range the power-hitting, fleet-footed Filipino against welterweight Ricky Hatton and De La Hoya himself, a super welterweight.
These plans though would not push through this year with the way Arum is charting Paquiao?s boxing career.
