After a few weeks off, Manny Pacquiao, Freddie Roach and his other advisers will sit down to discuss the next fight for the record breaking champion.
The biggest decision probably being whether to go for another weight class and title, to unify some of the other welterweight titles, or try to put together a super fight against Floyd Mayweather. Aside from what Manny might prefer there are also other factors to be considered, such as the amount that each would pay, as well as how easy or difficult the fights would be to put together.
Although Mayweather is free at the moment for example, he will probably have another fight before taking on Pacquiao. Similarly Shane Mosley, Andre Berto and Sergio Gabriel Martinez are all occupied at the moment with fights scheduled in the next couple of months. In terms of timing and danger to Pacquiao, probably Yuri Foreman (WBA super welterweight) is the best bet, given that he isn’t a big puncher (8 KO’s from 28 fights) and has fought recently enough that both fighters are on a similar time scale for taking a next fight.
An 8th world title?
Given that he had no trouble dealing with Cotto, there is a lot of talk of Pacquiao moving up another weight and going after an 8th world title in his 8th division. This would not only set an even more impressive record, but would test Pacquiao at the upper limits of what he can deal with in terms of size differences.
While the super welterweight champions are decent enough, the division isn’t that big on a world stage, and Pacquiao would likely be a big favorite against any of the current champions (other than perhaps Paul Williams, but he doesn’t hold a title at the moment).
The fight itself wouldn’t be as big a seller as a bout against the other welterweight champions or Floyd Mayweather, but it would perhaps be more significant in terms of the history books. Whether Pacquiao is more interested in making another huge pay day or wants a bigger mention in the boxing hall of fame isn’t clear. Certainly at this stage of his career he is entitled to a few easy pay days is he wants them, but Pacquiao doesn’t seem the type to settle for anything less than he can achieve. While the super welterweight champions are respected enough, very few casual fans could name any of them, and they might be a tough sell as a result.
Mayweather against Marquez (AP Photo/Laura Ranch)
The Mayweather fight
Of course a lot of fans will be clamoring for Pacquiao to fight Floyd Mayweather, who predictably made a statement about fighting Manny after the Cotto fight. Speaking to SkySports Mayweather said:
“If he wants to fight Floyd Mayweather all he has to do is step up to the plate.”
“The thing is with Pacquiao I don’t see any versatility as a fighter; he’s a good puncher but just one-dimensional.”
Big talk aside, Mayweather also then said that he would only take the fight if he got the bigger share of the purse, which isn’t something that Pacquiao will easily agree to. The pressure is all on Mayweather in this case though, the fans aren’t claiming that Pacquiao needs to prove himself, and he isn’t facing criticism for fighting smaller fighters.
The fact is that Mayweather is running out of credible opponents given he seemingly doesn’t want to fight the likes of Shane Mosley, and Pacquiao fits his modus operandi of being smaller than he is. Not only that but Mayweather seems to be constantly struggling with debts of one kind or another, despite being very wealthy, meaning he could do with a huge payday, and Pacquiao would be the biggest in boxing.
