Rod Nazario, the business manager of Manny Pacquiao said yesterday that promoter Murad Muhammad and HBO were zeroing in on a title fight for Pacquiao against WBA/IBF champion Juan Manuel Marquez sometime in May or early June.
Nazario told Manila Standard that he received a call from his son Roberto who informed him he had spoken to Murad yesterday and was informed that the promoter was already talking to HBO about the planned Marquez title fight even though other names such as those of Paulie Ayala, WBC super bantamweight champion Oscar Larios and the winner of the WBC featherweight title fight in March between Michael Brodie and In Jin Chi have been mentioned.
Nazario indicated that right now it seems Marquez is the target. The business manager earlier pointed out that ?Manny needs a belt? after he had relinquished his IBF junior featherweight crown and the ?People?s Featherweight Championship? was not an official title although Pacquiao is generally recognized even by Ring Magazine as the featherweight king after his devastating eleventh round TKO of Marco Antonio Barrera last November 15 in San Antonio, Texas.
