After an pulling an upset and grabbing the WBA Welterweight belt from Viacheslav Senchenko, the new two-division world champion Paulie “Magic Man” Malignaggi may now get under then list of Bob Arum’s possible opponents for the current WBO Welterweight Champion, Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao.
The Pacquiao vs Mayweather fairy tale has been going for quite a while now. Both camps went and kept on negotiating but so far… no deal. Should Pacquiao beat Bradley on June 9, his next bout would probably happen in November 2012. Arum may choose from the following marketable opponents (again, if Mayweather fight won’t happen):
1. Juan Manuel Marquez (fourth, and I hope the last fight) 2. Brandon Rios 3. Winner of Berto-Ortiz 4. Winner of Jones-Bailey 5. Unification bout with Paulie Malignaggi
Why include Paulie Malignaggi on the list? First of all, he is a popular name, and good fighter who is marketable. He fought names like Ricky Hatton, Amir Khan, Juan Diaz, Lovemore N’dou, Miguel Cotto and recently defeated Viacheslav Senchenko to claim the WBA Welterweight Belt. Second, he is a safe fight for Manny. Knowing Arum as a promoter, he wants to place Pacquiao in the best possible option, marketable and safest is the best. Lastly, Manny Pacquiao would also have a chance to unify belts, another distinction in his career before he retires. He can become a unified undisputed welterweight champion.
Mayweather is hard to catch, and Bob Arum knows that. Arum would rather place Paulie Malignaggi or Mike Jones(should he beat Bailey for the vacant IBF Welterweight Championship) against Manny Pacquiao for the WBO/IBF/WBA welterweight belt. I can see a lot of options for Bob Arum. He got a lot of great fighters just like Golden Boy Promotions. They want big fights to be made under the same banner and that makes bigger profit.
