Even if he settles down with a seven-fight contract with Golden Boy or a four-year deal with Top Rank, it seems that Manny Pacquiao will never run out of opponents to face in the ring.
This early, barely a month after his sensational third-round knockout of Erik Morales, at least four names have cropped up as the next possible opponent for the Filipino megastar.
First, there is Marco Antonio Barrera, the reigning World Boxing Council super-featherweight champion who is aching to stake his belt and avenge a 2003 knockout loss to Pacquiao.
Barrera has never lost since that cold September evening in San Antonio, Texas, pulling off a string of victories that included one over Morales, one that made him the 130-lb champion.
But Barrera hasn’t really fought a big fight in terms of paychecks and pay-per-view shares as Pacquiao and Morales faced each other in non-title trilogy that raked in millions and millions of dollars.
Barrera, being promoted by Golden Boy’s Oscar dela Hoya, has called on Pacquiao’s name, saying he’s ready and willing to face the Filipino knockout artist as early as March 11 next year.
But Pacquiao, who earned $3 million on the ring and probably the same amount in pay-per-view shares and merchandise for facing Morales a third time, is seriously weighing his options.
The other fighters with their sharp eyes glued on Pacquiao are Edwin Valero, the undefeated Venezuelan, and Joan “Little Tyson” Guzman, another undefeated showman from the Dominican Republic.
Juan Manuel Marquez, who fought Pacquiao to a controversial draw in May of 2004, has also appeared on the sidelines as a possible opponent for Pacquiao.
Valero is writing his name on the record books with all his 20 victories coming by way of knockout, including 18 of them right in the opening rounds.
A southpaw like Pacquiao, Valero, who is nicknamed “Dinamita or Dynamite,” is the reigning WBA super-featherweight champion.
Bob Arum of Top Rank is eyeing a Pacquiao-Valero fight at the newest Wynn Hotel in Macau sometime in March or April.
And just the other day, Guzman was quoted by Mexican newspapers as saying that he’s the better opponent for Pacquiao, not Barrera, Valero or anybody else.
Guzman could be as flashy as Pacquiao on the ring, but is not as powerful as the latter. The flamboyant boxer which carries the name of the former heavyweight king is unbeaten in 26 fights, 17 by KO.
“Line ‘em up,” said Pacquiao’s chief trainer Freddie Roach.
Pacquiao only has to choose which fight is best for him. But before that, he has to decide, too, whether he’d finally link arms with Golden Boy or Top Rank.
Or even stay as a free agent.
