With the Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Timothy Bradley fight on the verge of being finalized for a September 14 playdate, Manny Pacquiao has little choice but to face WBO light welterweight champion Mike Alvarado in October or November. Brandon Rios, who lost his WBO title to Alvarado last March 30 via a unanimous decision, is also being considered as Pacquiao’s next opponent. Alvarado though has the edge over Rios, being the current WBO light welterweight titleholder. Alvarado has a 1.5″ advantage in height over Pacquiao and 4″ advantage in reach. At 32, Alvarado has a professional record of 34 wins and one loss. But even if Alvarado is not as popular as Marquez or Floyd Mayweather,Jr., the proposed Pacquiao vs. Alvarado fight tentatively scheduled for November this year could make more money for the promoters than the proposed Marquez- Bradley fight. Pacquiao, who remains popular despite his two successive defeats, is expected to draw more than half a million pay-per-view subscribers and assuming Alvarado outpoints Bradley in the PPV count, it is safe to say that the Pacquiao-Alvarado tandem will beat the Marquez-Bradley fight in the PPV race. While Bob Arum, whose Top Rank Promotions outfit promotes these four veteran fighters, will be happy with half million PPV buys for the Marquez-Bradley fight, he will be happier with close to a million buys (or maybe over a million) for the Pacquiao-Alvarado tandem. To be assured of at least half a million PPV buys for the Marquez-Bradley match, Arum has set the fight on a Mexican independence day weekend to draw Mexican crowd to the event Read more: For many years, Pacquiao has remained a pay-per-view (PPV) star that averages no less than a million PPV buys per fight, along with unbeaten Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Read more: Meanwhile, Arum has announced Thursday that Pacquiao’s October 13 ring return which will take place in Macau, China, has been moved to November, saying ” October is filled with Chinese holidays and it is not ideal for an event to take place during that particular month.”
