WHO'S NEXT?
By Manny Piñol
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 30 Jun 2008
Las Vegas, Nevada (June 29) - With every Mexican big name in the featherweight and lightweight divisions etched as statistics in Manny Pacquiao's historic winning rampage, the question in every boxing fan's mind now is: Who's next?
This question was best exemplified by four Filipino boxing fans at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center when Pacquiao won his fourth world boxing title from Mexican-American David Diaz. Each one of them held posters of Marco Antonio Barrera, Eric Morales, Juan Manuel Marquez and, even before the bout, of Diaz all with Xs on their pictures with the question: :Is there anybody left?"
The name of British superstar Ricky Hatton, a junior welterweight who failed in his bid to annex Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s welterweight crown earlier this year, keeps on ringing and it makes a lot of financial sense.
The other name that comes to mind is the WBA superfeatherweight champion Edwin Valero who is based in Japan and holds an immaculate record of 24 wins, 0 loss and 24 knockouts. Only one of Valero's opponent went past 8 rounds and this was Vicente Mosquera from whom the undefeated fighter nicknamed El Inca snatched the WBA diadem via a 10th round stoppage.
The fight against Valero may sound exciting from the standpoint of a boxer who wants to make history as the fighter who stands victorious over the fallen big names in the sport and could declare without question "I am the best pound for pound."
But while these two planned encounters are both mouthwatering, there are some kinks that must be ironed out for them to happen.
With Ricky Hatton, a fight which Pacquiao himself declared he would like to have, the problem is the animosity and business rivalry between Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum and Oscar dela Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions.
Bob Arum has not made any efforts to hide his dislike of the idea of another collaborative effort with Golden Boy. The last time the two giant promotion boxing outfits worked together was in the Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez WBC superfeatherweight fight which ended in a controversial split decision victory for the Filipino and started a vicious war of words between the two camps.
So the Pacquiao-Hatton fight may not likely happen in the near future in spite of the tempting prospect of a big payday both for Pacquiao and his promoter. Arum may not likely yield here and he has the best reason to do that -- he has under his wings the Best Pound for Pound fighter in the world today -- Manny Pacquiao.
And Valero? While every boxing journalist and so-called experts may be dying to witness in their lifetime a clash between two big punchers in the lighter division, Valero just does not have the name recall that may translate into the ringing of the promoter's cash register.
In short, not only is he a dangerous opponent, he is a big gamble at the box office too. Besides, Pacquiao himself seem not to be interested with Valero as proven by the contemptuous statement he made sometime ago describing the Mexican's knockout victims as "tricycle drivers" referring to the operators of a three-wheeled motorcycle powered means of transportation common in the Philippines. "Tricycle drivers" is translated to mean Valero has not fought a big name yet.
After that scary promotional gamble on David Diaz, where Arum had to organize promotional tours to whet up boxing fans' appetite, Top Rank may not be willing to pay millions of dollars to stage a fight that is not a sure box office hit.
And so who? Well, Juan Manuel Marquez's name comes back, and it will always haunt Pacquiao, but it's not going to happen mainly because of two reasons -- the animosity between Top Rank and Golden Boy and the fact that Marquez is no doubt a very dangerous opponent for Manny Pacquiao.
Between now and the end of 2009, Pacquiao, who is now 29, may be asked to display his boxing prowess in two or three "public sparrings" and perhaps pick one or two mega fights before he hangs up his gloves and chase another dream that consumes him now -- a victory in the political arena.
Oh well, that's another story.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Manny Piñol.
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