Manny Pacquiao has given his four potential opponents for his next, and final fight, and a rematch with Floyd Mayweather seems to have been ruled out.
In a recent interview with Emirates 24/7 (h/t Sky Sports), Filipino boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao has revealed his four candidates for his next fight, decided between him and Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, thought to be sometime in May of 2016.
It’s understood that Pacquiao’s next fight will be his last, as he plans to focus on running for Senate in the Philippines.
To quote Pacquiao directly, he states: “We have Amir Khan, Danny Garcia, Terrence Crawford or Timothy Bradley. But I don’t know yet, a lot of names have been given to me by my promoter Bob Arum. We are yet to finalise anything.”
Amir Khan as a potential opponent has been floating around for quite some time as this matchup would qualify as a bonafide superfight. There have been numerous reports of contract talks between the two sides, but like the initial Floyd vs. Manny contract talks, it has stalled numerous times with both parties claiming at one point that the other has pulled out.
Timothy Bradley is another interesting option as they split their last two meetings. Bradley’s win was a controversial decision, since many people believe that Pacquiao won the fight. Nevertheless, Pacquiao got his revenge in the rematch by out-pointing Bradley with the help of his mother. Bradley has to fight Brandon Rios first before he can focus on a third and final fight with Pacquiao.
The undefeated Danny Garcia (31-0) is a fight that his trainer Freddie Roach has called for, because he feels that it would be the easiest matchup for Pacquiao. While Garcia is a good up-and-coming fighter, he’s nowhere near being ready for a fighter of Pacquiao’s caliber. And while it wouldn’t be as big of a flop as Andre Berto, choosing Garcia as his opponent would disappoint boxing fans who would rather see him fight Amir Khan.
Finally, Bud Crawford is by far the hottest name in boxing right now. He sports a record of 27-0 and after beating Dierry Jean in his hometown of Omaha, he said he’s “ready [for Pacquiao].” It’s a fight that would launch him into super-stardom. With Crawford being a rising prospect and Pacquiao – while still good – being an aging fighter who just came off of a shoulder injury, the outcome could surprise some people. If Pacquiao wants to finish his career with a win, he might want to think twice about picking Bud Crawford as his next opponent.
Missing from this list is Floyd Mayweather who beat Pacquiao last May in the most lucrative fight of all time. Even though their first fight broke all pay-per-view records and would be the biggest money-maker for Manny, him deciding not to fight Mayweather indicates a couple of things. First is that Mayweather is retired for good, even though almost no one is buying the fact that he would end such an illustrious career with a fight against Andre Berto.
The second being that public interest in a Mayweather rematch is practically gone. Even if they didn’t charge a $100 price tag, the almost universal backlash following what was another typically defense-first Floyd Mayweather victory indicates that people will not be suckered into buying a rematch. Pacquiao may feel as though he has a score to settle since he came into the first fight hurt, but it seems as though the rest of the boxing world has moved on. And to be honest, even if Pacquiao was healthy, I doubt he would’ve beaten Mayweather. His gameplan was perfect, and he completely neutralized one of the most explosive punchers in the entire sport.
Even if Mayweather-Pacquiao II seems to be off the cards, if he chooses any of the four candidates, Pacquiao’s last fight looks sure to be a fun contest. Each fighter poses a different style for Pacquiao, while a fighter like Khan and Crawford have legitimate shots of beating the Filipino. It’ll be interesting to see if, for his last fight, Jimmy Kimmel will join Pacquiao’s entourage yet again.