This content is protected Bob Arum Manny Pacquiao, his promoter Bob Arum hinted, is open to three fights this year. The Filipino superstar is locked on to face Britains Ricky Hatton on May 2 in Las Vegas, and is hoping to land an even bigger fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. later on. But Arum said if Mayweather, who retired last June as the undefeated pound-for-pound champion, doesnt come out in the open, Pacquiao might consider two more fights. Pacquiao said he wants to retire this year, and Arum, the legendary Top Rank chief, wants to make sure that boxings biggest draw today makes the most of his chances. If Floyd Mayweather is not available after we fight Hatton, then we can fight Edwin Valero, said Arum, close to finalizing the deal with the Hatton people for the May 2 bout. There are a number of people out there although the fight may not be as big as Mayweather, he added after dropping the name of the Venezuelan knockout artist. Among the other worthy contenders are Joan Guzman or Zab Judah and, of course, Juan Manuel Marquez, the only fighter who really came close to beating Pacquiao in nearly three years. Again, none of these fights can match the attention a fight with Mayweather would draw, considering that it will be a fight between two pound-for-pound champions of the same era. If Mayweather is not there, we can fight two more fights to make up for it. Manny can fight three times this year, said Arum over the telephone. But Pacquiaos trainer Freddie Roach wants Pacquiao going up against Hatton, and then Mayweather. In a perfect world, I would like to see him fight Ricky Hatton and then Floyd Mayweather Jr. and then I would like to see Manny retire, and become President of the Philippines, he told fighthype.com. Going back to things on hand, the matchmaking genius said Pacquiao stands to earn a lot, even more than what he earned against Oscar dela Hoya, for facing Hatton. Theres a good chance that Manny will earn more in this fight, said Arum of Pacquiao, who got no less than $10 million despite the smaller 32 percent take against Dela Hoyas 68 percent. Arum said thered be no such disparity in the Pacquiao-Hatton pie. Manny may get more but not much, much more because Ricky Hatton brings more to the table than anybody else Manny could fight at the moment, he said. But we are not getting the smaller share if you know what I mean. A tremendous percentage of the money will come from England, he added in recognizing Hattons pay-per-view draw back home.
Just pray that Mayweather will not fight Pacquiao. Else, the Mayweather fight will be Manny's last fight. Guzman will end up fighting JMM or Valero.
There is some good possible match ups there. I would personally like to see pacman - jmm because there is some definite unfinished buisness there.
Why in the hell would a natural 135 pound man want a fight with a natural 160 pound man who is 6 inches taller? Pacman will never fight Pavlik thats absurd.
These should be Pacs next three fights Hatton - Winner of Diaz/JMM Campbell Imo.... campbell can be traded for Guzman if one wants but i believe Campbell is the one that deserves that shot Pac fans are going so crazy, yet these fights will bring them back down to earth.... Guzman, Diaz, JMM and Hatton all to me have good chances of beating Pac... with me favoring Hatton. I love Pac, i hope these fights happen and i hope he wins them all, but these need to happen.
Manny cant retire without fighting Juan Manuel Marquez again! We need an end to this once and for all.
1. Hatton, may 2. Valero (has to win a meaningful fight to hype himself), september 3. Mayweather, december That would be a nice schedule. I dont care if he fights Marquez again. They had two close fights, and if the 3rd is another close one, the fans would want a 4th. I would prefer the opponents mentioned. I doubt Valero will get the chance to fight Pacquiao, he should fight a top 135 fighter to get attention. Question is, will he risk it, with the chance of fighting Pacman. If he doesnt risk it, it could very well be the reason Pacquiao will fight someone more known. Even if Valero is willing, could he land a big fight in the next months against Marquez, Diaz or Campbell? Looking at the schedule of these 3, such a fight couldnt be made before June.
I'm not opposed to a part 3 but IT IS SETTLED "once and for all". 1-0-1 in black & white. Whether you agree with it or not, that's how it will forever read in the annals of boxing history.