Marquez or Mayweather Jr. is Pacquiao’s only option

MANILA, Philippines – Manny Pacquiao only has one option to settle his pending issues with either Juan Manuel Marquez or Floyd Mayweather Jr. and that is to face each of them separately inside the ring.

Marquez has been aching for a rematch after losing by split decision against Pacquiao last year while Mayweather Jr. wants to reclaim his former pound-for-pound title that the Filipino boxing icon currently holds.

Mayweather Jr. came out of retirement to fight Marquez on July 18 and Pacquiao would closely watch the outcome of the match with the intention of facing the winner in his last bout before entering the political ring.

A host of big name fighters are also after Pacquiao.

With the likes of Sugar Shane Mosley, Miguel Cotto, Edwin Valero, Michael Katsidis, and recently the controversial Antonio Margarito want a piece of the reigning International Boxing Organization (IBO) welterweight champion.

But Pacquiao can’t and won’t fight all of them since he has already made it known that he is only good for one final bout.

He plans to retire afterwards to seek a congressional post in Saranggani, his wife’s home province, in the 2010 national elections.

Pacquiao is eyeing to return to the ring in October or November with his two-round demolition of Briton Ricky Hatton still fresh on the minds of boxing fans.

Before making his choice for his final fight, Pacquiao is said to be waiting for the results of the Cotto-Joshua Clottey match on June 13 and the Mayweather Jr. and Marquez bout on July 18 before making his choice for his final fight.

And if ever Mayweather gets past Marquez, a possible fight with Pacquiao might not push through because of money matters.

Mayweather has made it known that Pacquiao won’t get a 50-50 purse split adding that it is him who brings in the money to his blockbuster fights.

A Pacquiao-Mayweather bout would keep the cash registers ringing for both fighters and their promoters where fight fans, not only in Las Vegas, would scramble for tickets. The fight, if it happens, would rake in huge pay-per-view buys around the globe.

Pacquiao’s camp, particularly promoter Bob Arum and trainer Freddie Roach, previously stated that the Filipino ring icon deserves the lion’s share (60-40) in his next fights, being boxing’s top draw.

But Mayweather downplayed Pacquiao’s claim to a bigger pie saying that he had bigger PPV buys against two common rivals, Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton, where he raked in a combined 3.43 (million) PPV buys. – GMANews.TV

Source: gmanews.tv