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Pacquiao's next rival to be announced by Sunday
ESPN staff
February 2, 2012
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Manny Pacquiao appears to be heading for Timothy Bradley
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Manny Pacquiao's next fight should be announced by the end of the week according to Michael Koncz, the fighter's adviser.
The Pacquiao camp was thrown into a state of uncertainty on Wednesday when both of its top targets, Floyd Mayweather Jnr and Miguel Cotto, agreed to fight each other. It was a scenario Koncz had not seen coming.
"We anticipated Mayweather would be off the table. I didn't expect Cotto would be," Koncz told ESPN. "I thought he was playing hardball over the weight issue. Cotto wouldn't agree to come below 150 pounds. We wanted 147. Had he said 148? We probably could have gotten that done."
Mayweather had been top of Pacquiao's wanted list, but Cotto was not far behind after his excellent display against Antonio Margarito. The stumbling block for Cotto was the weight demands, with Pacquiao calling for his rival to meet him in his natural home, marking something of a seven-pound difference.
With Mayweather and Cotto off the table Pacquiao has now been forced into a rethink, with junior welterweight title holder Timothy Bradley the most likely option. That would free up Pacquiao's other two options, Lamont Peterson and Juan Manuel Marquez, to fight each other, and Koncz admits the weekend should be crucial.
"I'm confident that Bob [Arum] and I will, with Manny's approval, have a deal in place by Sunday," Koncz said. "I'm going to meet with Bob to discuss not only Bradley but also Marquez and Peterson because now I have to determine what is the best for Manny style-wise and also in terms of economics now that there isn't a fight with Mayweather or Cotto.
"The majority of our discussions have been about Bradley. We have not committed to Bradley from our side, but now I need to explore the other options because of what happened [Wednesday] with Mayweather announcing that he's fighting Cotto."
Bradley is not a huge public figure but he is undefeated and does operate under the same Top Rank management. The major stumbling block to a potential June 9 bout, at present, appears to be the potential for a headbutt-prone Bradley to damage Pacquiao - the southpaw.
"I've watched a couple of Bradley's fights and he's a skilled fighter but my only concern is he has comes in with his head and when you have a left-hander against a right-hander headbutts happen even more," Koncz explained.
Top Rank president Todd duBoef seems more positive on the potential bout: "We're discussing the fight with both parties," he said. "We're in the process of having the conversations with [Bradley's manager] Cameron [Dunkin] and we're also having them with the Pacquiao team. It's a very active dialogue.
"I think it's a very interesting fight. Bradley is a really good boxer, very skilled in the 140-pound division. Manny is a small welterweight and the guys match up really well. It's a really solid fight. Our job as promoters is to get people to know Bradley."
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