Bradley, Marquez are still awaiting Pacman decision

WHO will Manny Pacquiao fight next? The entire boxing world has been keenly awaiting the name of his next opponent and the short list has been narrowed down to two boxers – Juan Manuel Marquez of Mexico and Timothy Bradley of the United States.

Both boxers faced Pacquiao in fights that ended in highly disputed decisions. Bradley (29-0, 12 KOs) halted Pacquiao’s fifteen bout winning streak when he defeated the eight division world champion by controversial split-decision last June  for the WBO welterweight title.

Marquez (54-6-1, 39 KOs) lost to Pacquiao by a much talked about majority decision in November. Marquez, who officially has a draw and two loss record against the Filipino boxing icon, maintains he won all three fights.

In the Spanish language boxing website, notifight.com, Marquez said that he wants to fight Pacquiao at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico and has discussed this with Mexican promoter Fernando Beltran. A few days ago, Marquez said that if Pacquiao does not want to face him or Bradley, he would be willing to fight the undefeated American.

Even the date for Pacquiao’s next fight keeps on changing from Nov. 10 to December and back to November again. The third candidate for Pacquiao’s next opponent was Miguel Cotto, who he already beat by 12th round TKO in 2009. But Cotto has opted to face WBA lt.middleweight titlist Austin Trout this December.

There is also the possibility of Pacquiao (54-4-2, 38 KOs) just sitting out the rest of 2012 if a megafight against Floyd Mayweather will materialize in 2013. /Correspondent Rene Bonsubre Jr