The future of Manny Pacquiao seemingly mapped out.. “It is a WBO eliminator fight,” “So the winner between Marquez and Alvarado gets to fight the winner of the Pacquiao-Bradley fight.” Source: On The Ropes Eight division world champion, Manny ‘Pacman’ Pacquiao 55-5 (KO38) looks all but assured to have his immediate future set in place, according to Top Rank linchpin, Bob Arum. The WBO has announced that whoever has their hand raised in the scheduled 12 round bout between Juan Manuel Marquez 55-7 (KO40) and Mike Alvarado 34-2 (KO23) on May 17 will be the mandatory challenger for the winner of the Tim Bradley vs. Manny Pacquiao rematch, that is set to take place on April 12th. Top Rank president Paco Valcarcel and Top Rank CEO Bob Arum recently informed the boxing world about the four man tournament. Valcarcel had this to say on the situation: “It is a WBO eliminator fight,” “So the winner between Marquez and Alvarado gets to fight the winner of the Pacquiao-Bradley fight.” “All of the issues between Marquez and Alvarado have been worked out. We’re ready to do that fight,” said Arum. “So now, we’re working on the undercard. The date is May 17 at The Forum in Los Angeles. By the end of the day, it will be finished, and everything will be done.” So, with all that said and done we look no closer to any potential ‘Super Fight’ showdown between Manny ‘Pacman’ Pacquiao and the man who currently claims the coveted title as pound for pound number one fighter in the sport, Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather. Mayweather himself seems to have his future mapped out, as he is scheduled to face Marcos Maidana on May 3rd, but in all likelihood will be facing Amir Khan next, if Khan can win his rumored fight with Luis Collazo that is set to take place on the undercard of his May 3rd event. You would surmise that when the aforementioned four man mini tournament has been played out, this will bring us close to the end of 2014. I am not certain on the substance of this information but I have heard that Pacquiao’s contract with Top Rank is set to run its course at the end of this year. If that is the case, will Pacquiao sign an extension with Top Rank and Bob Arum or will he opt to look at pastures new? Is there truly anything involving the whole Pacquiao – Mayweather soap opera between Floyd Mayweather and Top Rank, and in particular Bob Arum and Mayweather, that has seemingly stopped this fight coming to fruition for a very, very long and frustrating period of time? We have been forced to cast our eyes over this whole ‘will they wont they’ saga for the past five or six years. This ‘Mega Fight’ and the whole power struggle and inevitably the control of the green, is really getting beyond disadvantageous for boxing now and lets be honest, it reaches past these two pugilists ever hearing about each other. It has gone on for as long as any boxing fan can care to remember.
Posted on: Fri, 21 Mar 2014 00:37:06 +0000