Manny Pacquiao: In Search of Worthy Opponent

After getting past Juan Manuel Marquez on November 12, reigning pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao will once more be confronted with the difficult task of choosing his next opponent.

Whether Marquez is successful in staging an upset or not, Pacquiao would still be consulted and later be made to decide who is he facing next.

In his present stature as the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world, Pacquiao is finding it more and more difficult to choose an opponent who is acceptable to majority of boxing fans who think the Filipino boxer is indeed running out of worthy opponents.

At this stage, no one can deny the fact that Pacquiao has indeed proven his worth in the sports after winning 14 consecutive fights during the past six years.

On top of his seemingly endless winning streak, Pacquiao has fought bigger and superior opponents despite his relatively small body frame, shorter height and limited reach.

Despite all these accomplishments, Pacquiao is facing mounting criticism from seemingly biased fans who accuse the seven-division champion of engaging in easy fights with his choice of inferior opponents.

But who are these inferior opponents they are referring to?

Pressing the rewind mode, one will find out Pacquiao's most recent fights were made against much more superior fighters including Oscar de la Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto, Antonio Margarito, Shane Mosley and Joshua Clottey.

The only fighters who approximate Pacquiao's physical attributes are Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales and Marquez. Nevertheless, they were certainly not inferior opponents.

Yet some hard-to-please fans are accusing Pacquiao of cherry-picking or even ducking worthy challengers.

But who really are these worthy challengers?

To name a few, they mentioned Timothy Bradley, Sergio Martinez, Andre Berto, Victor Ortiz, Miguel Cotto and Marquez. 

On record, Pacquiao has not declined or rejected a fight or rematch with any of these fighters. He has already proven his worth against Cotto and Marquez.

Martinez has not committed to go down to 147 while Bradley is currently embroiled in a contract dispute  with his promoter. Berto is fresh from his most recent loss to Ortiz while Ortiz himself is not keen on facing his mentor now plus the fact that he is not a Top Rank fighter.

Cotto is currently engaged to Margarito who has recently declared he is not retiring despite on-going treatment of his detached retina.

Looking at the list, Pacquiao's most viable opponents would be Martinez or Bradley. But will Martinez find courage to go down to 147 to land a lucrative fight with Pacquiao? Will Bradley be able to sort out his problem with his promoters?

In the meantime, Pacquiao's search for worthy opponents who can help him entertain paying boxing fans continues.

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/712568-manny-pacquiao-in-search-of-worthy-opponent

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