Pacquiao has options

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is set to travel to the Philippines this weekend to give Manny Pacquiao a list of possible opponents for his next fight. With Floyd Mayweather Jr. set to begin a 3-month jail sentence for a domestic abuse conviction, Arum and Pacquiao are moving on for the time being. According to Arum, the list of possible opponents inlcudes Juan Manuel Marquez, Miguel Cotto, Timothy Bradley Jr. and Lamont Peterson. Two of the four possibilities would be rematches of previous fights. Pacquiao is 2-0-1 in three fights against Marquez, including a controversial majority decision victory on Nov. 12. Cotto was stopped by Pacquiao in the 12th round of a welterweight bout in 2009. Bradley is 28-0 and is coming off a TKO over Joel Cassamayor in November in a 140-pound bout. Peterson is 30-1-1 and won a controversial split decision over Amir Khan in December. All four would likely be entertaining fights, but still not what the public is looking for. You can't find a boxing fan who doesn't want to see Pacquiao and Mayweather get it on. But, since that isn't happening anytime soon, these are pretty much the best options available. Between these four fighters, I would have to take Bradley as the most attractive candidate. While the first three Pacquiao-Marquez fights were entertaining, I'm not sure I want to see a fourth fight. Same with Cotto. It was a good fight for a few rounds, but I dont' see anything different happening to give Cotto a legitimate shot to beat the speedy Filipino. And Peterson was dominated in a unanimous decision loss to Bradley, so Bradley should get the shot first. Peterson needs to fight Khan again anyway after the way their last fight ended in controversy. So, while the public waits for the only matchup we really want to see, this will have to do for now. Until next time, I'm throwing in the towel.