Pacquiao ready for bigger, better things

Monday, Oct. 8, 2007 | 7:17 a.m.

No longer the slip of a lad who made his professional debut at 106 pounds and fought for years at flyweight (112 pounds), Manny Pacquiao is poised to leave behind the 130-pound division and take on the world's best at lightweight.

"I can fight at 135 pounds," Pacquiao said after beating Marco Antonio Barrera in a 12-round unanimous decision Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. "It's no problem."

The most talented fighters in the deep super featherweight division, however, might follow Pacquiao to lightweight, setting up a potentially classic series of matches.

"Look what happened in the welterweight division - all the great 140-pounders went up to fight at 147," said Top Rank boss Bob Arum, Pacquiao's promoter, referring to big names such as Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Miguel Cotto.

The obvious choice for Pacquiao's next megafight would be a rematch against Juan Manuel Marquez, who puts his super featherweight belt on the line Nov. 3 against Rocky Juarez.

In their 2004 fight at the MGM Grand, Pacquiao floored Marquez three times in the first round, but Marquez fought back to escape with a disputed 12-round draw. Marquez has since won five of six fights, the biggest coming in his most recent bout, a unanimous-decision victory against Barrera in March.

A rematch against Pacquiao (45-3-2, 35 KOs) would be a real crowd-pleaser, said Oscar De La Hoya, who promotes Marquez. It would also be another co-promotion between De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions and Top Rank. The companies' principals came to an accord this year, motivated by the lure of a series of lucrative fight promotions to put aside their formerly bitter rivalry.

"We do have some good fights coming up with Top Rank and Golden Boy," De La Hoya said. "It's exciting. (Pacquiao-Marquez) is a fight that a lot of fans want to see and I think it'll be a great promotion."

Juarez, who lost two close decisions to Barrera last year, will do his best to play the role of spoiler.

"Don't count your chickens," Arum said Saturday night. "(Marquez) still has to get past Rocky Juarez."

Also in the mix among current super featherweights are Joan Guzman, who craves a shot at Pacquiao, and Humberto Soto. Guzman and Soto are scheduled to fight Nov. 17 in Atlantic City, a match that could shape up as one of the most competitive and exciting fights of the year.

Undefeated Edwin Valero and Jorge Rodrigo Barrios, who lost a split decision to Guzman last year, could also emerge as leading contenders.

"Soto is good, Marquez is good, Guzman is good," Arum said. "They're all top, top fighters. This 130-pound division has some of the best fighters in the world. As they get a little aged and so forth, they're going to go up to 135 pounds."

Pending the anticipated arrival of Pacquiao, who weighed 144 pounds Saturday night after weighing in at 130 Friday, the lightweight division is ruled by three guys named Diaz.

Juan Diaz and Julio Diaz fight Saturday in a WBA/IBF lightweight unification bout from Illinois, with Juan a 4-1 betting favorite against Julio. HBO will show that fight along with a replay of Pacquiao-Barrera. David Diaz holds the WBC lightweight belt.

"If Manny decides he wants to go up to lightweight and he beats David Diaz, why can't his first title defense be against Juan Manuel Marquez?" Arum said. "(Pacquiao) was telling me he had great difficulty this time making 130 pounds. If he has difficulty with that, I don't want to jeopardize his health."

Freddie Roach, Pacquiao's trainer, agreed: "Manny's really developed into a big, strong guy, and 130 seemed a little harder for him to make."

Barrera (63-5, 42 KOs) reiterated his decision to retire after Saturday's loss, drawing accolades even from Pacquiao and his camp for his splendid professional career.

"From the time he started fighting, he epitomized the best that boxing can be," Arum said of Barrera.