by Chris Robinson
At the tail end of my conversation on Wednesday with Nonito Donaire, the Fil-Am star took a look at the future of his countryman Manny Pacquiao.
Pacquiao is coming off of a November 12th majority-decision victory over Juan Manuel Marquez in which he successfully defended his WBO welterweight crown yet failed to produce an emphatic victory.
The most lucrative fight to be made for Pacquiao would be a clash with Floyd Mayweather Jr. and while Donaire still has hope for the dream fight to come to fruition, he admitted, given the magnitude of the event, that it isn’t a scenario that would likely happen within a few months.
There are other names on the table for Pacquiao, specifically a fourth fight with Marquez, a rematch with junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto, and encounters with junior welterweight titles holders Lamont Peterson and Timothy Bradley.
Right before diving into training of his own, as Donaire is preparing for a February 4th showdown on HBO with Wilfredo Vazquez Jr., the bantamweight champ gave his take on Pacquiao’s options moving forward…
Respecting Miguel Cotto…
“Well, my personal opinion, I think that a Cotto fight would be great. Cotto tends to learn from each fight and he’s a great champion. And I think that’s going to be a good fight.”
Not sold on a Lamont Peterson fight…
“If he goes with Lamont Peterson, I think Lamont Peterson is too slow, is too stationary for Manny, that he could run around him. But he’s at the high now, where he’s a world champion. He beat Khan and he has the momentum and that could be something good for him.”
The versatility of Timothy Bradley…
“I think the most underrated of all of them is Timothy Bradley. I think Timothy Bradley has the ability, has the speed, has the type of ways that he can be tough, he can be rough, he can be fast, he can be strong. I think that’s going to be a good fight for Manny. Someone young, that’s good for him. These young guys, who are hungry to be on top, I think it will do Manny a good thing for him to be in there.”
Whether Bradley, who signed a contract with Top Rank last year, would be upset if he didn’t land a big fight next…
“I think so. I think he would be disappointed. For a fighter, when’s he’s ready to fight, he’s ready. He’s always out there and feels like he deserves to fight that person on top. Patience sometimes can do good. He’s young and he can make things happen.”
Not looking past Pacquiao-Marquez IV…
“It’s still a good fight. The thing is, the rivalry that the two guys have, they want to take each other out, they want to prove to each other that they are better than each other. And the crowds are going to play that. Filipinos are going to support Manny bigger and better this time, thinking that the better support, the better he is going to fight, and the same with the Mexican crowd. They’re going to try to do that and they’re going to try to support their man as best they can.”
