Manny Pacquiao’s next opponent whittled down to four options

With Floyd Mayweather Jr. off the table due to not only his legal woes, not to mention the general difficulty in coordinating a deal with his camp, it appears fan-favorite champion Manny Pacquiao has four fighters to choose from as far as who he’ll face in his next bout and all appear to be solid selections. The 33-year old will be presented with the quartet of competitors by promoter Bob Arum who will visit Pacquiao in the Philippines this weekend.

According to Arum, the names on the list are Lamont Peterson, Timothy Bradley Jr., Miguel Cotto, and a fourth fight with rival Juan Manuel Marquez. The match-up is expected to take place this summer.

“I’ll sit with Manny and explain everything to him, tell him what I think each of these fights would do on pay-per-view,” said Arum in a conversation with ESPN on the subject. “We’ll talk about what Freddie (Roach) thinks and about what Bruce (Trampler) thinks. Then I’ll let Manny make the decision on which opponent he wants to fight, which I am sure he will do while I am there.”

The 54-3-2 Pacquiao fought Marquez in November where the two battle to a hotly contested Majority Decision with “Pac Man” picking up the judges’ nod. Marquez’s camp, as well as many of the fans in attendance, felt things were scored incorrectly and have asked for another bout to try and come to a more definitive conclusion.