Next For Manny If He Beats Algieri? “First Option Is Always Mayweather,” Says Arum

— Photo Credit : Chris Farina – Top Rank

Me, I’m not assuming anything. I think Chris Algieri is a skilled boxer, wickedly ring smart, and I haven’t come across an athlete with a higher confidence to level-of-underdog status as Algieri in many, many moons.

But if The Fighting Congressman Manny Pacquiao does break Algieri’s upset streak at two (he was supposed to lose to Emmanuel Taylor, who was auditioning for the slot to meet Ruslan Provodnikov, and then beat The Siberian Rocky in June) then Pac-Maniacs are wondering what he does next? What about it, Bob Arum?

“Well, the first option is and always will be Floyd Mayweather,” the Hall of Fame deal-maker told me at the Liberty Theater in Times Sq (NYC) today. “After Floyd Mayweather, I would think Garcia would be an attractive fight.”

And when might Manny be fighting next? When he couldn’t say, but he did say if Manny were to fight Floyd it would be in the US, and the same goes for if he were to engage in a mega-thaw contest, a Cold War crumblier, against Golden Boy boxer Danny Garcia.

“I think it would be a mistake for us to abandon the US completey…Macau is probably once a year,” he said. The fall fight would again be in Macau, he said. Other options? Carlos Abregu, the Argentine, and Diego Chaves, could he get past Tim Bradley later this year, and maybe the Jesse Vargas-Antonio Demarco winner could get a look.

What about Ruslan Provodnikov, if he fights Brandon Rios, and looks sharp? Arum said Rios will be fighting Mike Alvarado in January, probably, so it’s up in the air what’s next for Ruslan.

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