Manny Pacquiao clearly is trying to goad Floyd Mayweather Jr. into fighting him in 2014, and likely has held off on naming his next opponent until Floyd makes an ultimate decision for his own date in May.
Mayweather's been fairly adamant that he's refusing to work with Top Rank CEO Bob Arum though, which excludes Pacquiao from the "Money" conversation. Juan Manuel Marquez, Arum's choice for Pacman's next opponent also has no interest in running their rivalry back for a fifth time, leaving Pacquiao with Timothy Bradley and Ruslan Provodnikov.
Rumors are swirling that Pacquiao is strongly considering the "Siberian Rocky" over Bradley because of his head-first style and the potential for fireworks. The major stumbling block early in the discussions of this bout are that the two men are friendly, and share Freddie Roach as a trainer. Recently, Ruslan agreed to part with Roach for this fight if Manny agrees to the fight.
"First, there is nothing wrong with this [fight], it's business," Provodnikov said. "Boxing history has shown us many examples where best friends go out and fight with each other. Although we can't really call ourselves [best friends] with Manny - we were friends, we knew each other and we were always talking when we met."
While Pacquiao defeated Brandon Rios soundly in China in November, he was hoping for a scintillating knockout that would re-establish him as absolute must-see TV. Instead, he still may have to prove that he's regained the form that made him a legitimate claimant to the pound-for-pound throne.
"In that fight [against Brandon Rios], Manny showed that I have a good chance [to win]," Provodnikov said. In Provodnikov's recent past, he badly rocked Bradley multiple times before losing a tight unanimous decision, then traveled to Denver and knocked out "Mile High" Mike Alvarado in his hometown.
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