Back to the US for Manny?

It appears likely that with his career resurrected, Manny Pacquiao will make a triumphant return to Las egas for his next fight, tentatively on April 12, and the opponent could be WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley.

Pacquiao, who turns 35 on Dec. 17, ended a string of 14 straight fights in the US, 11 in Las egas, when he trounced Brandon Rios to capture the vacant WBO International welterweight crown in Macau last Sunday morning. Top Rank chairman Bob Arum explained that the move to Macau wasn’t ust to avoid hefty tax payments by Pacquiao in the US but also to fuel interest in Asia, particularly in mainland China.

If plans don’t miscarry, Pacquiao will fight twice next year. WBO lightwelterweight champion Ruslan Provodnikov has pulled out of the candidates’ list out of respect for his stablemate. Provodnikov is trained by the Wild Card team of Freddie Roach, Marvin Somodio and Gavin McMillan. Bradley is the top candidate because he is unbeaten, holds the WBO belt and is promoted by Top Rank. The knock on Bradley is his unexciting style diminishes his marketability. .Juan Manuel Marquez is another candidate but the Mexican lost to Bradley last October.

There is reportedly a Mexican investment group bidding to stage the fifth PacquiaoMarquez fight in Mexico City but the deal stipulates a 10 Million purse for “Dinamita.” Marquez may be pricing himself out of the Pacquiao stakes. Assuming the financial terms are settled, Roach said he wouldn’t mind a fifth Pacquiao-Marquez encounter. Marquez was on the verge of collapse when he landed an unexpected right hand flush on Pacquiao’s face to score an upset knockout last December. The loss was Pacquiao’s second in a row and raised doubts on his ability to return to the big stage. The win over Rios erased those doubts.

Writer Thomas Hauser, one of the doubters, said a fifth Pacquiao-Marquez fight is an option for the future but said, “the Pacquiao Era appears to be over (as) commercially, a touch of ‘Pacquiao fatigue’ has set in Manny can still sell out the MGM Grand Garden Arena but this time, he sold it out later than he usually does (for the fourth Marquez fight).” Hauser added, “Manny isn’t a shot fighter, he’s still capable of performing at a high level but in recent outings, he has seemed diminished as a consequence of the natural aging process and possibly, a loss of commitment and focus in training one now has to wonder what this brutal one-punch knockout will do to his ability to take a punch.”

Hauser’s apprehension was thoroughly addressed by Pacquiao last Sunday. Pacquiao proved that at his age, he’s far from finished. The ultimate showdown with Floyd Mayweather remains a goal. And Hauser must now realize that the Pacquiao Era is still very much alive. As for ‘Pacquiao fatigue,’ the impressive performance against Rios has rekindled his widespread global popularity to negate notions of overstaying his welcome.