Manny Pacquiao Next Fight: Danny Garcia is Likely Opponent at 140 Pounds

If Manny Pacquiao is serious in his pre-Algieri fight pronouncement that he will go back to 140-pound weight class after his WBO welterweight title defense, then he already has a promising opponent in still undefeated Daniel Garcia, an American boxer of Puerto Rican descent.

Provided of course, the Pacman does not see any chance of the blockbuster fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. happening in 2015.

The Ring reports that Manny Pacquiao's world-class trainer and coach Freddie Roach also favors Pacman fighting Danny Garcia at 140 pounds. Aside from his WBO junior welterweight title, Garcia also holds the WBA and WBC titles in the same weight class.

"Garcia is a tough guy. One thing about Garcia, he will throw (punches). He's a heavy puncher. Garcia knocked out Amir Khan (before). I think that he's a very good opponent for Manny Pacquiao," states Roach.

As a sign of his respect to the ring mettle of Garcia, Roach also said: "Manny would have to box a little more and not exchange with Garcia so much. I think that would be a great fight between Pacquiao and Garcia. It is a fight I would love to see. I think the fans would love to see it."

In an October 14 report of Boxing News 24, Roach stated that he wants Manny to go down at 140 pounds for the Pacman to restore the knockouts.

Pacquiao has had a dry spell in knockouts. His last knockout victory was in 2009 against Miguel Cotto. Counting his win over Algieri on Sunday, the Pacman has already a string of nine fights with no knockouts. The drought would have ended with Chris Algieri but the American survived six knockdowns.

Bleacher Report also thinks that the plan of Manny Pacquiao to move back to 140 pounds would be a wise one, citing that it's the best course for the Filipino fighter for 2015.

"The 140-pound division holds a number of talented young fighters who have made a name for themselves in the past few years, opening up a new avenue of possible opponents for the Pacman," the report said.

In addition to Garcia, Bleacher Report also opines that Lucas Matthysse and Ruslan Provodnikov, although Roach seems not to favor a fight with Matthysse or Provodnikov.

Should Pacquiao decide to stay in the welterweight division and the Mayweather fight did not materialize, he will be left holding an empty bag.

"With the exception of Mayweather, there's hardly anyone left in the welterweight division that would make for an intriguing card in 2015. Another battle with Juan Manuel Marquez, but fans would like to see Pacquiao fight someone new," Bleacher Report said.