MACAU—Floyd Mayweather Jr. may be his most-anticipated foe, but there are other contenders worthy of getting a crack at Manny Pacquiao next year.
There’s Danny Garcia, the reigning World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association light welterweight champion, who has expressed a desire to challenge Pacquiao.
There’s Briton Amir Khan, who has sparred with Pacquiao several times at Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles, and is currently the WBC silver welterweight champion.
There’s Juan Manuel Marquez, Pacquiao’s sixth-round tormentor in 2012 who has continuously refused a fifth fight with Pacquiao despite the lure of a record purse.
Now comes Jessie Vargas, the WBA super lightweight titlist who announced during the postfight conference Sunday his intention to tangle with Pacquiao.
Vargas trounced Antonio DeMarco by unanimous decision to keep his superiority over Roach’s wards. According to Vargas, 26-0, with 9 knockouts, he has also beaten three other Roach-trained fighters.
Though Vargas, being trained by certified great Roy Jones Jr. who preceded Pacquiao as Fighter of the Decade in the ’90s, isn’t on Roach’s radar, he could be a darkhorse in the Pacquiao derby.