By John F. McKenna (McJack): We are already past the middle of August and still former eight division champion Manny Pacquiao (54-4-2, 38 KO’s) has not said who his next opponent will be. “Pacman” met with Top Rank CEO Bob Arum during the first week of August to discuss potential opponents for November 10.

At that time it was presumed that a statement would be forthcoming to announce who Manny’s opponent would be. But still no opponent has been named and all boxing fans have are rumors and speculation.

Almost every day another rumor surfaces from an unnamed source who is supposedly in the know. There are those who reason that Pacquiao wants to take on new WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley (29-0-1 NC, 12 KO’s) to avenge the travesty which occurred on June 9 when he “lost” his WBO title belt. It may be an uphill battle to put together a Pacquiao – Bradley rematch simply because most fans and boxing pundits feel as though Manny already soundly defeated Bradley in the first match.

More importantly though from Arum’s perspective is that the first Pacquiao – Bradley fight sold several hundred thousand less in Pay Per View (PPV) sales than any other of Manny’s recent fights. After all boxing is a business and just like any other business the bottom line is usually what prevails. The Top Rank CEO has a habit of saying that “Pacman” has the final say as to who he fights. And to be fair to “Uncle” Bob, Manny wants his cut of the pie whatever the PPV sales are.

It is anticipated that the PPV numbers for a 2nd Pacquiao – Bradley match would again fall far short of what a fight with either Juan Manuel Marquez (54-6-1, 39 KO’s) or Miguel Cotto (37-3, 32 KO’s) would bring in. Historically “Desert Storm” has not been able to draw huge numbers of fans to his fights. It was hoped by Arum that having Pacquiao on the ticket as Bradley’s adversary on June 9 would be enough to turn the match into a huge draw but such was not the case.

Pacquiao and Marquez on the other hand drew roughly 1.3 million in PPV sales last November in the 3rd fight of their trilogy. And while many fans would like to see a 4th fight between the pair, there are many fans who are convinced that another fight would be more of the same with Manny winning a close decision because of his aggressive style and ability to land more punches.

It is thought by many that a 2nd Pacquiao – Cotto fight is warranted because of Miguel’s performance against Floyd Mayweather Jr. (43-0, 26 KO’s) last May. That may not be possible however because of Pacquiao’s refusal to fight above 150 pounds and Cotto’s refusal to come down.

Boxing fans are in essence left to read the tea leaves in an attempt to figure out who the Filipino icon’s next opponent will be. It is a testimony to Pacquiao’s ongoing popularity that one of the leading boxing news stories of the day is who his opponent on November 10 will be.