By Babatis Banda: It has taken so long for Pacquiao to pick the one he would like to fight next December. We however understand that it would be Marquez, out of a list of three boxers, Marquez, Cotto and Bradley. For Pacquiao, Cotto would have made a lot of sense.

We now know that Cotto will be fighting someone else other than Pacquiao. This fight made sense in two ways; Cotto is a top rated fighter and one of the few that belong to the very top echelon of the sport. He has a name and a decent following and besides that, he put up a spirited fight against the talented Mayweather junior.

However, Cotto learnt a lesson the first time he fought Pacquiao. Coming in at a weight that disadvantaged him would be the first step into another defeat and hence he walked away. Pacquiao and Arum remained with a head-ache. Bradley would have been the more logical opponent, considering he got Pacquiao’ s belt. Despite the ‘cry-murder’ calls, Pacquiao versus Bradley was not the worst call, or even the closest for that matter to some of the bad decisions we have witnessed in the recent past. Bradley /Pacquiao 2 is not happening not because Pacquiao would like to scoff Bradley, but because of the terrible fix.

Bradley of cause will not draw the required numbers to compliment Manny and prove to Floyd that he too can make equal or better numbers. Bradley being the champion, I am sure he would not be trampled-on and commanded around that easily. I believe Bradley would make calls of his own over the purse and other little issues that go with it. The only real choice in this matter would be Marquez.

Of course, Marquez is a bigger head-ache in some way, he can actually beat Pacquiao and can also demand a fat cheque, but he also can draw good numbers to make it a big fight. The fact that he is not the champion, Pacquiao and Arum can still carefully step on his toes and make the most out of the bad situation. Even if Manny won this fight convincingly, the time for it to count went past way, way back. This fight is not for the honour, but the money and the politics.

All these seemingly small issues indicate the bad Position Pacquiao has found himself in. He is in a terrible fix.