• Welterweight

Peterson one of four options for Pacquiao's next fight

Manny Pacquiao most recently survived a war with Juan Manuel Marquez © Getty Images

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Manny Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum has revealed he will present the WBO welterweight champion with four options for his next fight, options that could affect Amir Khan's immediate plans.

Pacquiao's most recent bout saw him claim a controversial victory against Juan Manuel Marquez - who he could face again in 2012. However, a May contest against Miguel Cotto - who he beat in 2009 to claim his WBO crown - could be a more likely proposition, after the Puerto Rican raised his profile with a revenge victory over Antonio Margarito at the end of 2011.

"Cotto looked terrific with Margarito, he has the biggest fan base with the Puerto Rican (pay-per-view) numbers he delivers and he's the biggest name of the four," Arum told ESPN.

"Also, people remember that the first four rounds of his fight with Manny were hellacious. You could sell it based on the fact that, yeah, Manny beat the old Cotto, but the new Cotto is a problem and they would be fighting at a higher weight. Last time it was a welterweight fight. This would be a junior middleweight fight with the (catch weight) a little lower than 154 pounds."

Another contest against Marquez - the fourth between the pair - would be a box office hit, with the Mexican's sizeable Hispanic fanbase eager for him to finally grab a win after three tight contests. However, Pacquiao could potentially disrupt his former training partner Khan's plans instead, with light-welterweight Lamont Peterson - who beat Khan in a controversial title fight in December - another potential opponent.

If Peterson does not bring the necessary box office clout - or eventually agrees to a rematch with Khan - then another American, Timothy Bradley (who has reportedly ducked Khan in recent times), could provide a more competitive challenge.

"There are pluses and minuses," Arum noted of Peterson. "Clearly, Bradley whitewashed Peterson, so you have that. But on the other hand you have Peterson coming off this fight with Khan that had a lot of publicity and it was a terrific fight.

"And you also have this wonderful back story of how Lamont grew up in poverty. It's US poverty versus Filipino-style poverty. Both guys came up in as much poverty as you could imagine. That would be a theme of a promotion if Peterson is selected as the opponent.

"Bradley is undefeated, he's considered to be a tough out and, for those looking at the most competitive fight, Bradley would be considered more competitive with Pacquiao than Peterson might be."

However, there is no chance Pacquiao's next fight will be the one all boxing fans are hoping for, after Floyd Mayweather Jnr was jailed for 90 days (with a further 90 suspended) on domestic violence charges.

"You can't expect Floyd, after having been in prison, to come out and go right into a big fight," Arum said. "He won't be available to train or promote a fight in May or June. He'll probably want to have a tune-up fight.

"I just hope that he swallows his ego and doesn't get into trouble when he is in (jail), because then the incarceration can go not only the full 90 days, but he could have the 90 days added on."

That means the showdown will have to wait until at least November, although even that looks unlikely.

"We still have not been told by Floyd who we should sit down with to hammer everything out," Arum revealed.

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