While the welterweight division presents a plethora of quality opponents for Manny Pacquiao, the truth is the 135-pound weight class offers the most lucrative and intriguing fights for the Filipino champ.

The latest report coming from the camp of Manny Pacquiao has created a lot of buzz surrounding the next opponent for the reigning WBA (Super) welterweight champion.

Earlier this week, Maloney Samaco, of PhilBoxing.net, wrote an article detailing Pacman’s handlers’ interest in fights involving welterweight contender Danny Garcia and four-division champion Mikey Garcia.

Danny Garcia, who reentered the welterweight title scene after defeating Adrian Granados in April, has been calling Pacquiao out for a bout at 147 pounds.

A former lineal jr. welterweight and WBC welterweight title-holder, the Philadelphia native is expected to pose a strong challenge to Pacquiao, who will turn 41 in December.

Mikey Garcia, on the other hand, absorbed his first professional loss last March after he bowed down to IBF welterweight champ Errol Spence Jr. Before his recent setback, the 31-year-old Garcia has dominated the lower weights as he captured world titles in featherweight, super featherweight, junior lightweight and lightweight.

By just comparing the two fighters, it’s obvious that Mikey stands as the more accomplished Garcia. Not taking any credit from Danny Garcia, but the Oxnard, California-born fighter has more belts and larger Hispanic fan-base, making him the ideal foil to a proven pay-per-view attraction in Pacquiao.

Pacquiao vs. Garcia

The mere thought of a Pacquiao vs. Garcia contest at 135-pound would seem like a pipe dream a few years ago because of the disparity in weight classes. However, Garcia’s bold gamble to climb to the welterweights in April, regardless of the result, proved that he’s ready for any challenge.

All of a sudden, the possibility of Pacquiao fighting Garcia is within reach.

Adding fuel to the hype train is Pacman’s willingness to go down to 135 pounds if there’s an ideal opponent in that weight class. The Filipino icon confirmed this in an interview with FightHype three years ago.

Money-wise, this fight will easily sell 19,000 seats at MGM Grand Garden and top 500,000 PPV buys. Again, Garcia’s significantly large Hispanic fanbase will play a factor in the fight’s marketing machine.

Juan Manuel Marquez banked on this particular market in all his four fights with Pacquiao, and Garcia won’t have any problem using the same formula. In addition, there’s already an existing plotline that intertwines the two fighters, with Garcia being a former sparring partner to Pacquiao a decade ago.

But while a showdown between Garcia and Pacquiao would be an action-packed event at any weight class, Pacman going to the lightweight division is a landscape-changing scenario for boxing as it would set the stage for another salivating contest involving Pacquiao and a certain fighter viewed by boxing fans and pundits as No.1 pound-for-pound.

Pacquiao vs. Lomachenko

Vasyl Lomachenko is scheduled to face Luke Campbell on August 31 at 02 Arena in London, United Kingdom.

A victory for Lomachenko would further solidify his claim as the king of the lightweights, having captured Ring Magazine, WBA and WBO titles, and one away from adding the WBC strap to his collection later this month.

Like Pacquiao vs. Garcia, a Pacquiao vs. Lomachenko slugfest at 135 pounds would be a big-money, high-stake bout.

For Pacquiao, beating the highly-rated Ukrainian would bring a whole new perspective on his greatness. It’s a kind of fight that could catapult the Filipino champ to the top of boxing hierarchy in the eyes of boxing pundits, given how invincible Lomachenko has been in the last 3 to 4 years.

As for Lomachenko, a win over Pacquiao would automatically make him a superstar.

There’s a reason why Spence, Shawn Porter, Terrence Crawford, and other young fighters want Pacquiao so badly. They all want a shot at stardom, and they know Pacman is the golden ticket.

As great as Lomachenko is right now, he’s not a mainstream personality like Pacman. And in the case of Floyd Mayweather and Pacquiao, they both defeated the Golden Boy Oscar Dela Hoya on their way to fame and fortune. Lomachenko needs to accomplish the same thing with Pacquiao if he wants his legend to grow bigger.

In the end, only time will tell when these fights will take place. Still, it can’t be helped to imagine the magnitude of these matches. Because more than another Pacquiao vs. Mayweather snoozefest, a Pacman rumble with Garcia or Lomachenko is the kind of stuff die-hard boxing fans rightfully deserve right now.
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