For several years since has risen to fame by beating a prime Marco Antonio Barrera, Manny Pacquiao has always been a favorite. Maybe not a heavy favorite but he has always been favored and never an underdog as far as I can remember him fighting big names like Erik Morales and MAB, Even in his recently won fight against Juan Manuel Marquez he was a favorite.

Immediately after his last fight, a lot of boxing pundits and fans have already been speculating on who should fight next. A few would want a rematch with Marquez to conclude his "Unfinished Business." Yet some like Pacquiao's amiable promoter Bob Arum wanted him to fight David Diaz as they (including Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach) have pondered even before they inked the Marquez deal last year.

Although, Diaz can be considered slightly untested at best. There is no denying he is the WBC lightweight champion that Pacquiao wants a piece of. His most commendable fight was a win against Erik Morales but it wasn't exactly a terrific fight to be raving about. Having watched him fight in the undercard for Pacquiao's main event, I observed that he seems to be an in fighter which Pacquiao's team can definitely go around at. Should Manny win the Diaz fight and move on to higher weight divisions to test his limits, he will definitely find himself in a position he's never been at for several years, being a heavy underdog.

Big time names are being shoved in Manny's agenda for this year. Ricky Hatton is Trainer Freddie Roach's dream fight for Pacman. While some are playing with the idea of Manny fighting Hall of Famer Oscar De La Hoya as the latter's farewell fight of his career. He's definitely going to be an underdog in both prospective fights I'm sure.

But what about Golden Boy promotions? Are they willing to have Hatton and De La Hoya fight Manny this year? From what I understand, they have been pushing for a Marquez-Pacquiao rematch this year too? Are they going to shelve that idea for a bigger money fight between Pacquiao with any of the two Golden Boy boxers? It could possibly be a stale mate and pave way for Manny to fight other notable lightweights in case he gets comfortable in that division.