The much awaited next fight of Filipino Ring idol Manny Pacquiao has finally formalized. In his latest published article for philboxing.com, Manny reveals to his readers that he has read the final draft of the fight contract and is satisfied with the details. He has therefore then signed the said contract for June 28 and has started training in the Philippines and will eventually finish it in his usual stable at Freddie Roach's Wild Card gym in Los Angeles. His opponent David Diaz, on the other hand, has already been training for weeks and has promised his fans that he put up one hell of a fight against the Filipino champ.

With less than 2 months away before the fight, this has been one of Manny Pacquiao's shortest preparation period for a fight if not the shortest. Considering he is moving up in weight class and challenging the WBC lightweight champion Diaz at that, Manny sure is up for a big challenge here. In my opinion, it will be a tougher fight for him than the last one with Juan Manuel Marquez.

Owing to his desire to fight at least 3 times a year, Manny has little time in between high-prized fights with makes his schedule a little hard to deal with for his handlers. Most pundits and fans would have wanted to see Pacquiao start training weeks ago. And for good reason, the last time he fought a world-class fighter which so much distractions and little training time, he lost the fight to Erik Morales.

As always, Pacquaio fans like me are thrilled about this development and can't wait for June 28. Personally, I feel this is a make or break opportunity for Pacquiao. A fight with David Diaz will definitely test his mettle if he can slug it out with the bigger boys at the lightweight division. Waiting in the wings to get a crack at him are Nate Campbell and Joel Casamayor among other notables in the 135.

How things change so quickly in the world of boxing these days, especially when you got somebody like Manny Pacquiao whose now being called out by almost every notable and semi-notable boxers within and beyond his weight class.

The great Bob arum, Manny's promoter, said looking beyond David Diaz is not something they'd like doing but if Manny does breeze by him with relative ease, he would definitely prioritize a championship unification match between Manny Pacquiao and Nate Campbell. Assuming Manny gets David Diaz's WBC lightweight belt, Manny could be looking at Nate Campbell for his next fight if Bob has his way. Nate Campbell has the rest of the alphabet belts of WBA, WBO and IBF sanctioning bodies.

This option jeopardizes the immediate re-match hopes of Juan Manuel Marquez. Bob, for one, thinks a Pacquiao-Campbell championship match for all the marbles with definitely be a huge fight and would definitely top a Marquez rematch in the priority list. Juan Manuel Marquez, up to recently, has continued to bellyache and has publicly pronounced that if a Pacquiao-Marquez 3 will not happen, it is because Manny doesn't want it to happen. A statement made by Marquez short of calling Manny a coward.

This Pacquiao versus Campbell unification bout may also have a slight effect on Joel Casamayor chances of landing a match against the Pacman. After an upset win against Michael Katsidis recently, he has publicly announced his desire for a big money fight against Manny or even Marco Antonio Barrera.

Casamayor may also be in a low priority in Manny's list but in my humble opinion, if he wants to "corner" Manny for a big money fight, I think it is his best interest to fight Campbell immediately and win his 3 alphabet belts in order to up his rep and get the Pacquiao camp's attention.

Okay the title would seems to indicate De La Hoya is not the only one looking for a big retirement pay but it sounds like Manny Pacquiao is also looking at the same prospect. No offense to manny ofcourse.

30 million dollars is what Pacquiao quoted he will be asking if ever talks of him fighting Oscar De La Hoya will ever move forward. This was his reply when he was asked if he is amenable for an alledgedly proposed $10 million prize money he will be getting if he agrees to a showdown with the Golden Boy himself sometime at this year's end. He also recognizes certain physical disadvantages in height, reach and power that Oscar has over him and he feels the proposed prize money should be triple no less.

As boxing is business much as it is a sport, I would have to agree with Manny on his assessment. These days, even boxing champions are not looking to fight the best contender in his division but rather who he will get the most money fighting. Good examples to mention are WBC lightweight champion David Diaz and Ring Magazine lightweight champion Joel Casamayor. They're both itching to have a piece of Pacquiao now that he's definitely moving to their division.

With that said, I don't think Manny can have a bigger fight than against Oscar in his career. Nobody else has the same draw as Golden Boy in his era. 30 million would definitely be a good ball park figure considering the prize fights Manny will get after that will definitely not even equal to half of it. Good retirement pay and a good test of mettle for Pacquiao.

Money & Manny talks and they say its a cold $30 million!

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.