Manny Pacquiao's opponent in his next fight on November 22 in Macau is still unknown at this point, but trainer Freddie Roach has several fighters in mind.
In an interview with Tha Boxing Voice, Roach insisted that a showdown against Floyd Mayweather Jr. is still the best fight available for Pacquiao, but he admitted that it is unlikely to happen, considering the long standing dispute between Bob Arum and influential adviser Al Haymon.
Mayweather, who is set to return to the ring in September, also said earlier this year that he is not interested in doing business with Bob Arum again.
"It's still the biggest fight out there and neither really has any opponents to fight that people really want to see. Bob and Haymon like hate each other for some reason. I don't know why people can't really let things go and just negotiate," Roach said.
With Mayweather out of the picture, Roach said that Saul "Canelo" Alvarez should be considered as the best option, but only if the 23-year-old former champion wins against Erislandy Lara in their upcoming showdown on July 12 in Las Vegas.
However, Roach sounded like he is interested in pitting his other prized fighter - Miguel Cotto - against Alvarez.
Roach also expressed desire in arranging a fight between Pacquiao and reining WBA and WBC light welterweight champion, while also sounding cold about the idea of facing British boxing star Amir Khan.
"Bob asked me, he says what about Amir Khan? And I said, well, if you can get Amir Khan, what why don't we fight Danny Garcia? Cause I like that fight. I think it's a high profile fight," Roach said.
The 54-year-old trainer also insisted that Khan does not deserve a shot at Pacquiao despite winning against Luis Collazo in a dominating fashion, pointing out that facing the Bolton, England native would lead to a boring fight.
"Amir in his last fight, he held a lot. He made it boring. I don't want Manny in a boring fight. To keep the PPV audience we want, we got to fight better guys than that," Roach stressed.
Juan Manuel Marquez is also one of their top targets, but the 40-year-old Mexican continues to show no interest in facing Pacquiao again - unless he gets a hefty $20 million fight purse.
