Manny Pacquiao will defend his World Boxing Organization welterweight title against Chris Algieri on November 22 at the Venetian Resort in Macau, China.
And if Pacquiao keeps his title with a convincing win against Algieri, trainer Freddie Roach said in an interview with BoxingScene that he wants Danny Garcia next for his prized fighter.
Roach said that a showdown against Garcia, the reigning World Boxing Council and World Boxing Council light welterweight champion, is the next best opponent for Pacquiao - next to Floyd Mayweather Jr.
"My first choice for Manny's next fight is Danny Garcia. I know it's out there. I would love to fight Garcia, it's a great fight for Manny at 140 or 147," Roach said.
The Hall of Fame trainer also added that Pacquiao, who will face Algieri at a 144-pound catch weight, could go down in weight for his next fights because of the lack of attractive opponents at the welterweight division.
"Right now Manny is fighting at 144 for this fight. If he feels good at 144 - he'll go to 140. If he doesn't then we'll go to 147. He's really more of a 140-pounder. His walking around weight is 142," Roach said.
Aside from Pacquiao, Lucas Matthysse is also being linked to Garcia after the 31-year-old scored an impressive second-round knockout win against Roberto Ortiz on Saturday to win the WBC silver light welterweight title.
After the fight, Matthysse said: "Being for a title or no title at stake, I want to fight Danny Garcia. I dare Danny Garcia to not be a chicken. Stop fighting smaller fighters."
However, Garcia, who scored a close unanimous decision win against Matthysse during their title fight in September last year, sounded uninterested in facing the Chubut, Argentina native again.
Garcia, scored a second-round knockout win against Rod Salka last month, said that Matthysse just wants the fight because of money. But in the event they eventually cross path again, Garcia guarantees another victory.
"I beat his a** so bad the first time he wanted to retire," Garcia said. "He don't care about winning he wants the money. I'll beat his a** again."
