Manny Pacquiao's Next Fight Pushed Back to December 1

RingTV.com is reporting that Manny Pacquiao will not be returning to the boxing ring on November 10, but rather on December 1, against an opponent yet to bet determined, and at a site to be decided, as well.

Pacquiao (54-4-2, 38 KO) is coming off of an incredibly controversial decision loss to Timothy Bradley on June 9, and all signs since even before that pointed to the idea of Manny returning, win or lose, on November 10. Just a week ago, Top Rank booked the MGM Grand in Las Vegas for that date.

But adviser Michael Koncz says that Manny won't be ready to go on November 10, and so they're pushing it back three weeks.

There are some possible conflicts here. Miguel Cotto had told Golden Boy Promotions to book Madison Square Garden for December 1, and Richard Schaefer has said he's done just that.

Cotto (37-3, 30 KO) is one of the three names reportedly being considered for Pacquiao's next fight, along with Timothy Bradley and Juan Manuel Marquez. Pacquiao vs Cotto II nearly came off earlier this year, or at least was seriously negotiated, but the two couldn't agree on weight. Simply put, Cotto refused to go under 154 pounds, and Pacquiao has made clear many times that he doesn't want to fight over 147 pounds, which he's done just once, against Antonio Margarito in 2010.

So unless something changed Cotto's mind (or Manny's) about that weight issue, those two probably aren't going to fight. And no matter how crazy the Top Rank-Golden Boy war could become, I'm still guessing that nobody is going to run a major televised boxing show against Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather. So the idea of Cotto fighting, say, on Showtime on December 1, head-to-head with a Pacquiao fight -- well, it would be crazy, especially considering Cotto fights don't come cheap.

This is an interesting development in that it throws a wrinkle into the upcoming schedule. November 10 is now open for both networks as well, and we should see something come into play for that date (it might make TMT and Golden Boy able to run back-to-back weekends instead of both shooting for Showtime on 11/17, for instance).

We'll see. There's still plenty to be hammered out, the biggest of which is the opponent for Manny.