 |
|
Photo © German Villasenor
|
Newly minted IBF super featherweight champion Robbie 'Bomber' Peden says he wants to blaze a trail through the best 130 pound fighters in the world rather than defend his strap against a string of meaningless mandatories.
"Straight off the bat mate, I'm not going to worry about fighting any second rate fighters," said Peden, who won the title with an eighth round stoppage of Nate Campbell last month after dominating the fight. "I'm going to fight the best to be the best. Any one of the three guns out there – Morales, Barrera or Pacquiao – would be what I’m looking for."
Despite the significance of the recent Erik Morales versus Manny Pacquiao bout Peden, who has been enjoying a well-deserved break with family and friends in Queensland, admits he didn't watch the fight.
"I didn’t see it mate, but I heard it was a pretty close fight,” he said. “Morales won a good decision so he’s in the mix again and I want to see if one of these boys wants to fight me."
After the Pacquiao fight Morales suggested in the post fight interview that a move up to lightweight might be on the cards, but he also didn’t rule out a third fight with hated rival Barrera.
Pacquiao’s future appears even more unclear. The former flyweight and super bantamweight champion could easily drop back down to featherweight where a rematch with WBC and IBF titleholder Juan Manuel Marquez would be a natural.
From Peden’s perspective he doesn’t mind who he faces next as long as it’s one of the ‘Big Three’.
"It really doesn’t matter,” said Peden, 25-2 (14), who returns to the United States early next month to begin plotting his next career move. “It’s all much of a muchness I think. Out of the three of them Morales beat Pacquiao, Pacquiao beat Barrera and Barrera beat Morales. So I think they’ll be pretty keen to face each other rather than fight a hungry young fighter like me. Any one of them would suit me. I think Pacquiao is the one who really needs the fight. He has no belt, a loss and a draw in his last two fights, so I’d actually like to fight him."
Three division champion Marco Antonio Barrera, who holds the WBC version of the 130 pound title after a close decision win over Morales in their rubbermatch last year, presents an interesting proposal for Peden. The 31-year-old Australian was one of Barrera’s main sparring partners in the lead up to the second Morales fight when he famously cracked one of the Mexican's ribs causing the highly anticipated rematch to be postponed.
“For sure, for sure,” said Peden of a potential Barrera match-up. “I think we should put that fight together real quick, but I notice his promoter De La Hoya and a few other people around him don’t want him to fight anyone dangerous next. They want to maximize his performance and not put him into a fight that will end his career.”
Ideally Peden would like to be back in the ring by late June, but with Barrera scheduled to face South African Mzonke Fana next month, his best bet for a big fight would seem to be either Morales or Pacquiao.
“I’ll have to talk to Dan Goossen and Tommy [Brown, Goossen Tutor Promotions matchmaker] to see what they can match-up,” he said. “If we can get a spot on HBO or Showtime then I’d be looking forward to that.”
MORE Boxing Headlines From Today:
 Will Bernard Hopkins Pay For Video-game Fame? Dp
Interview Chad Dawson Alex Pierpaoli
I'll Strip Docherty Of His Belt, Says Arthur SkySports
Fans eye PacMan-Erik II Dp
Duran injured in motorcycle spill Dp
|
|
|
|
© Copyright / All Rights reserved: Doghouse Boxing 1998-2005
|
