Chips need to fall for more clarity to be apparent within the welterweight division on the PBC side of the street.

Shawn Porter is the favorite to beat Yordenis Ugas on March 9, and Mr. X tells me he’s hearing that if Porter defends his green belt against Ugas, a fall replay against Keith Thurman would be his next move.

X also hears that Thurman, who scored a narrow decision win over Shawn in June 2016, would rather go after an older lion with greater name appeal, one Manny Pacquiao.

Thurman would like to have a crack at the 40-year-old senator, no surprise as that is the greatest risk-reward versus payday bonanza on most wish lists over in Haymonville. But X believes Thurman will be disappointed because he thinks that Spence, should he get past the coming up divisions Garcia on March 16, will be matched with Pacquiao next.

Is Spence vs Pacquiao on the PBC To Do list? That question was posed to Haymon Boxing executive Tim Smith.

“I’m barely through April and that is not on my list,” Smith replied. “Anything is possible.”

Indeed; planning too far ahead is a fool’s errand in the boxing sphere. It’s like when I’m chatting with friends about the 2020 Presidential election. “Trump is going to win,” a pal told me today. I think the possibility of many shoes falling between now and the end of the year, and Mr. Mueller’s Nikes dropping right up the Trump rumpus, makes such theorizing almost null.

And does Sean Gibbons, who emerged of late as a trusted aide to Pacman, have insights into Manny’s next move? “Senator is ready to rumble and excited to return now,” Gibbons said on Wednesday evening. “He would love to return in July.”

And what does Gibbons make of my whisperers’ talk of a Spence vs. Pacman scrum? “You need to check your whisperer! Boxing life does change all the time quickly, so you never know, but not likely,” he answered.

Fair enough…

And is Manny looking at a max of two fights in 2019? “He has the time to get in two if that was available but if not, one is it… he can work around his Senator duties,” the advisor and get ‘er done dude said.

And has Gibbons weighed in to Manny what foe would make sense, from a risk-reward or legacy or style perspective? Who does he think makes sense for Manny to fight next?

“Viva The TBE, TMT, Money Team 2,” he said. “Legacy!”

Anyway, the US political scene is not quite the same in the fight game, but still; we must allow that Ugas is more dangerous than his three losses might tell you…so talking Porter vs Thurman would be premature…and you have to think Team Mikey Garcia simply believes their eyes, their skill sets as talent assessors, make their kid more than even money to beat Spence…so slotting in Spence versus the Senator in late summer would be foolhardy. Still…no rule against pondering. Your thoughts on what a Spence vs. Pacquiao scrap might look like?

You can hear Woods doing blow by blow Friday and Saturday night, on Facebook Fightnight Live, from NY and then from Philly.