By ABAC CORDERO

Manny Pacquiao said he wants Ricky Hatton as his next opponent, and there’s word that the Filipino champion is willing to walk the extra mile and have the fight staged in the United Kingdom.

Pacquiao, all set to face WBC lightweight champion David Diaz in Las Vegas on June 28, told Ring Magazine the other day he wants Hatton once he gets past Diaz this month.

"After Diaz, I want to fight Ricky Hatton. That will be a good fight," Pacquiao, the reigning WBC super-featherweight champion, said from his training camp in Los Angeles.

An insider said Pacquiao is willing to face Hatton in his own territory, probably in Manchester, where the 29-year-old veteran of 45 fights, losing only once, can pack any venue, any time.

"He’s willing to do that. But he really doesn’t want to go into those details yet. He wants Hatton but he wants to keep his focus on Diaz," the insider said.

Pacquiao is moving up in weight, and has decided to challenge Diaz, an American with Mexican roots, for the 135 lb title. If he wins, he has a few days to decide which title to keep.

But it seems that Pacquiao wants to go another notch higher, and face Hatton, known as "The Hitman" from Manchester, in the light-welterweight division (140 lbs).

Pacquiao told Ring Magazine, the Bible of boxing, that there’s should be no problem him going up against Hatton at 140 lbs.

"I’m 150 pounds right now. My sparring partners are always 140 to 150 pounds. It’s no problem for me. And I’m not getting younger. So why not?" he said.

The possibility of a Pacquiao-Hatton fight first came out earlier this year while Top Rank and Golden Boy were busy working out the blockbuster fight between Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez.

As Pacquiao gears up for the Diaz fight, there’s a growing debate whether the 29-year-old Filipino is now indeed the world’s best pound-for-pound fighter.

Pacquiao has been elevated by fightfan.com as the world’s No. 1 fighter today following the retirement of Floyd Mayweather Jr.

It also helps Pacquiao that Japanese promoter Joe Koizumi, an inductee to boxing’s Hall of Fame, recently described the Filipino southpaw as "the greatest Asian boxer of all time."