For the fifth time in his storied boxing career, Manny Pacquiao has moved up to another weight division.

His decision to go to the 135 lightweight class follows his jumps from junior flyweight (108 lbs) to flyweight (112lbs.) in 1996 to super bantamweight (122 lbs.) in 1999, to featherweight (126 lbs.) in 2003 then super featherweight (130 lbs) in 2005.

It is apparent that Pacquiao’s body has matured along with his age, starting out as a professional boxer as a gangling 106 lb. 16-year old.

But Manny at 5’6″ was tall for a flyweight, and his jump of two divisions to super bantamweight was in response to the signals he was getting from his body. His inability to make the 112 lb weight limit in his failed defense of his WBC flyweight crown in 1999 against Medgoen Singsurat in Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand served as the impetus to that decision.

Now 29 years old, Manny is going up to 135 lbs. not so much for difficulty in making the 130 lb. limit as a business decision because that’s where the good fights (read: Big bucks) are. The road to 135 was marked with three world titles and the adulation of a boxing world that was in desperate search of an exciting fighter.

Now comes the news that Joan Guzman, until recently the WBO junior lightweight champion, has decided to forego his title and go up to the lightweight division as well.

Well-known boxing writer Dan Rafael wrote on ESPN.com that Guzman’s decision was spurred by his disappointment at not being able to get good fights in his division. He is hoping WBO will install him as the #1 contender and get a shot at Nate Campbell, who owns the IBF, WBO and WBA lightweight crowns.

Rafael likewise quotes Sycuan promotions’ (Guzman’s promoter) Sean Gibbons as saying “Guzman can make 130 but what’s at 130? All the top guys are at 135,” Gibbons said. “You have Campbell, Juan Manuel Marquez, who is going to 135, Manny Pacquiao, [Juan] Diaz, [Michael] Katsidis, Joel Casamayor — 135 is the new 130.”

Guzman was one of those being eyed as a possible opponent for Pacquiao, but Manny’s decision to move up may have also influenced the 32-year-old champion from the Dominican Republic to follow suit.

Evidently, fighters in Pacquiao’s class see him as their ticket to fame and fortune. We all know that Pacquiao has been earning millions of dollars even when he was not a world champion. Guzman on the other hand as jr. lightweight champ would have made the relatively paltry sum of 8,000 in his postponed defense against Alex Arthur.

The decision to follow Pacquiao certainly seems a no-brainer viewed from that angle.

Meanwhile, the Pacman’s take for his challenge to WBC lightweight title-holder David Diaz is rumored to be in the vicinity of M, although there has been no confirmation from anyone of authority on the matter.

Diaz himself admits that he is fortunate to be given a chance to fight the Filipino icon, because even if his purse is nowhere near that of Manny’s, it probably is the biggest he has ever earned.

It was reported that in one of their promotional press conferences, Diaz even thanked Pacquiao for giving him the fight. And remember, the Mexican-American is the champion in the division.

But it looks like this early, people are looking at a Pacquiao win even as reports from Las Vegas indicate that he is the prohibitive favorite.

Even if Diaz is known as a heavy puncher like Manny, it is also well-known that he is much slower than our boy, and is easy to hit. He does have a reputation for being able to take a punch, but then again, he has not taken one as lethal as Manny’s.

Still, Diaz proclaims he is no push-over and he intends to defeat Manny and go on to be the first to conquer the pacman, a feat that should assure him megabuck fights in the future. Obviously, there are many more fighters similarly drooling at the same prospect.

The line forms to the right, gentlemen.

By Ed Picson