Manny Pacquiao has been taking his training to another level over the past few days in preparation for his upcoming welterweight bout with Brandon Rios in November.

Pacquiao, the first boxer to win a world championship belt in eight different divisions, has been working out with bigger sparring partners as of late, including a full-fledged middleweight Marlon Alta.

To see Pacman sparring with bigger opponents isn't new. Two years ago, Pacquiao was sparring with Karim Mayfield, an undefeated contender in the light middleweight division. He also fought several light middleweight and middleweight sparring partners before, but no David vs. Goliath matchups would be greater than his demolition of Oscar De La Hoya, Miguel Cotto, and Antonio Margarito.

Now, Pacquiao is 34-years old and hungry to gain recognition again following his devastating knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez last December. Pacman knows that a loss to Rios would mean game over while a knockout win catapult him back to the upper echelon of contenders.

Not too fast Pacman. While there's no secret that Pacman direly needs to win his next fight, a victory against Rios would not be enough for him to get the top spot in the pound-for-pound ranking or perhaps a shot at Floyd Mayweather Jr. Rios may have the physical tools to pull off a stunner against Pacman, but it's hard to bet against Pacman especially if he's going against a brawler with no solid counterpunching ability. Result? Another Pacman beatdown.

Everybody knows that Pacman is only vulnerable when fighting a sharp counterpuncher like Marquez and Eric Morales. Tim Bradley? Well, he did give Pacquiao some hard time, but it is very clear that Pacman won that match.

For Pacquiao to be a fearsome force again in boxing, Pacquiao has to beat the best boxer out there not named Mayweather Jr. And it' no other than Argentine knockout artist Sergio Martinez.

Of course, everybody would question this match-up considering that Martinez is a legitimate light middleweight fighter with a 5'10, 158-pound body while Pacquiao is just standing at 5'6, 143 pounds.

But boxing fans saw time and time again, how Pacman overcame such disadvantage with potent combination of speed, agility and power. Pacquiao, when focused, is a beast in a ring and no boxer would ever touch him other than technically gifted fighters like Marquez and Mayweather Jr.

Martinez would make this fight interesting with his power and solid boxing skills. But still, Pacquiao would always find ways to land his killer punches. This match might be a dream for now. However, the way Pacman is sparring bigger dudes recently, it only means one thing - the Filipino fighter is up to take on bigger challenges. Bring on Martinez!