A lot of you are still trying to figure out who Manny Pacquiao's next opponent is going to be. Marquez? Mosley? Berto? Well, I'm here to tell you to stop guessing, and Bob Arum, please stop pretending! I told you weeks ago that it's going to be Shane Mosley and, barring a sudden change of demands from Floyd Mayweather, that's exactly who it's going to be. Despite Bob Arum's pretense of considering both Marquez and Berto as possible opponents, Shane Mosley is the fight that he, Michael Koncz and Manny Pacquiao have all wanted even before the 12-round drubbing of Antonio Margarito was complete.
On November 13, Shane Mosley was in attendance at Cowboys Stadium where he got a ringside view of Pacquiao's lopsided unanimous decision victory over Margarito. It didn't take long before he was spotted having a discussion with Pacquiao's advisor, Michael Koncz, shortly after the fight. Less than a week later, Mosley was invited to have a face-to-face meeting with Bob Arum, something that none of the other candidates were afforded, to discuss details about a potential showdown with Pacquiao. So on November 19, the two met to "talk about money" according to an update posted by Mosley himself on his Twitter page. The next day, Mosley sounded as if the fight was essentially a done deal as he updated his followers with the following post, "I just left his office yesterday 90% sure Its going down trust."
Literally the same day, reports began to surface that WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto was also in the running for a Pacquiao fight, as Bob Arum supposedly "reached out" to his promoter, Lou DiBella, to begin discussions. Not to be left out of the mix, WBA/WBO lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez, who already had 2 extremely close fights with Pacquiao, also began his campaign for a third match. Surprisingly, or not depending on how you look at it, it was Pacquiao himself who first aired his concerns about which fighter would be the better option as far as pay-per-view sales are concerned. In a November 23 interview with ABS-CBN news, Pacquiao commented, "Shane Mosley is good. Marquez? There may be no audience...no pay-per-view."
Just a few days later, Arum, however, made it clear that although they would entertain the idea of a fight with Marquez or Berto, it was Mosley who remained his top choice as well. "The bottom line, it's all about the Benjamins. I input what I think it will do on pay-per-view, and that's largely based upon how I can sell it. Berto is a tough sell, because nobody knows him. I could pitch it as the unknown, the undefeated guy, but how much that moves the needle, I'm not sure. With Mosley, my gut feeling is that promoting that fight right, because of Mosley's name recognition, will move the needle a lot. That will be a pretty high number," he would tell Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports on November 29. "The casual sports fan knows Mosley. He's fought (Oscar) De La Hoya twice and Mayweather. He's a recognizable name. No matter how great a fighter he may be, those people have no idea who Juan Manuel Marquez is."
And now, as recently as yesterday, Manny Pacquiao's business manager, Eric Pineda, would all but declare Mosley as Pacquiao's next opponent. "It looks like it's Mosley," he would tell Abac Cordero of The Philippine Star. "The only thing we don't have now is the contract." Of course, Arum himself isn't quite ready to make the official announcement. Instead, he's telling everyone that he plans on presenting the options to the Filipino superstar later this month and letting him decide. "I will have all three proposals and I will sit with Manny in the Philippines when I'm there for his birthday [December 17] and let him decide who he wants to fight," Arum would tell Dan Rafael of ESPN.com. "We'll go over everything because each fight has a different set of financial parameters. It's Manny's career, it's his life and he'll decide. Will I make a recommendation? Sure, but all it will be is a recommendation, and Freddie will have some input. I certainly don't act as a dictator."
Given Arum's comments last week about Berto being a tough sell and Mosley being able to provide more "Benjamins" than Marquez, I think you already know what his recommendation is going to be. Not to mention, Pacquiao himself has also expressed his opinion that Mosley would also be better for pay-per-view numbers. Like it or not, unless Freddie Roach can come up with an extremely good reason not to fight Shane Mosley, you can all plan on tuning in to watch a battle between two warriors who also happen to be two of the nicest fighters in the sport.
So mark your calendars! On April 16, 2011, live from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, get ready for Manny Pacquiao vs. Shane Mosley. The only question now is what do they call it? Anyone got any suggestions?
[ Follow Ben Thompson on Twitter @fighthype ]