Promoter Bob Arum has heard nothing from Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Unless Mayweather miraculously appears and says he wants to fight Manny Pacquiao, Mayweather’s name won’t be among those Arum presents to Pacquiao for his next possible opponent.
Arum will be going to the Philippines to partake in Pacquiao’s 32nd birthday celebration Dec. 17. Arum will tell Pacquiao his options are welterweight champion Andre Berto, former three-division champion “Sugar” Shane Mosley and lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez.
Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s trainer, said last week he would prefer Pacquiao do a third fight with Marquez, against whom Pacquiao has a draw and split-decision victory.
But if Arum has his druthers, Pomona’s Mosley will be next.
“I think Mosley is more marketable, but that’s my opinion,” Arum said. “I think Mosley is someone who even non-boxing fans know.
“Everyone knows Shane Mosley.”
It has long been the contention of Golden Boy Promotions, which promotes Marquez, that Arum doesn’t want Pacquiao to fight Marquez again because Marquez has Pacquiao’s number. Marquez certainly believes that.
At last Saturday’s post-fight news conference at MGM Grand in Las Vegas following his ninth-round TKO of Michael Katsidis, Marquez wore a shirt that read, “I beat Manny Pacquiao twice.”
Golden Boy president Oscar De La Hoya also scoffs at the notion that Mosley is more bankable than Marquez. Mosley is 0-1-1 Advertisement
in his past two fights. He was dominated by Mayweather on May 1. He did not look terrific in a draw with light-hitting Sergio Mora on a Sept. 18 Golden Boy card at Staples Center that featured rising Mexican star Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. The event drew 13,591, but De La Hoya said most of those fans were there to see Alvarez.
“This is my take on Bob Arum saying that Mosley has more of a household name,” De La Hoya said. “Mosley’s last pay-per-view in September, I think he drew about a thousand people and `Canelo’ drew about 10,000 people. And I think `Canelo’ drew probably 95 percent of the pay-per-view.
“So Bob Arum is saying, `Well, Mosley’s a more credible opponent because he’s more marketable.’ That’s not true, that’s not true at all. Marquez is the fighter who everybody knows and who everybody wants to see against Pacquiao.”
De La Hoya is not happy with Mosley at the moment, so his comments should be taken as such. Mosley was promoted by Golden Boy for five years, but recently announced he was a free agent and could fight for the promoter of his choosing.
The way De La Hoya sees it, he made Mosley millions of dollars and he’s upset Mosley walked.
“I feel hurt by it,” De La Hoya said. “I mean, obviously, I don’t really let my personal feelings get in the way of the job we have to do. We want to do the best job possible for the fighters. When fighters do things like that, it hurts.
“It’s sad because they don’t realize what we’ve accomplished for them. There’s a lot of work and you put a lot of energy into it and then you get slapped in the face.”
Efforts to reach Mosley were unsuccessful. But the thinking in the industry is he left Golden Boy – in which he apparently still holds stock – to get the fight with Pacquiao.
Since there is ongoing animosity between Arum’s Top Rank Inc. and Golden Boy, Mosley’s chances of fighting Pacquiao are considerably greater if Golden Boy is not in the mix.
Another indication Mosley could be Pacquiao’s next foe is the declaration by Roach and Arum that Pacquiao won’t accept a fight with Marquez at a catch-weight of between 142 and 144 pounds. This coming from a fighter – meaning Pacquiao – who has requested and received catch-weights for two of his world title fights.
Pacquiao weighed just 144.6 pounds for his Nov. 13 fight against Antonio Margarito, but Roach suddenly is saying he won’t let Pacquiao fight again at anything below 147. This is a load of rubbish because Pacquiao easily can make 144.
“It’s just another excuse,” Marquez said.
He’s right.
If we went simply by which fighter is most deserving, the 37-year-old Marquez would get the vote here. He got up from three first-round knockdowns to earn a draw with Pacquiao in their first fight. He gave Pacquiao all he could handle in their second. He has earned a third shot.
Mosley, 39, got blown out by Mayweather and then fought lethargically against Mora. This renders him less than worthy.
As for Berto, he stands virtually no chance in the Pacquiao sweepstakes because he is far from a known commodity.
Marquez is the way to go. And Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy, said Friday he is pleased with the offer he submitted to Arum.
“It reflects the fact,” Schaefer said, “that Marquez really wants that fight.”
