MANILA, Philippines – Manny Pacquiao vs Floyd Mayweather won?t happen soon has opened all the possibilities, great ones, for fighters in and around the weight class the sport?s two biggest superstars are in right now.
Mayweather will fight on May 5, if he gets a license from the Nevada State Athletic Commission, and in the list of potential opponents are Miguel Cotto, Canelo Alvarez and initially, Robert Guerrero.
Pacquiao, on the other hand, is looking at June 9 for his return to the ring. The names in his own list include Cotto, Timothy Bradley and Lamont Peterson.
If Pacquiao vs Mayweather were to happen on May 5 or June 9, then it leaves these other boxers going at each other?s throats. But since it?s far-fetched from happening, the merry-go-round begins.
Mayweather and Pacquiao, the WBC and WBA welterweight champions, want Cotto, because a fight with the heavy-handed Puerto Rican would perhaps be the easiest to sell.
The problem with the weight, however, is keeping Cotto away from a rematch with Pacquiao, who?s insisting on 147 lb. Cotto said he won?t go that low for Pacquiao, in contrast to Mayweather who?s open to fighting Cotto at 150.
But the NSAC could stand in the way of Mayweather-Cotto, and if the undefeated American, who?s supposed to go to jail starting on June 1, is denied a license, then where goes Cotto go?
He can go to Pacquiao, and beg for a catchweight of 149 lb, or try to defend his junior-middleweight crown against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., and make much less money than with a fight with Pacquiao.
Pacquiao?s promoter, in anticipation of a non-fight with either Mayweather or Cotto, has broached the idea of a mini-tournament featuring Pacquiao vs Bradley and Marquez vs Peterson.
Then the winners could clash sometime in October or November, again leaving Mayweather out of the picture.
Even without Mayweather, Pacquiao is in for two big fights this year, and Arum said the 33-year-old Filipino congressman should get no less than $20 million for each bout.
Mayweather can go to jail in June without fighting in May, and that?s if the NSAC denies him a license. But if he gets one, he?d most likely land the fight with Cotto.
Right now, Bradley, the undefeated light-welterweight champion, has the inside track in the Pacquiao derby.
?Does it look closer to being Bradley? It looks closer to being Bradley, obviously, by the process of elimination,? Arum told www.ringTV.com
?Pacquiao?s opponent will be decided late this week. We?ve got plenty of time,? said the Top Rank chief, however, adding that Cotto still has a chance.
?What happens if Miguel Cotto comes back and says, ?Okay, I?ll make the weight? That opens up another possibility. But right now, he?s saying that he wouldn?t.?
Everything might change depending on what the NSAC says Wednesday when it deals with Mayweather?s license.
Then the music stops.
