The best month of the 2010 boxing calendar has come to a close and after two excellent weekends with a years worth of moments, the shift has now turned back to Manny Pacquiao and who his next opponent will be. Pacquiao has become boxing's biggest paycheck thanks in part to the frequent strings of inactivity and mounting legal troubles for boxing's former cash king Floyd Mayweather. Pacquiao figures to return in the spring, but with a lack of marketable opponents to face at this time, the list is as short as it has ever been and just two weeks since his last fight, the list is already down to three fighters. Shane Mosley, Juan Manuel Marquez and Andre Berto are those three fighters and in that exact order. While it is increasingly and unfortunately likely that Mosley will be landing the Pacquiao fight, expect a lot of news in the coming weeks from any of these three fighters in relation to Pacquiao.
I still find it disapointing that only after Shane Mosley has shown considerable decline, that Pacquiao's team is hoping to make a fight happen. I can remember just last year, following his 9th round TKO win over Antonio Margarito, Mosley was begging on a weekly basis to fight Pacquiao, even offering to move down to 140 pounds to fight him following Pacquiao's own victory over Ricky Hatton. Back then, I would have favored Mosley to beat Pacquiao, and even Freddie Roach himself admitted that Mosley was too dangerous of a fight at that time. But now, the deteriorating skills of Mosley is like a beacon of light for Team Pacquiao. Conventional boxing wisdom would figure that if you haven't won a fight in two years, like Mosley, you wouldn't be figuring in to the biggest payday of your career, but that hasn't stopped constant Pacquiao opponents in the past to fill the B-side. Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales and Joshua Clottey can attest to that, but considering how poor Mosley has looked in recent fights, how marketable is Pacquiao-Mosley?
That's where Juan Manuel Marquez will come in. He brings all the marketable tools to turn the spring soft touch into a mega-fight atmosphere. Marquez came up short in two fights with Pacquiao that many believed he won. Not to mention, Marquez was the last fighter that Pacquiao actually had trouble with and he's the most popular Mexican fighter in the sport today, so a Cinco de Mayo showdown would be big. Marquez would be such a huge underdog that people would root for him in lieu of Pacquiao's massive popularity. Even though Marquez's desire to fight Pacquiao is borderline obsessive, I doubt that he believes he can beat him and is making such a big deal at this time just to get the big payday and call it a career. Following his instant classic with Michael Katsidis last weekend, everybody is saying that Marquez is "deserving" of the fight, but people seem to forget a few obvious facts. Marquez is old, is becoming less mobile, despite his tremendous performances, and a fight with Pacquiao will be at 147, where Marquez laid an egg against Mayweather last year.
That leaves Andre Berto, the WBC Welterweight champion who blasted out ho-hum Freddie Hernandez in one round on the Marquez-Katsidis undercard. Berto is young, explosively strong and fast, which is a sharp contrast to Marquez and Mosley, who are old and plodding. Though Berto is an up-and-coming star, he sure isn't a marketable guy and doesn't have people rushing to arenas to watch him fight. Combine those two facts and you have a dark horse. Pacquiao's name alone would sell the event in the case of a Berto fight. Plus, for people who like competitive and grueling fights, Berto-Pacquiao has brutality written all over it for as long as it lasts. Alas, Berto is high risk, low reward for Pacquiao, who is undoubtably holding out on tough fights in the event that Mayweather decides to commit to a fight.
Ultimately, the Pacquiao sweepstakes should end by the end of the year and with it begins the buzz of what will be ahead for the record setting champion. I'm hoping for Berto to land the shot, but I'm already groaning that it's going to be Mosley. Either way, I'm sure to watch, and you will be to, so until then, we'll just have to sit back and enjoy the ride.