The Pacquaio Sweepstakes!

With the revelations of this past weekend, Cotto beating Joshua Clottey with a close split decision to retain his WBO welterweight title and the Mayweather-Marquez bout set for July 18th postponed due to a Mayweather injury, the campaigning for Manny Pacquiao’s next opponent should commence in full force.  As Pacquiao has emerged as the top draw in both ticket sales and PPV buys since the demise, ironically at his hands, of Oscar De La Hoya, everybody and their mother is calling out the Filipino sensation.

But who is going to get the nod in November?

Just like a the President of the United States is chosen in the eleventh month of the year, the man to face the most popular fighter in the sport will also get his chance to be a part of history as well as pad his bank account in the month of thanksgiving.

The difference is that the opponent will be chosen well in advance of the November 14th proposed date for the return of the “Pacman”.

It seems that the lead candidate is none other than Cotto.  The fact that both men are promoted by Bob Arum which makes it a lot of easier to put the cards on the table and split the monies which can only be guessed should be quite considerable.  It is no secret that Cotto’s agreement with Top Rank ends at the end of the year and it is certain that Cotto would want to leave the grip of Arum with his biggest purse to date.

It has been rumoured that Cotto has considered the bout while Pacquiao is all for it as it was displayed with Pacquiao’s presence this last weekend at Madison Square Garden.  In initial talks, it was stated that the “Pacman” and his trainer Freddie Roach are pushing for a catch weight of 144 lbs. while Cotto says he won’t go any lower than 145 lbs.

Coming in at a close second to face the man from General Santos is southern california staple Shane Mosley.  Mosley has not fought since his dismantling of Antonio Margarito last January.  The 37-year-old Mosley has stated that he is only interested in big name as well as big purse fights and it would be difficult to find an opponent that will fit that criteria better than Pacquaio.  Mosley has stated that he is very interested in matching up against the Filipino, going as far as giving up his right to a 50-50 split of the purse and agreeing for Pacquiao to receive a higher percentage.

The ones that seem to be out in the cold are the participants of the now postponed mega fight that was set for July 18th, Mayweather Jr. and Marquez.  Marquez has been chasing Pacquiao thru the weight classes in hopes of getting the much anticipated rematch to the split decision loss he suffered last year.  This was after they fought to a draw in their first battle.  As far as Mayweather Jr., nobody believes that he would ever step in the ring with the southpaw since Pacquaio would probably pose to much of a threat towards his legacy.  Bob Arum at the post Cotto-Clottey press conference quipped that “Mayweather might be fighting Ivan Calderon next,” referring to the jr. flyweight champion.

Arum also stated that he didn’t believe that Mayweather could mentally deal with a loss on his professional record and that possibility of his first defeat could be in the cards if he faced the seemingly unstoppable Pacquiao.

Regardless of who Pacquiao chooses for his next bout, one thing is for sure, that the fans will be the true winners of the “Pacman” raffle.