You know what, considering everything that has been written lately and given time for more thoughts on the matter, I don't see anything wrong with having Shane Mosley as Manny Pacquiao's next opponent.
For a fighter of Manny's caliber and stature (or any fighter for that matter), two of the main factors always considered are economics (how much money you can make) and prestige (how much added popularity you can get depending on having a title at stake, name recognition of the opponent and/or perceived challenge). It's usually finding a reasonable balance of both.
So who were the choices?
Shane Mosley, Juan Manuel Marquez and Andre Berto.
You can pretty much throw Berto out the window since he wasn't a viable commodity at this point. He's got skills abound, but isn't known at all outside of the hardcore boxing circles.
That leaves us with Mosley and Marquez. The boxing community is up in arms saying Marquez deserved it more. Why? Because he beat Michael Katsidis? Because he gave Manny two tough fights, the last one in 2008 when Pac was still a Super Featherweight? They say Mosley is going to get blown out. But really, do they think a fight with Marquez would be more of a challenge? Marquez gets hit more often lately, as evidenced by his matches against Juan Diaz and Katsidis. And he'll have to move up to 147, no doubt. Early assessments state that he'll be bludgeoned by Manny as well this time around. And Mosley? Yes, he's had two lackluster performances against Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Sergio Mora. But think about it. Mayweather is a defensive genius, and Mora looked like he didn't want to fight at all.
Mosley's physical abilities and reflexes aren't what they used to be, but my gut tells me he's got something left. Honestly, I think that Mosley, not Marquez, is the bigger threat right now to Manny (literally and figuratively). Aside from his size, he hits harder, is still fast, and offers a style set that Manny hasn't faced lately, if not ever.
Now, is Top Rank being greedy for wanting to make more money? Probably. But last I checked, Top Rank was still a corporation. It's in the business of boxing. And the objective of businesses is to make money.
Hasn't Manny given enough of himself to Boxing to choose who he fights from here on out? After giving us fights with Barrera, Morales, Marquez, and moving up to hurdle De La Hoya (which everyone thought was a crazy match before they fought), Hatton and Cotto? There's really nobody left except Mayweather, and Mayweather doesn't want the fight.
Listen, just to get this out of the way, I'm a pretty big Pac fanatic, but I'm a boxing fan first. I wanted the Marquez fight, too.
But now that they made their choice? Great. Move on. Let's appreciate this while we can.
Besides, I don't see why Manny can't fight Marquez after the Mosley card. Although the boxing landscape may change a wee bit by mid to late 2011. Will the winner of the Timothy Bradley-Devon Alexander bout be recognized enough to merit consideration? Will Berto finally have a meaningful fight to elevate his status? Will Mayweather come out of hiding and challenge for pound-for-pound supremacy (assuming he doesn't go to prison)? And yes, can Marquez be persistent (by winning another match) and persuasive enough to finally get that elusive rubber match? That's a lot of questions to be answered. We'll see.
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'Cors, all this would've been moot if Mayweather stepped up to the plate...
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