Rumor: Mosley-Pacquiao moving forward?

Since the talk is starting to kick up a good bit today, here's the latest from Lance Pugmire of the LA Times:

Though Mosley's camp was quick to announce Pacquiao's interest, saying Mosley would agree to fight at a catch weight between 140 and 147 pounds and accept a 60-40 split of the purse in Pacquiao's favor for a bout that could be fought Oct. 17, Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum was more reserved.

"This has absolutely no credibility to it. Manny hasn't decided who he's going to fight," Arum said. "It could be Mosley, or it could be [Miguel] Cotto, [Floyd] Mayweather Jr., [Juan Manuel] Marquez or [Edwin] Valero. They're all in the mix."

Arum said, "Shane's a good guy, he's definitely in the picture," but Arum insisted Pacquiao will make no decision about his next opponent until watching the June 13 world welterweight title fight between Cotto and Joshua Clottey.

"Why would I eliminate options?" said Arum, who confirmed he was contacted today about a possible Pacquiao-Mosley bout by Mosley's promoter Richard Schaefer. "I've also heard from Manny's people that he wants to wait and see the Mayweather-Marquez fight [July 18] before he agrees to anything. That would mean we won't be ready until November.

"All that he's said is that he's willing to fight Mosley. But he still has to explore the best deal."

One thing I don't get is this insistence that if Manny Pacquiao waits until the Mayweather-Marquez fight is over, the fight won't be ready until November. If there's a war on July 18, then that could be right from the other side, but what if it's not the Mayweather-Marquez winner? What's the trouble then? Cotto, Valero or Mosley would all be ready by October, and it's not like Manny's coming off of a grueling fight or anything. He probably could've gone again the week after the Hatton destruction. There's nothing really stopping Manny from fighting in October. Something could stop Floyd or JMM, I guess.

If it does become Mosley-Pacquiao, I worry about the weight. I'll say it now, and some of you have expressed the same thought: Mosley at his age trying to boil down to 143 pounds or something will not work. He'll go into that fight bone dry from cutting those extra few pounds, the same as happened to Oscar de la Hoya in December. It's hard to make a weight you haven't made in years when you're this advanced in your career, no matter how good you are.

Still, it'd be an exciting proposition. If Mosley was in good shape there could be some seriously amazing fireworks. I don't think Pacquiao being a lefty really hurts Shane. He's lost to great southpaws before, but Manny and Shane are of the same cloth. They can box, they can be slick, but the two of them love to war. When you have that instinct it's hard to turn it off. Ricky Hatton couldn't do it in May, coming straight at Pacquiao and getting picked apart.