"Mayweather doesn't want to fight in March, so we might fight for the 154 pound title in March and move up for that eighth world title. I'm thinking about that still and it's something that I'm kicking around in my head right now. Yuri Foreman might be the opponent. It is a possibility, and then Mayweather in September. If they guarantee me that, we'll do that, but I need more of a commitment from Mayweather because he's not negotiating too well."
-- Freddie Roach, via BoxingScene.com
Bernard Hopkins actually predicted this yesterday, which means there's likely something to it. The way Hopkins sees it, Pacquiao will fight Foreman, Mayweather will fight Shane Mosley (should Mosley beat Andre Berto), and then apparently Manny and Floyd square off in September.
Foreman (28-0, 8 KO) won the WBA junior middleweight title by dominating Daniel Santos on the Cotto-Pacquiao undercard. He's had a lot of press since then (and had a lot in the week leading up to the fight), making him a minor star overall and a big one in the Jewish community. No doubt the Jewish community would be truly excited to see Foreman take on the world's best fighter.
Pacquiao likely beats Foreman, even giving up a lot of size. He's too fast, Foreman doesn't hit hard, and Manny's just a much, much better fighter. And Pacquiao-Foreman is really a bit of a sham. It's an admitted stab at faux "history" being made. They know Foreman is the exact right matchup.
After all, the fight would be contested for a 154-pound title. How low do you think they'll try to get a catchweight? Foreman has dipped as low as 149 pounds in his career, but by the time this fight rolled around, that will have been almost eight years in the past. In the last three years he hasn't gone below 153 1/2 pounds on the scales.
If they allow it at the full 154-pound weight, they're essentially saying clearly, "This guy can't beat us, and we know it." Cotto had to get down to 145. Manny has never weighed in over 144 for any fight, and by all accounts he walks around at about 150-155 pounds.
And this is where my admiration for Pacquiao collides with my distaste for all this "x amount of world titles in y amount of divisions!" garbage. It gets to the point where it really, really doesn't matter anymore. It's impressive in a black-and-white sense, but it's an era with four recognized world titles in 17 weight classes. Someone is always going to be easy to pick off. One of Pacquiao's seven titles was at lightweight, where he beat David Diaz in his lone fight in the division. Most of his titles are legitimate, but that one sticks out. So would this one.
This is sort of an "it is what it is" situation. I can't really blame the parties involved, but consider me less than enthused about the prospect of this fight. It's a blatant and admitted money/"history" stab by Pacquiao's camp if it happens.