By Chris Williams: Michael Koncz, the advisor for WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao, told ESPN writer Dan Rafael that he was shocked to learn that former Top Rank fighter WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto has signed on to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. for May 5th because he thought that he was going to be still available.

Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum had been trying to get a fight arranged between Cotto and Pacquiao but they reached a sticking point because Cotto didn’t want to fight Pacquiao at 147 and instead would only go as low as 150 to make the fight happen.

Koncz told ESPN “We expected Mayweather to be off the table. I didn’t expect Cotto would be. I thought he was playing hardball over the weight issue. Cotto wouldn’t agree to come below 150 pounds. We wanted 147. Had he said 148? We probably could have gotten that done.”

So in other words, Cotto would have come down six whole pounds from 154 [Cotto’s fight weight in the junior middleweight division], while Pacquiao would have to only gain one pound? That’s not much of a bargain, is it? Pacquiao only budges one pound upwards while Cotto has to lose six pounds to make the fight happen.

If that’s what Koncz considers a fair negotiation then what’s the point of the catchweight if Pacquiao is only going to move one pound? I see an offer like this as an insult and to Cotto’s credit; he never budged from his offer of 150. That’s more than fair because he’s giving four pounds and Pacquiao only three. I like that deal a lot better than Cotto having to lose pounds and Pacquiao just has to gain one. If that’s how they do negotiations with fighters then I can see why Cotto decided to move on and face Mayweather instead.