By Manuel Perez: When it rains it pours. Not only does Manny Pacquiao want the lion’s share of the purse split in the perspective bout with welterweight Miguel Cotto, requesting that he get 65% of the purse split compared to Miguel’s 35%, but he also wants Cotto to come in at a catch weight between 144 to 145 pounds, according to news at Gmannews.

Frankly, that deal is crummy if you ask me. If I was Cotto, I’d tell Pacquiao nothing doing. It’s either 147 or nothing and as far as the purse split goes, I’d take 50% or forget about the fight. Cotto needs to tell Pacquiao if he doesn’t like it, he can go ahead and fight Shane Mosley.

You know and I know that’s not going to happen, because Pacquiao and his team want no part of Mosley no matter what weight he comes in at or what percentage of the purse he is willing to accept. I see Pacquiao and his team agreeing to anything that Cotto says just as long as it’s not unreasonable like Cotto suddenly getting delusions of grandeur and asking for 65-35 purse split in his favor like Pacquiao is doing.

That would be insane for Cotto, and it’s equally ridiculous for Pacquiao to be asking for that kind of split, because I see Cotto as being the bigger draw in the United States. Pacquiao is popular in the Philippines and other neighboring countries like Indonesia, but not a huge draw in Europe, Canada and especially the U.S. Cotto is the draw here in this fight.

According to reports, Pacquiao’s trainer Roach is looking to get an even bigger purse split for Pacquiao, requesting a 70-30 purse split in Manny’s favor. Well, it sounds like Roach doesn’t want the fight for Pacquiao, because Cotto will probably never agree to that insulting offer.

Now if Pacquiao and Roach were to reverse that and make it 70-30 in favor of Cotto, then, yes, I can see that as being reasonable. Let’s look at what Pacquiao has accomplished in the past couple of years compared to Cotto. Pacquiao beat an old, shot, weight drained (because he was forced to come in at a 147 pound catch weight) Oscar De La Hoya, and then brittle-chinned Ricky Hatton.

Neither of the fights said much about Pacquiao’s ability because of how far Hatton and De La Hoya had degraded by the time the fight had taken place. Before that, Pacquiao had struggled against Juan Manuel Marquez and beat him by a controversial 12 round split decision in March 2008, a fight that many boxing experts in the field felt that Marquez had clearly won.

Then there was a bout against David Diaz, the WBC lightweight champion, but one that many people including myself felt was the weakest of the lightweight champions. That win like the Hatton and De La Hoya fights proved nothing other than that Pacquiao can beat a badly flawed opponent.

In contrast, Cotto has been Zab Judah and Shane Mosley in 2007, Alfonso Gomez, and most recently Joshua Clottey. Hands down, Cotto has the better credentials going into a fight with Pacquiao. You Can’t compare what Cotto has done with the victories of Pacquiao over weight drained and/or shot fighters like De La Hoya, Hatton, Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera. This is why Cotto should tell Pacquiao to stick his 70-30 or 65-35 purse split offer where the sun don’t shine and get ready to walk away.