By Dave Lahr: World Boxing Organization welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KO’s) would like to win an 8th world title in as many divisions before he gets out of boxing in the not too distant future. Fellow Top Rank fighter Miguel Cotto (34-2, 27 KO’s), who Pacquiao defeated in November by a 12th round TKO, is moving up in weight to go after WBA junior middleweight champion Yuri Foreman (28-0, 8 KO’s) on June 12th of this year. Foreman, incidentally, is also a Top Rank fighter like Cotto and Pacquiao.

But should Cotto defeat Foreman and capture his World Boxing Association title, it will put Cotto in the perfect position to get a second fight against Pacquiao in early 2011, if not this year. Pacquiao is really into collecting his 8th world title for some reason, and a fight against the much better known Cotto is a heck of a lot more appealing for Pacquiao than a fight against Foreman, who few boxing fans are familiar with.

As such, Pacquiao would have a good opponent to fight, one that he already beat, and would be in a great position to win his 8th world title. Pacquiao is much better off if Cotto beats Foreman than if Pacquiao goes directly after Foreman himself and tries to take his title. The reason is simple. Foreman is a lot bigger than Pacquiao at 5’11” compared to the 5’6” Pacquiao, and with his constantly movement, hit and run style of fighting and his frequent clinching, Foreman is by no means a guaranteed win for Pacquiao.

Granted, it’s not easy for a little known fighter to beat one that is as famous as Pacquiao when it comes to winning a fight by a 12 round decision. Just as Juan Manuel Marquez, who lost a questionable 12 round split decision himself against Pacquiao in March 2008.

Foreman would be a very tough fighter for Pacquiao because he doesn’t come straight forward like many of the opponents that have been put in with Pacquiao, and he’s not a stationary fighter either. As we saw in Pacquiao’s recent fight against Cotto, he had problems against Cotto when he used a little bit of movement in the fight.

Keep in mind, Cotto moves like he has lead boots on and isn’t nearly as light on his feet as a fighter like Foreman is. So if Cotto is able to take out Foreman and capture his WBA junior middleweight title, it puts Pacquiao in the perfect position to try and win his 8th world title the easy way without the risk involved with fighting Foreman.

Ideally, it would be nice if Pacquiao took on Foreman himself and proved that he could beat the kind of style that Foreman presents, but that’s unlikely to happen at this point unless Foreman somehow beats Cotto. At that point, Pacquiao will likely have to face Foreman if he’s still fixated on winning an 8th world title.

Frankly, I think it’s a waste of time to go after Foreman, who is not considered to be the best fighter of the junior middleweight champions. If Pacquiao wants to go after his 8th world title, he should fight WBC light middleweight title holder Sergio Martinez, who is considered to be the best of the bunch. But, of course, I don’t see Pacquiao tangling with a fighter like Martinez in this lifetime.