By Dave Lahr: A lot of the fans for Manny Pacquiao are saying that Antonio Margarito doesn’t have to agree to fight Pacquiao at the 150 pound catch weight for the vacant World Boxing Council junior middleweight title in their fight on November 13th, saying that Margarito can always say no. Yeah, Margarito can say no to the catch weight, but if he does you can bet that Pacquiao will move on immediately looking for an opponent that will agree to his catch weight demands.

In the event that Margarito would say no to Pacquiao’s catch weight, he would then go after WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto in Manny’s attempt to win an 8th world title. Cotto already agreed to fighting Pacquiao for a catch weight last year at welterweight, and ended up losing the fight by a 12th round TKO. Bob Arum, who promotes both Pacquiao and Cotto, would likely set up their rematch in two minutes, along with the catch weight that Pacquiao wants.

In the meantime, Margarito would likely be out in the cold for no other reason that he stood on his own principles and decided he wasn’t going to agree to fight at a handicap for the vacant WBC junior middleweight belt. I’d like to think I’m wrong about this, but I think it would play out just like this. If Margarito wasn’t willing to fight Pacquiao at a catch weight, he’d probably turn around and choose Cotto to fight for his WBA junior middleweight title at a catch weight.

Of course, Pacquiao could always fight #6 ranked WBC junior middleweight contender Vanes Martirosyan for the vacant WBC junior middleweight belt, but the boxing public might find it a little hard to swallow seeing Pacquiao, who’s not even ranked in the top 15 in the junior middleweight division, fighting the number #6 ranked Martirosyan for the vacant title. Usually, only fighters that are ranked in the top 5 fight for vacant titles, and it would seem rather peculiar to see the number #1 ranked Margarito replaced by the number #6 ranked Martirosyan. It’s certainly possible, though.

Martirosyan is a Top Rank fighter, and if Pacquiao doesn’t fight Cotto or Margarito, then Martirosyan would seem like a logical pick, unless Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. is selected. However, like Pacquiao, he’s not even ranked in the top 15 by the WBC. God, it would look awful for two fighters – Pacquiao and Chavez Jr. – fighting for the vacant WBC title when neither of them are ranked in the top 15 in the junior middleweight division.