By Chris Williams: Alex Ariza, the strength and conditioning coach for Manny Pacquiao, really likes Juan Manuel Marquez and sees him as a tough opponent for Manny Pacquiao. A fighter that Ariza doesn’t seem interested in seeing fight Pacquiao is 39-year-old Shane Mosley. In an article at philstar.com, Ariza says “Mosley? He’ll be tired after 15 minutes so what’s the point of that fight? Manny knocks him out and probably Manny won’t even train for that fight. That guy is a quitter. He quit against [Floyd] Mayweather in three rounds. What do you think he’s gonna do when Manny starts to let loose his hands five or 15 seconds after the bell rings?” I wonder why Ariza wasn’t complaining like this when Margarito was selected for Pacquiao?

In fairness to Mosley, he is after all 39-years-old and at an age that most fighters are long retired. I think Mosley, when he was fighting at lightweight, would have beaten Pacquiao but not now. Ariza could end up really disappointed because Mosley might very well be selected by Top Rank promoter Bob Arum to face Pacquiao next instead of Marquez. Arum likes the idea of putting Pacquiao in with Mosley. You can understand why because Mosley is a more recognizable fighter in the U.S. compared to Pacquiao’s last two opponents Joshua Clottey and Antonio Margarito.

If Pacquiao’s still been able to get respectable pay-per-view numbers fighting those less than popular fighters, then a fight against Mosley will likely do even better. The best part of all is Pacquiao wouldn’t need another one of his handicap catch-weights to weaken Mosley, because Shane hasn’t looked good in his last two fights. I can see Pacquiao’s team still insisting on having Mosley fight at a catch-weight, but it’s not really necessary. He’s likely diminished enough for Pacquiao to beat without a catch-weight handicap.