By Dan Ambrose: 39-year-old Shane Mosley (46-6-1, 39 KO’s) could be the next opponent for Manny Pacquiao if Floyd Mayweather Jr. doesn’t step up and take the fight with Pacquiao soon. In an article at the LA Times, Bob Arum said “There’s no one in first place right now after Floyd. We have a birthday party Dec. 17 in the Philippines for Manny. If Mayweather hasn’t indicated his availability by then, Shane Mosley is a real possibility.”

That doesn’t leave much time for Mayweather to make a decision before Arum starts looking in another direction. Arum is also considering putting Pacquiao back in with WBO lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez next depending on how well Marquez does in his fight against WBO lightweight interim champion Michael Katsidis on November 27th.

Mosley, who is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, took on himself to make contract with Top Rank promoter Arum to try and arrange the fight with Pacquiao. If he hadn’t done this, it’s likely Mosley would have never been considered for a fight against Manny, because Arum has been focusing lately on matching Pacquiao up only against his own Top Rank fighters rather than putting him in with other promoter’s fighter.

Mosley said “I’m conducting business myself. If I have to wait for these others, I’m not going to get the fight I want.” If Mosley doesn’t get the fight with Pacquiao, Arum will likely put Mosley in with Miguel Cotto in a rematch. The two fighters fought in 2007 with Cotto winning a narrow 12 round decision.

In his last fight, Mosley struggled to a 12 round draw against Sergio Mora in September. Before that, Mosley lost by a one-sided 12 round decision to Mayweather in May of this year.