By Chris Williams: Trainer Freddie Roach likes the idea of Manny Pacquiao fighting Juan Manuel Marquez next, and thinks a fight between them would be more profitable than a fight against 39-year-old Shane Mosley. Speaking with Philboxing.com, Roach said “Manny and Marquez have a history between them. You know, they’ve fought twice, and they were close fights. Marquez knows Manny and knows what gives Manny trouble. Marquez has proven that in two fights. both fights went the distance. Marquez has been down four times in two fights, but he’s gotten up and made the fight. Marquez is a very durable guy and he’s got an audience and a fan base behind him. So he’s marketable.”

It’s good that Roach is speaking the obvious. The entire boxing world has already known that Marquez is a very marketable fighter, yet Bob Arum, Pacquiao’s promoter, has decided to match him against less popular fighters like Joshua Clottey and Antonio Margarito in his last two fights rather than the more competitive much more popular Marquez. You have to wonder whether Arum did that to protect his cash cow Pacquiao to keep from him getting beaten by Marquez on the third try. I’ve seen both of their past fights, and I think Marquez should have won both of those bouts.

Pacquiao is likely going to be matched against the fading Mosley next rather than Marquez, because Arum has been talking recently and has mentioned Mosley as a possible opponent. Mosley is a good opponent in terms of money, but not for a competitive fight. I don’t think Pacquiao will win fans beating up on a 39-year-old Mosley, especially if the fight goes for $55 like Pacquiao’s bout against Antonio Margarito went for. If Pacquiao is going to be fighting Mosley, Arum should discount it by $50 and sell it at $5 on PPV, because that’s what I think a Pacquiao-Mosley fight is worth. It’s a mismatch, and about as bad as the Pacquiao-Margarito bout.