By Jason Kim: While it still unclear who Manny Pacquiao will be fighting next one can get a pretty good idea of who he’ll be facing in the future by looking at who his promoter Bob Arum is interested in. Right now, Arum sees welterweight Shane Mosley as great fight for Pacquiao next rather than someone else like Juan Manuel Marquez. Arum is pretty much the decider who Pacquiao fights, and that means that Mosley will likely get the call for Pacquiao next. If Mosley gets picked, the question that you have to ask is whether Pacquiao will fight Mosley at a catch-weight below 147 or at the full weight of the welterweight division.

Given that Pacquiao just finished fighting Antonio Margarito at a 150 pound catch-weight, it seems unthinkable that Pacquiao would need a catch-weight to fight to defend his World Boxing Organization welterweight title against the 39-year-old Mosley. It’s not like the 5’9″ Mosley is a huge fighter or anything. Pacquiao would only be three inches shorter, and with Mosley looking poor in his last two fights against Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Sergio Mora, it doesn’t appear that Pacquiao would need a weight handicap to give him a better chance at beating him in this fight. Mosley looks slower than he used to be in his prime, and his stamina has taken a big hit.

Against Mora and Mayweather, Mosley looked exhausted after the first four rounds. If Pacquiao needs a catch-weight to fight Mosley, the way he’s fighting, then I think the fight is a bad idea. It won’t make Pacquiao look good fighting at a catch-weight against an old grizzled veteran like Mosley, especially when Pacquiao just finished fighting at 150. I was hoping the Margarito bout was going to be the last catch-weight fight of Pacquiao’s career. Pacquiao fought Joshua Clottey, a welterweight, without a catch-weight. So it makes sense that he wouldn’t need one for this fight against a fading Mosley.