By Chris Williams: Top Rank promoter Bob Arum seems convinced that the right opponent for Manny Pacquiao’s next fight is 39-year-old Shane Mosley rather than someone fighting at a higher level like Juan Manuel Marquez or Andre Berto.

Arum, who previously didn’t seem to mind matching Pacquiao against his less than popular Top Rank stable fighters Joshua Clottey and Antonio Margarito, now is suddenly focused on making the most money for Pacquiao’s next fight, even if it means putting him in with a fighter that appears to be totally shot in the nearly 40-year-old Mosley.

It wouldn’t be so bad if Mosley was looking good in winning his fights, but he’s looked terrible in his last two bouts, losing badly to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in May and getting a gift 12 round draw against the light hitting Sergio Mora. However, Pacquiao would have a great chance of beating Mosley without any problems.

You can’t say the same thing if Pacquiao were to be matched against Marquez or Berto. Those would be opponents that would have a decent chance of beating Pacquiao. As such, It’s looking like Arum is going to match Pacquiao in another mismatch. Pacquiao has the final choice in which he faces next, but he’s generally deferred to Arum when choosing his opponents. If Arum wants Mosley, and it appears he does, that’s who Pacquiao will likely face.

One change that could occur is the date of the fight. Instead of April 16th, the fight might take place in May in order to make more money for the fight, according to inquirer.net.

Mosley might make more money but he won’t likely be competitive against Pacquiao and it will be another dull mismatch. For the casual boxing fan, who Arum seems to be aiming this fight at, it’s not going to be a bout they will enjoy unless they like to watch mismatches.

However, it could warp the perception of Pacquiao in these fans’ eyes, making them think that Pacquiao is better than he actually is. Since the casual boxing fan won’t have a clue about how badly deteriorated Mosley is nowadays, they may think that Pacquiao is beating a prime Mosley instead of a fighter at the very end of his career. For this reason, I see this as a terrible idea for a fight.

It will give casual fans a bad product that they probably won’t enjoy because it won’t be interesting to watch. Mosley’s fight against Mayweather earlier this year was a big disappointment in terms of it being an interesting fight to watch. It was interesting for two rounds and then hopelessly one-sided to the point where it was painful to watch because of how one-sided it was.

If Arum is going to pick out Mosley as Pacquiao’s opponent, he should do boxing fans a big favor and discount the fight by 95% to sell it for $4.99 instead of $55 or whatever price that he’ll be selling it for. I’m being generous here. I don’t see Mosley-Pacquiao as even being a pay-per-view fight at this point in Mosley’s career. It’s more like a fight where Pacquiao is getting anold guy with a name to beat up on. It’s like a trick fight. I wonder if this fight will be held at one of Pacquiao’s catch weight handicaps?