By Dave Lahr: It’s interesting to see how Bob Arum goes about match-making for his fighter Manny Pacquiao. Instead of automatically putting Pacquiao in with the only fighter that’s given him problems in recent years with Juan Manuel Marquez, Arum matches him against his fading Top Rank stable guys like Joshua Clottey and Antonio Margarito. And now that those two mismatches are out of the way, Arum is looking to put Manny in with what will probably be the worst mismatch in recent years in a fight with 39-year-old Shane Mosley.

Talk about your awful picks. I think Mosley was a great fighter in his prime, a lot better than any of Pacquiao’s prior opponents except for Marquez. However, that Mosley doesn’t exist anymore. He’s not the same fighter he once was, as we’ve seen in his last two fights against Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Sergio Mora. For Pacquiao to fight Mosley at this point wouldn’t be a fair fight because Mosley doesn’t look as if he could beat a good portion of the top welterweights and junior middleweights at this point in his career.

Heck, I’d rather see a rematch between Pacquiao and Margarito because at least with Margarito you can count on him coming forward all night long looking to land big shots and throw a lot of punches. And I don’t want to see Pacquiao fight Margarito again in this life time, but that’s how much I hate the thought of Pacquiao facing Mosley. That fight is simply awful. Mosley doesn’t look capable of throwing many punches without gassing out early and staying tired for the rest of the fight without getting his second wind. That’s a recipe for a mismatch. I mean it’s a perfect way for Arum to keep Pacquiao winning, but it’s not exactly interesting to watch. Let’s twist things around for a second and imagine that Pacquiao is 39-years-old, has had a career of hard fights, and is coming off of two very tough fights in which he lost one and fought a draw in the other.

Now how would people feel if he were being pitted against a young slugger noted for fast hands, good power and a high work rate? I don’t think too many people would want to see a 39-year-old Pacquiao get the stuffing beaten out of him by some younger fighter. This is how it is with me. Who wants to see Pacquiao beat up on a once great fighter? Mosley is a fighter as respected as Evander Holyfield, which is why I think it’s not a good thing to see the guy get beaten up because Arum wants to find a fighter with a name for Pacquiao.

If I’m Pacquiao, I’m vetoing that fight because I wouldn’t want to beat up an old legend out of respect. I don’t know how much more money a fight against Mosley would make compared to one with Marquez, Andre Berto or Sergio Martinez, but I think Arum should explore other options so that this doesn’t turn into a sad affair with Pacquiao beating up on an old star. Pacquiao already beat up on an old Oscar De La Hoya. Why does he need another old fighter?