By Rasheed Catapang: Andre Berto, Juan Manuel Marquez and Shane Mosley are the names thrown in by Bob Arum as Pacquiao’s next possible dance partner. Truth be told, they are actually Lemmings jumping off a cliff. And Pacquiao, always with a lending hand, would certainly take any one of them to a far darker place than a dance hall or a grimmer deep spot they could possibly imagine.

Mayweather – his personal reasons aside – doesn’t belong in that suicide list. Not anymore. He had long realized it’s Pacquiao’s world he’s living in and would not be coaxed to mix in. Knowing too well that it’s the Pacmonster’s way or the highway, Floyd wisely did a road runner and won’t ever be a road-kill. Good for him.

Among the three then, we probe on Berto’s chances first just as cancer initially strikes the weakest cell. Andre Berto had long feasted on mediocre fighters and fringe contenders. If “we are what we eat” holds true, then Berto is certainly a no hoper. The one time he had a step up in competition, he had lost the fight and got the gift decision. We’re talking of a Collazo here who pales in comparison to a ferocious beast that is Manny Pacquiao. What’s the appeal of a green Berto going against boxing’s finest and deadliest practioner? The answer is nil and so is Berto’s chances of winning. Similarly, Berto attracts nil fans to his fights.

Juan Manuel Marquez, however, is a different boxer altogether. A true warrior and an incredible technician, he went to war with Pacquiao twice and obtained in the process a draw, a competitive loss and a shirt to show for them which he later wore in the Katsidis fight.

JMM is a proud fighter and is of the belief that he indeed twice defeated Pacquiao though the record shows otherwise. He craved the third time more than the urine he drinks to prepare for his fights. But though there is unfinished business between them JMM doesn’t need a third fight with Pacquiao and he should leave it at that. JMM’s stocks soars with Pacquiao’s continuous rise, a direct encounter now would prove his undoing. Some things are better left untouched, like Marquez never having to ask Chris John for a rematch.

They may have been on even terms in the lower weights of the past but Pacquiao is a true welterweight now and a real beast at that. Marquez would be slaughtered if he ever shared a ring again with the current Pacmonster. He never won a round going up in weight against the defensive-minded Mayweather, how can he expect to last against the finest offensive arsenal boxing has to offer. A third time would be a slaughter.

This brings us to Mosley and the Lemmings throwing themselves off a cliff. Mosley almost certainly will get the Pacquiao fight inspite of his recent poor performances and steady decline (or precisely because of that). He had pleased Arum by disassociating with Golden Boy promotions and would later please Pacquiao who would disassociate him to his senses with a barrage of punches the old man would never see coming.

It’s still a mystery to date why Lemmings do that, hurling themselves to a world of hurt and inevitable end. In the near future, Mosley would provide the answer.