By Chris Williams: Trainer Freddie Roach finally opened his trap about Manny Pacquiao’s next opponent Shane Mosley, saying in an AP article “No, my first option was Marquez. I think he deserved a third fight [with Pacquiao], but now everything is left up to negotiations. Bob Arum made a better deal with Mosley, and they said Marquez had asked for too much money.” Well there it is. I respect Roach for admitting that he wanted Pacquiao to take the Marquez fight instead of just going for the better money and the arguably lower risk against the shot-looking 39-year-old Mosley.

I don’t believe for a second that Mosley is the tougher fight for Pacquiao compared to the counter-punching Marquez, who already fought Pacquiao to a stand still on two separate occasions in the past. For those who think Mosley would be the tougher fighter for Pacquiao, try and say after May 7th when Mosley freezes up the same way he did against Floyd Mayweather Jr. and gets sparked out. Mosley has the telltale signs of a aging fighter with the inability to pull the trigger and poor stamina.

Roach obviously wanted to see Pacquiao try and put in a better performance against Marquez in a third fight and with all the size that Pacquiao has quickly piled on in the past several years, Roach probably felt good about Pacquiao’s chances of beating Marquez this time. Arum, however, was thinking about the money all the way and wanted to get the better cash for the Mosley match-up instead of putting on the arguably better fight with Marquez. What’s sad is that Arum suddenly was interested in going for the most money for Pacquiao with this fight against Mosley, but what was Arum thinking in putting Pacquiao in with two of his non-stars from Top Rank Joshua Clottey and Antonio Margarito? Surely, Marquez was a better option than those two, both in bringing better money and for a much competitive fight. Clottey has lost his last fight going into the Pacquiao bout, while Margarito had lost two fights before and was coming off a year suspension when he got selected. It’s bad that Arum went for the money bout against the shot Mosley when he has virtually no chance of beating Pacquiao and there was a better fighter out there with Marquez waiting for Pacquiao.

Supposedly, the ultimate decision for the Mosley fight was made by Pacquiao. He agreed to fight him. He could have said no and chosen Marquez, but instead went along with Arum’s choice. By bypassing Marquez, the only fighter to have given Pacquiao trouble in the past three years, it makes it seem as if Pacquiao was dodging the risk for the easy money against the shot looking Mosley.