Boxing Rumor: Sugar Shane Mosley Is Most Likely Manny Pacquiao's Next Opponent

Floyd Mayweather Jr. has looming legal issues and more than likely won't be Manny Pacquiao's next opponent. This time you have to blame Mayweather for allowing himself to be plagued by legal issues for at least the third time in his career. Although he is the most desirable matchup, there are some other guys who bring a little spice to the conversation.

Andre Berto, Juan Manuel Marquez and Shane Mosley are the lead candidates. Bob Arum has already stated that if it was his choice it would be Shane Mosley, definitely. During a interview with AOL Fanhouse, Arum said, 

"I think that everybody can tell from what I've been saying that I think that Mosley is the opponent that makes the most sense. But it's close.

"That doesn't mean that Manny would necessarily agree with me. But if it was up to me, and I could choose, I don't make any bones about it. I would choose Shane Mosley. But it's not up to me." 

Apparently Arum is leaving the decision up to Manny. In the past Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach didn't think matching his fighter against Mosley was a good idea, but a lot of interesting things have happened since then.

Mosley's last impressive fight was in 2009 when he was awarded a ninth-round stoppage of Antonio Margarito. Unfortunately, he followed that up by losing a lopsided unanimous decision to Floyd Mayweather Jr. Although he has had recent success, most fans view his close decision against Sergio Mora as proof he is slowing down. 

Financially Shane Mosley makes the most sense, because Andre Berto is still relatively unknown to casual fans. Marquez is a Golden Boy Fighter, and their strained relations with Top Rank will make negotiations much more challenging. Mosley has decided to step away from Golden Boy to make this fight happen, which is right up Bob Arum's alley to promote another big fight without dealing with Golden Boy Promotions. 

I think that if Manny handles this decision like he has most of his career, he will defer to Bob Arum. If he does, you can bet Shane Mosley will be Pacquiao's next opponent.