By Michael Collins: It seemed clear that Timothy Bradley would be soon sharing the same right with Manny Pacquiao after Bob Arum, Pacquiao’s promoter, signed Bradley to a contract with Top Rank last year.
Arum quickly put him on the undercard of Pacquiao’s last fight and it looks as if Arum is ready to cash in on this signing by putting Bradley with Pacquiao in June. Oscar De La Hoya, for one, isn’t surprised by Arum matching Bradley with Pacquiao, saying on his twitter page “I told you Bob will do Bradley vs. Manny. What a shame.”
It’s a shame in that you can’t help but feel that Arum could make the Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight if he really wanted that fight. You can never know for sure, but it just feels like Arum never really wanted that fight and he got the perfect excuse to say no to it when Mayweather asked for more than a 50-50 deal.
Miguel Cotto was an option for Pacquiao’s next fight, albeit a great option given how badly Cotto was beaten by Pacquiao the last time they fought in 2009. But compared to some of Pacquiao’s recent opponents Antonio Margarito and 40-year-old Shane Mosley, Cotto would have been an excellent pick.
The fight has failed to move forward past the initial negotiation stages due to Cotto wanting to fight at a 150 pound catchweight. Pacquiao doesn’t want to fight over 147 and because both fighters are willing to bend on this issue, the fight can’t get made. Just as well, I guess. I know I don’t want to see Pacquiao beat Cotto again, because I’ve noticed that Arum no longer matches Cotto up against the best fighters anymore. It just looks like he’s got someone that he wants to protect to save him from getting beaten again. In that case, Bradley is a better choice than Cotto but not a better choice if Pacquiao wanted to make money.