The forgotten man

Top Rank chairman Bob Arum has mentioned three candidates in the high-stakes lottery to choose Manny Pacquiao’s next opponent and Mexico’s hard-luck Juan Manuel Marquez isn’t one of them.

Arum’s candidates are Floyd Mayweather Jr., Sugar Shane Mosley and Edwin Valero, not necessarily in that order.

In evaluating each candidate, Valero, 27, was quickly dismissed by Arum for being an “idiot.” The Venezuelan’s US visa was recently cancelled for drunk driving. He is allowed to fight only in Texas because athletic commissions in other US states refuse to license him for medical reasons. Valero suffered a fracture in his skull from a motorcycle accident in 2001 and some authorities are hesitant to issue a boxing license because MRIs show a scar near the brain.

To compound his woes, Valero was accused of assaulting his mother and sister in Caracas last September. His mother, however, has denied the accusation.

Valero, who was in General Santos City to celebrate Pacquiao’s 30th birthday last year, has not fought since stopping Antonio Pitalua to win the WBC lightweight crown in Austin, Texas, seven months ago. He is scheduled to stake his title against Mexico’s Hector Velazquez on Dec. 19 in Caracas. Velazquez, 34, has lost two of his last three outings and was behind in two of the three judges’ scorecards when he was declared winner by disqualification over Pacquiao’s younger brother Bobby in the 11th round in Las Vegas in 2006. Velazquez was knocked out by Pacquiao himself in Los Angeles the year before.

What is attractive about Valero is his perfect record of 25-0, with 25 KOs. But he has feasted on patsies throughout his career and is now too small for Pacquiao. Valero is still campaigning as a lightweight while Pacquiao has moved up all the way to the 147-pound division.

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Mosley, 38, is Arum’s personal choice because Sugar Shane appears to be more reasonable than Mayweather on the negotiating table. Mosley isn’t getting any younger and wants a cushiony payday against Pacquiao before hanging up his gloves. But the problem is Mosley has signed to face Andre Berto in a WBC-WBA welterweight unification bout on Jan. 30.

Mosley’s record is 46-5, with 39 KOs, and he’s coming off a brilliant ninth round knockout win over Antonio Margarito last January. Sugar Shane trounced Margarito even as the Mexican was later found to have used a substance like plaster of paris to harden his handwraps. His five losses were on points – twice to the late Vernon Forrest, twice to southpaw Winky Wright and once to Miguel Cotto.

It won’t be easy for Pacquiao to beat Mosley who’s a legitimate welterweight like Cotto. In a matchup against Pacquiao, Mosley will enjoy the advantage of size. Unlike Cotto, Mosley is smart and won’t be tricked into sticky situations by Pacquiao.

The question mark is if Mosley will be able to survive Berto whose record is 25-0, with 19 KOs. Berto is 12 years younger and youth will be on his side when he takes on the ageing veteran.

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Finally, there is Mayweather, 32. The loudmouth used to be the world’s No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter until he retired and Pacquiao took over his throne. Mayweather, whose nickname is “Money” (another nickname “Pretty Boy” isn’t really appropriate), has a 40-0 record, with 25 KOs, and would be an intriguing opponent for Pacquiao. Like Cotto and Mosley, he’s a natural welterweight.

Mayweather ended a 22-month layoff from halting Ricky Hatton to decision Marquez last September. The closest he has come to losing was when he scored a split decision over Oscar de la Hoya in 2007. Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach was in De la Hoya’s corner for the fight and earned a cool $1 million for the assignment.

In 2001, Mayweather was floored by Carlos Hernandez but got up to win a 12-round verdict.

A pro since 1996, Mayweather is a defensive specialist who uses his shoulders, elbows and arms to parry punches. He’s a slick operator. Mayweather has a lot of moves and is a clever tactician. It will be a big challenge for Pacquiao to defeat Mayweather.

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Marquez, 36, is the odd man out. Pacquiao’s conditioning coach Alex Ariza would like Marquez as the newly-crowned WBO welterweight king’s next foe but that’s a remote possibility.

First of all, Marquez isn’t a box office draw. In fact, he’s a box office bust. Mayweather, not Marquez, brought in a million pay-per-view buys in their bout. Marquez is a boring fighter, a technician and a counter-puncher.

Secondly, Marquez is damaged goods. He’s an “old” 36 with a lot of wars behind him. Against Mayweather, he was exposed as an extremely limited fighter who went down in the second round. The scores weren’t even close. Judge Burt Clements saw it a shutout, 120-107, while judge Dave Moretti had it 119-108 and judge William Leroh, 118-109. In two fights against Pacquiao, Marquez took a total of four trips to the canvas.

And thirdly, Marquez is too small like Valero for Pacquiao. He weighed in at 134 1/4 pounds for the Juan Diaz fight early this year and 142 for Mayweather. Pacquiao tipped the scales at 144 for Cotto and entered the ring at 149.

Marquez frittered away his chance for a major payday when he overpriced himself in negotiating the rematch against Pacquiao. After their first encounter in 2004, Marquez demanded an unreasonable purse from Arum who refused to budge. It took Marquez seven fights and four years before he finally booked the return fight. During that waiting period, he ate humble pie and even accepted a paltry sum of $31,250 to face Chris John (to whom he lost) in Jakarta.

Marquez’ claim to fame is he fought two cliffhangers with Pacquiao. He went down thrice in the first round but managed to survive the full route in their initial meeting in 2004. The outcome was a split draw although Pacquiao would’ve won by a split decision if only one of the judges, Clements, didn’t err in scoring 10-8 instead of 10-7 in the first round. In the rematch last year, Marquez was decked once in the third round and lost on a split decision.

Clearly, Marquez has made serious career mistakes in decision-making with his manager Nacho Beristain. One mistake he committed was when he flew to Manila to protest Pacquiao’s win by split decision last year and challenged the Filipino icon to a third fight in front of his countrymen, showing utter disrespect to the national hero. That kind of attitude turned off fans from all over the world and just distanced Marquez from Pacquiao even more.

Surely, if Pacquiao agreed to take on Marquez at this stage in their careers, he would demolish the Mexican inside five rounds. But what good would that do? In the first place, the fight wouldn’t sell tickets. And it wouldn’t do anything to reaffirm Pacquiao’s legacy. In essence, it would be a waste of Pacquiao’s time.

Poor Marquez. He’s been left out in the cold and the Mexican has only himself to blame.