Cotto or Mayweather versus Pacquiao?

By Al S. Mendoza

WHO will be Manny Pacquiao’s next foe?

Floyd Mayweather Jr.? Sugar Shane Mosley? Miguel Cotto? Juan Manuel Marquez? Edwin Valero?

All of the above.

That is, if everybody can wait.

And I suggest they should fall in line.

Pacquiao isn’t pound-for-pound king for nothing. Let him while away his time. Kings have all the time to wallow in nothingness.

He’s been that busy the last 16 months or so. Three fights in 2008, three wins in 2008. This year, one battle, one win.

But this is not to say Pacquiao is skirting the issue, evading the opposition.

Pacquiao will take them all. In fact, he can take on all of them.

To quote him amid the euphoria of his spectacular knockout win over Ricky Hatton on May 3 in Las Vegas, “I can take on anybody. I’m not afraid of anyone.”

But one boxer at a time, please?

Even kings take one battle at a time.

Like kings, too, Pacquiao is as human as you and me.

He is no Superman, Batman, Spiderman, Incredible Hulk or even Wolverine-fiction characters all who could flatten a battalion in one fell swoop.

Pacquiao can also flatten them all, but only one at a time.

He had just done that to Ricky Hatton, the Hitman whom Pacquiao hit thrice, falling for good after the Pacman’s third hit to the jaw with a tick left in Round 2.

It was Pacquiao’s shortest work in seven years, when he knocked out Fahrakorb Rakkiat gym in the first round on Oct. 26, 2002.

Like Hatton (45-1 before he met Pacquiao), Thai Rakkiat gym had a sterling record of 37-2-0 before he faced Pacquiao.

But Pacquiao, before knocking out Rakkiatgym, was fresh from a second-round stoppage of Jorge Eliece Julio in the Elvis Presley country of Memphis, Tennessee.

Julio, then a world title contender, absorbed only his fourth loss when he bowed to Pacquiao after collaring 44 victories.

Now, to the question, who will be next for Pacquiao?

Cotto appears to be the most pro-bable. If Cotto beats Joshua Clottey on June 14 at the Madison Square Garden in New York City, then he is first on the queue.

But there’s a hitch: Cotto is at 147, the co-holder of the world welterweight crown. Pacquiao is IBO world king at 140.

No problem, though.

Both are willing to fight at either 143 or 144 lbs.

And, yes, both Cotto and Pacquiao have Bob Arum as their boxing promoters. Which means Arum can pit them anytime without any major obstacle.

But then, again, I repeat. Cotto must first hurdle Clottey before he could start formalizing talks for a fight against Pacquiao.

Otherwise, Mayweather takes his slot.

But like Cotto, Mayweather must also first beat Marquez on July 19.

So, it’s a toss-up really between Cotto and Mayweather. But the fix is instantly fixed, though, with a Cotto win on June 14.

Meanwhile, let’s give Pacquiao all the space to enjoy his free time.

Champs deserve a break, too.

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