By NICK GIONGCO

Before parting ways in New York on Sunday, Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum left word that he’ll come up with something concrete in two week’s time regarding the Filipino’s Nov. 14 fight.

While Arum has temporarily booked Pacquiao to face Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico in an all-Top Rank affair at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, there are major issues to be resolved, tops on the list are the revenue split and the catch weight.

“Bob told us he will connect the dots in two weeks time,” said Pacquiao lawyer Franklin Gacal, who arrived in Manila with Pacquiao late Monday night via Northwest Airlines.

Cotto is coming off a hard-earned 12-round split decision over Joshua Clottey and the shaven-skulled puncher told the Puerto Rican press upon arrival at the Luis Munoz Marin International in San Juan that negotiations have yet to start.

“Nothing is concrete right now,” said Cotto. “But if terms are accepted, I will accept the fight (with Pacquiao).”

The Puerto Rican press also asked Cotto if reports are true that Emanuel Steward, the discoverer of Thomas Hearns, is being eyed to join his training team.

Cotto did not deny or confirm the report, saying he is open to anything that will help enhance his future performances.

If there is one sure thing at the moment, Gacal said it is the fact that “Manny won’t fight Cotto at 147 lbs. He’s just too big (at that weight class).”

Arum said that “reason will (eventually) prevail” and the two will likely meet halfway, say 143 or 144 lbs.

The Los Angeles Times reported on Monday (Tuesday in Manila) that Shane Mosley is also being looked at as a possibility despite his supposedly lack of a fanbase.

If Arum fails to match Pacquiao and Cotto, “we’ll reach out to Shane,” Arum told Lance Pugmire. Golden Boy Promotions said Mosley is “willing to make concessions.”

Meanwhile, Pacquiao flew to Bohol late Tuesday afternoon to reunite with his kids and from picturesque province, the pound-for-pound will proceed to General Santos City using the private plane of former Ilocos Sur Gov. Chavit Singson.

Pacquiao left his kids there for the whirlwind visit to New York and promised them that he’ll be back shortly for some more bonding time after it was cut short by his quick trip to the Big Apple.

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Manny Pacquiao, the pound for pound king of boxing has given out the orders to promoter Bob Arum to get him a mega fight with WBO Welterweight champion Miguel Cotto.

Pacquiao was ringside for Cotto’s hard fought victory over Joshua Clottey and has immediately told Arum to make the fight happen. Has Pacquiao seen a weakness that he will be able to exploit?

It was thought Pacquiao would hold out to fight the winner of the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Juan Manuel Marquez fight on July 18th, but a Mayweather injury has postponed the fight till September and it looks as though The Pac Man doesn’t want to wait that long before making a decision.

Shouts for a fight with “Sugar” Shane Mosley have died down, so it does look as though it will be Cotto in the opposite corner. Pacquiao was scheduled to fight in October but November 14th is the proposed date.

After twelve hard rounds against Clottey where Cotto found himself with a nasty cut above the left eye, you would think a long deserved break would be in order but the Welterweight champion will once again find himself in the lion’s den when he meets the Filipino sensation.

It is reported that Cotto’s Welterweight title will be on the line but the fight will be fought at a catchweight of 144-143 pounds. Bob Arum is hoping to close the deal on the fight this week.

The prospect of watching this mega fight is really making my heart race and what is more exciting is the prospect of the winner potentially fighting Floyd
Mayweather next year.

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Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto have each told their promoter they want to fight each other next.

Now that promoter, Bob Arum, is working out the details to make a bout that is penciled in for Nov. 14 in Las Vegas.

“I hope to put it together this week, to get an agreement on terms,” Arum told The Times on Monday in a telephone interview from his Top Rank headquarters in Las Vegas.

Arum identified the two major points of negotiation as weight and the purse split.

Pacquiao (49-3-2, 37 knockouts) watched from ringside Cotto’s dramatic split-decision world welterweight title victory over Joshua Clottey on Saturday in New York after picking up his award for 2008 fighter of the year across town.

Cotto sustained a deep cut to his left eyebrow late in the third round, forcing him to wipe blood from his eye as he out-punched Clottey in the final rounds. Afterward, Pacquiao expressed confidence to associates that he could beat Cotto. Arum said Pacquiao told him later that night that his first preference was to fight Cotto.

Pacquiao fought Oscar De La Hoya at the welterweight limit (147 pounds) in December, but was back at junior-welterweight (140) in his second-round knockout of Ricky Hatton last month.

Pacquiao, whom many experts consider boxing’s best pound-for-pound boxer, will dictate at what weight a potential Cotto bout would be fought. Sources say it will probably be around 142 pounds, though Cotto (34-1, 27 KOs) hasn’t fought below the welterweight limit since June 2006.

Pacquiao also will determine how the purse is split.

Shane Mosley, the world welterweight champ from Pomona, has announced he’d agree to fight Pacquiao for a 60-40 split, and Arum made it clear Cotto also would receive a minority share.

“Shane’s a terrific fighter, but for now he’s the second choice,” Arum said. “If we can’t put together a Pacquiao-Cotto fight, we’ll reach out to Shane.”

Mosley’s promoter, Richard Schaefer, called the push for a Pacquiao-Cotto bout “ridiculous” since Mosley knocked out Antonio Margarito in January and Margarito knocked out Cotto last summer. (Cotto beat Mosley by decision in 2007.)

“Cotto has a deep cut; Shane’s ready to go,” Schaefer said. ” ‘Sugar’ Shane Mosley is the best fighter in that division. He can punch more, he has more speed. Shane really wants this fight and is willing to make concessions. This is the fight people want.”

There would even be more interest in a Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. bout, and Pacquiao’s interest in maximizing revenue makes that bout a near certainty in the future. Mayweather’s camp reported Sunday, however, that he’d suffered a rib injury last week training for his comeback fight July 18 against Juan Manuel Marquez, forcing a postponement.

The timing was curious and brought up the question of whether it might be a way for Mayweather to get out of a fight that was struggling to reach sellout status.

But Schaefer, who is also the promoter for Marquez, said Mayweather is locked into a contract to fight Marquez and asserted, “It’s absolutely not a ploy. It’s a legitimate injury, he’s in a tremendous amount of pain.”

Schaefer said he’d like to reschedule the fight in September.

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