Boxing: WBO champion Pacquiao opts for fight with Mosley over Mayweather

Manny PACQUIAO will fight Shane Mosley, a former champion in three divisions, on May 7 in Las Vegas, promoter Bob Arum has revealed.

The fight, to be held at the MGM Grand, will be contested at the welterweight limit of 147 pounds. "Mosley is very dangerous, he's a very slick fighter, very experienced," said Arum. "Manny's style is made to order for Shane. It should be a very, very interesting fight."

After considering a choice between Mosley, lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez and WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto, Pacquiao informed Arum of his choice last week in the Philippines.

"He (Pacquiao) liked Mosley because Mosley is better known than the other two," Arum said of the choice. "He picked the guy that is known to more people because that is going to generate interest in the fight." The 32-year-old Pacquiao, the current WBO welterweight champion and widely considered the world's best pound-for-pounder fighter, would have preferred a bout with undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr., said Arum. "We made no secret that Mayweather was our top priority," said Arum. "But we heard nothing from him.

Mayweather, 33, was arrested at a Las Vegas casino last week on a misdemeanor battery charge after he allegedly assaulted a security guard at his gated community.