By Rick Reeno

Earlier this week, Freddie Roach, trainer of WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao, told BoxingScene.com that undefeated lightweight/junior welterweight Edwin Valero was the best marketable option for Pacquiao in the month of November.

According to Roach, former three-time welterweight champion Antonio Margarito is not an option until he reclaims his boxing license. 

"[Margarito] has no license. They said we could fight in Mexico but that's not going to happen. That would be a real bad move for Manny Pacquiao - to slap the commissions in the face. I'm thinking about it and the number one contender in my mind right now is Valero," Roach told BoxingScene.com. 

"Valero is licensed in Texas. If we do Valero there, we could sell out the whole place. You don't have to close half of it down. I've been watching him a little bit. I know he's a big puncher. He's a southpaw and does pose some difficulties. He's better than just a guy who could punch but I think that's the best marketable fight out there for us."

Last February, the California State Athletic Commission revoked Margarito's boxing license. Margarito was punished over an illegal substance being discovered in his handwraps moments before the fight with Shane Mosley on January 24. Margarito is making a ring return on May 8 in Mexico against Carson Jones.

Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum, who promotes Pacquiao, has a difference of opinion with Roach. Arum told BoxingScene a fight with Valero is the least likely option because the unbeaten puncher from Venezuela is virtually unknown in the United States.

"Freddie is the greatest trainer in the world, but he needs to leave this up to the promoters. Valero might be the best but frankly he's an inside story in boxing. The public at large really don't know who the hell he is. That can change, and that's my job, as Valero's promoter, to change that - but I don't think I that can accomplish that job that quickly. We're all on the same team but I'm not a miracle worker. We need someone the country is familiar with and Margarito is someone they are certainly familiar with," Arum told BoxingScene.

The plan is to have Margarito go forward with the fight in May, and then have him take another fight in June or July in a co-main event position with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Margarito's attorneys are handling the situation with his boxing license. Arum appears confident the state of California will grant the Mexican fighter a license to box.

"We're going plot the strategy with Margarito's lawyers. As of now, there is no determination on when they're going [to meet with the California commission]. We want to get him two wins [before November]. He has the fight in May and then maybe June or July on a pay-per-view card with Julio Jr., and then get him ready for a November date," Arum said.

The majority of the boxing public will call for Pacquiao to fight the winner of May's welterweight bout between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Shane Mosley. If Mosley wins, there is an immediate rematch clause that Mayweather can exercise, and that clause can certainly prevent a Pacquiao-Mosley meeting for November. If Mayweather wins, a potential fight with Pacquiao will be difficult to make. Mayweather will request a contract clause for both fighters to take part in a random drug testing protocol, which Pacquiao's team will not agree to.