By Robert Morales

"Sugar" Shane Mosley has made it well known that in his mind he is a free agent and can fight for the promoter of his choosing, including himself. Assuming he is correct, that would make it much easier for him to get a fight with Manny Pacquiao because Pacquiao is promoted by Bob Arum and Arum and Golden Boy Promotions are once again at odds.

Mosley, who turned 39 in September, has been promoted by Golden Boy for five years. Some of the fights he has had during that time include two with Fernando Vargas, one with Luis Collazo, one with Miguel Cotto, one with Ricardo Mayorga, one with Antonio Margarito and one with Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Considering Mosley had already suffered two losses to both Winky Wright and Vernon Forrest, it would seem that Golden Boy hasn't done all that badly by Mosley.

Richard Schaefer - CEO of Golden Boy - was approached Monday at Trinity Boxing Club in Hollywood, Calif., at a workout for Juan Manuel Marquez, who Saturday will defend his lightweight championship against Michael Katsidis at MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Right off, Schaefer said he would not go into any details about Mosley's status with Golden Boy, with whom Mosley said he still owns stock.

"First of all, I am not going to discuss the contractual relationship through the media, like some statements Shane has made," Schaefer said. Schaefer did talk at length about the job he believes Golden Boy has done for Mosley, who was coming off an ESPN pay-per-view fight against David Estrada prior to signing with Oscar De La Hoya's company.

"I just looked at the numbers, tens of millions of dollars he made with us in those 4 1/2, five years," Schaefer said. "So I am very proud of what we have accomplished for him and the kind of paydays he got. The same can be said for Bernard Hopkins, who joined us in his 40s and the amount of money we paid him I'm sure is a world record for any fighter in their 40s. 

"And so I am very proud of what Golden Boy has been able to do with these legends. In a way, I think we almost specialize with that. So it is a bit disappointing, you know, to read the comments of Shane. I have reached out to him, he has not called me back." Schaefer told BoxingScene.com two weeks ago he called Mosley to discuss this issue with him.

"You live and learn," Schaefer said. "You live and learn. But again, the contractual relationship is something I am not going to discuss. You know, I know Shane can read and so let him and his new manager (James Prince) figure it out."

That last comment suggests Mosley is not a free agent.

Roach wants Pacquiao-Marquez III at 147

Pacquiao's Hall of Fame trainer, Freddie Roach, was reached by telephone Tuesday at his Wild Card Gym in Hollywood. He said if he had his druthers, he would like Pacquiao's next fight to be a third bout with Juan Manuel Marquez. Others apparently being considered are Mosley and Andre Berto, although Arum told BoxingScene.com this week a Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. tussle remains his first choice.

"Marquez would be my number one choice," Roach said. "It has the history of two very very good fights. Both fights were very close. People thought they could have gone either way. Obviously, Marquez thought he won. The thing is it is a very sellable fight. It has all the ingredients. I feel it can be nothing but a great fight because they both know each other's style."

Marquez on Monday said he would like a third fight with Pacquiao to be at a catch-weight of between 142 and 144 pounds. That is not going to happen, Roach said.

"With Manny, ever since we went to 147, even though he has weighed in light for those fights, I wouldn't let Manny fight under 147 again," Roach said. "Anyone we fight would have to fight at that weight class. When he's 147 he's healthy, he's always in a good mood. He doesn't have to starve himself to make 147. I would have to put him on a diet to make 140, and then he is not the same fighter. Mosley, maybe. (Andre) Berto is a definite possibility. But Marquez is No. 1."

Interestingly, it doesn't appear Roach and Pacquiao's conditioning coach, Alex Ariza, are on the same page regarding the weight. Ariza was quoted by BoxingScene.com's Ernest Gabion this week as saying Pacquiao could fight Marquez at 140.

Schaefer: Arum, Trampler too smart to match Pacquiao with Marquez again

There was no way this day at the Trinity Boxing Club was going to pass without Schaefer discussing the potential third fight between Marquez and Pacquiao, who is coming off a one-sided beatdown of Margarito on Nov. 13. Schaefer recalled the post-fight news conference at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas after the second fight in March 2008, won by Pacquiao via split decision.

There was a lot of hoopla, with the Marquez camp claiming robbery. This was nearly four years after their first fight in May 2004, in which Marquez got up from three first-round knockdowns to earn a draw. He thought he won that fight as well as the second, so Marquez and his team - which includes Golden Boy - were fit to be tied.

"Styles make fights and the fact is, I said it after the last fight between Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez that they are probably never going to want to do it again," Schaefer said. "Bob (Arum) was standing there on the podium, stating that well, it has to mature and maybe later. We're going to do it later. And I said, 'Let's do it now.' And he claimed, 'Well, I really don't know about boxing, that those rematches need to take time.' "

The second fight was two years and eight months ago.

"Well, a lot of time has passed since then and I've followed the blogs and stories and it is a fact that fight fans would love to see a fight between Marquez and Manny Pacquiao again because Manny clearly had problems with Juan's style," Schaefer said. "And, you know, as they say, I think Juan Manuel has Manny Pacquiao's number and that is why it makes it such an interesting fight. And you know, Bob is not going to want to do that because Bob is a smart guy and so is (Top Rank matchmaker) Bruce Trampler.

"They don't want to go and risk that. So they're going to want to go and see if they can get somewhere an easier opponent. And it is what it is. But then let's not pretend, let's call it the way it is and everybody moves on." 

Schaefer said Marquez has other potential fights, including the possibility of one with the comebacking Erik Morales, who takes on another former champion - Jorge Barrios - on Dec. 18 in Tijuana.

"One fight which never happened which I know fight fans would love to see is him against Erik Morales," Schaefer said. 

Robert "The Ghost" Guerrero, who is also promoted by Golden Boy, could be in line for a shot at Marquez should Marquez successfully defend his two belts Saturday.

"Another one, one of our young guns who has been making quite some noise - HBO loves this kid - and that's Robert 'The Ghost' Guerrero," Schaefer said. "And Robert 'The Ghost' Guerrero would love to fight Juan Manuel Marquez." 

Schaefer said Guerrero will be ringside for Marquez-Katsidis and that he told him he believes it is a 50-50 fight. 

"Marquez could win, Michael Katsidis could win," said Schaefer, conveying Guerrero's sentiments. "He's willing to fight either one of them."

Marquez: Arum, not Pacquiao, afraid of third fight

Pacquiao was recently quoted by ABS-CBN, a Philippines-based radio and television conglomerate, as saying he wasn't all that interested in a third fight with Marquez "because no one would watch it" because there is now too much of a size difference between them and it would not be taken seriously. 

Marquez has a difficult time believing that is what is really in Pacquiao's heart.

"No, he knows people want to see that fight," Marquez said. "He's avoiding me. He don't want to face me, that's the truth." 

When pressed on the subject, Marquez retracted that statement to a degree.

"I will not be surprised if they give it to Berto or Mosley," Marquez said. "Like I said, for some reason he's avoiding me. He don't want to fight, or maybe his company. It's not Pacquiao, it's Bob Arum." 

Goossen: Williams Will Recover

Paul Williams suffered just the second loss of his fine career Saturday. But whereas his first loss was via 12-round unanimous decision to Carlos Quintana in February 2008, Saturday's was a devastating one-punch knockout by the lethal left hand of Sergio Martinez in the second round of their middleweight title fight in Atlantic City.

Williams' promoter, Dan Goossen, on Tuesday said he is not concerned whether Williams will be able to come back from having his brains temporarily scrambled.

"Getting hit like he did, it was really like one of those million-in-one shots," Goossen said. "I don't want to call it lucky, but they were both throwing left hands simultaneously. Sergio didn't have his eyes on him, he was looking at the canvas. He just threw a punch in defense of what Paul was throwing and his happened to land right on the button and lights go out."

Goossen said this was not nearly as bad as what happened to Margarito a week earlier in his one-sided loss to Pacquiao. 

"You take a shot like that and it is a lot less wear and tear on your body than having what happened to Margarito, where you take 12 rounds of punishment like Margarito did," Goossen said. "That is where, I think, you have the real question: what did that take out of you?" 

Goossen said a post-fight interview with Williams posted on the Goossen Tutor Promotions YouTube account demonstrates Williams was not only fine, but in good spirits.

"I think for the most part you are going to see someone who sounds as if he recovered fairly quickly from what we saw was obviously a devastating knockout," Goossen said of that interview.

Goossen and the rest of Team Williams has claimed for some time Williams can be the best in the world at anywhere from 147 to 168 pounds. But Goossen is hopeful of getting Williams back to 147 for his next fight. Over the past two-plus years the two-time welterweight champion and former interim junior middleweight champion was 3-0 as a middleweight and 2-0 as a junior middleweight before Saturday's crushing loss.

"It wasn't rhetoric before," Goossen said. "It was exactly what I've been saying; we are giving up advantages in going up in weight. Although he has been quite successful, it never eliminated the fact you are giving up advantages than if you had stayed at your normal weight division. We were fighting someone who had been a 154-pounder most of his career, whereas Paul had fought at 147 most of his career."

Robert Morales covers boxing for the Los Angeles Daily News, Long Beach Press-Telegram and BoxingScene.com