By Rick Reeno & Lem Satterfield

"Sugar" Shane Mosley expects to be the man chosen from among three candidates to meet eight-division king Manny Pacquiao on April 16, in an HBO pay-per-view televised bout from the MGM in Las Vegas. Top Rank Promotions CEO, Bob Arum, left for the Philippines on Sunday, and plans to finalize the deal after a scheduled meeting with Pacquiao (52-3-2, 38 KOs) and his adviser, Michael Koncz.

Although Juan Manuel Marquez (51-5-1, 38 KOs) and WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto (27-0, 21 KOs) are under consideration, both Arum and Koncz have been very vocal about Mosley being the clear frontrunner to face Pacquiao in April. Among the three choices, they feel Mosley makes the most economic sense. A decision is expected on December 19.

In order to put himself in position for a Pacquiao fight, Mosley broke ties with Top Rank's promotional rival, Golden Boy Promotions. According to Mosley, breaking away was easy because he wasn't under a promotional contract for the last two years.

"I don't have a promotional contract with Golden Boy. I was just a partner with Golden Boy. I really haven't had a promotional contract with Golden Boy for the last two years. I was just a partner. I would fight under the Golden Boy banner because, you know, basically I was a part of it. But for this particular fight, Golden Boy was having problems speaking with Bob Arum," Mosley said.

"[Golden Boy Promotions CEO] Richard Schaefer, and my attorney, Judd Burstein, were having problems speaking with Bob Arum about a fight with Pacquiao. So, I took it upon myself to go and talk to Bob Arum myself, along with James Prince. James Prince is my adviser. I did that in order to get the fight done, and it seems, at least right now, that we were very successful at that."

Mosley's departure from the Golden Boy shocked several of their employees, including Schaefer and company president Oscar De La Hoya. Because he broke away to negotiate a deal to face Pacquiao, Mosley believes his former company stepped up in their efforts to make a third fight between Pacquiao and Golden Boy promoted Juan Manuel Marquez.

"It seems like they're very angry and upset right now. I don't know what the relationship is like. They seem to be very angry that I went out and made the match or that me and James got the match, if, in fact, we did. I really don't know. They seemed like they were really pushing Juan Manuel Marquez a lot, and trying to get him the fight with Manny Pacquiao, and it seemed like they just wanted me to step aside. That kind of threw me off and threw me for a loop a little bit right there," Mosley said.

"They were willing to negotiate for Juan Manuel Marquez, but they acted like it was a problem for me to go out there and actually get this fight. I was a little concerned about that."

Schaefer told BoxingScene.com that he's very proud of what Golden Boy accomplished for Mosley and denies that his company was trying to push Mosley aside in order to make a Pacquiao-Marquez trilogy.

"Let me just say that I'm extremely proud of what we've done and accomplished for Shane Mosley. I think that we've done a terrific job and every media member I talk to would agree with that because it's the truth," Schaefer told BoxingScene.com.

"I do feel disappointed. He made it clear in the media. He made it clear in interviews on video and wherever, that he is a free agent and he's going to do his own thing with his own promotion company. I think he's forming his own promotional entity. It means that he turned his back on Golden Boy. Golden Boy did not turn its back on him. At this point, the only thing I can say is to wish him luck and there is nothing I can really do about it."

Most industry insiders believe a Pacquiao-Mosley deal is only coming together because Mosley broke away from Golden Boy. Schaefer agrees with the popular opinion, but he doesn't blame Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum for making the fight.

"Listen, I can understand why Arum is doing what he's doing. That doesn't make it right but I can understand it, so you are not going to hear me, and I can't speak for others, but you are not going to hear me talking bad about a Pacquiao-Mosley fight," Schaefer said.