The 32-year-old Pacquiao (52-3-2, 38 knockouts) also holds the WBC junior middleweight (154 pounds) belt, but that is not on the line, according to Mosley (46-6-1, 39 KOs) and Top Rank Promotions CEO, Bob Arum .
"It's done. I'm fighting Many Pacquiao on May 7," said the 39-year-old Mosley.
"We came to an agreement today, in fact, just a few minutes ago. Bob Arum, James Prince and I," said Mosley. "We sat down, and we came to an agreement. The only thing that I have to do now is to sign it. Bob Arum is writing it all up right now."
Mosley was the main subject of conversation as the next opponent for the WBO welterweight champ during last week's meetings between Pacquiao, Arum and Pacquiao's adviser Michael Koncz. It produced a counter proposal that had been presented to Mosley's adviser James Princefor approval, Koncz told FanHouse on Tuesday.
Mosley was chosen over 37-year-old WBO and WBA lightweight king Juan Manuel Marquez (51-5-1, 38 KOs) and 27-year-old WBC welterweight belt-holder Andre Berto (27-0, 21 KOs), Mosley said.
Mosley also confirmed that his purse, up front, stands to be around $5 million against Pacquiao. But with incentives, Mosley could wind up earning a career-high amount, surpassing the previous career-best of $7 million that he pocketed after his unanimous decision loss to Floyd Mayweather (41-0, 25 KOs) back in May, who received a non-heavyweight record guarantee of $22.5 million.
"That's still accurate. We came to an agreement with everything involved, including the financial end of it," Mosley said of the numbers pertaining to his purse.
"We're looking to start a promotional campaign probably in early to mid-February, so there will be a press tour," said Mosley. "But the main thing is that I got the fight on May 7, and me and Bob and James Prince, we're all in agreement on everything. I think that I can go in and sign it in about two days or so. But the bottom line is that it's done."
Reached in the Philippines, Koncz told FanHouse that he had not yet heard from Arum, and that Pacquiao still needed to approve of the contract even though Mosley's side was in agreement.
"The contracts haven't been signed, but it's real close," said Prince. "I think that that is something that will happen some time tomorrow."
Arum had told FanHouse that Marquez's asking price for a third bout was too high, with Koncz saying that Golden Boy Promotions had "overpriced" the Mexican, three-division champion.
According to a source with knowledge of Marquez's demands, the Mexican, three-division champion has asked for a $5 million guarantee, while making $5 per pay-per-view buy above 500,000, for $8.5 million total if the fight generated 1.2 million buys.
Pacquiao is coming off of a Nov. 13 unanimous decision over Antonio Margarito that earned him the WBC's junior middleweight belt, his eighth crown in as many different weight classes, and, also, his 13th straight win with eight knockouts during that span.
Pacquiao's last loss was by a unanimous decision to Erik Morales in March of 2005. During his run, Pacquiao's eight stoppages included four consecutively. That spree comprised those againstDavid Diaz, Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto, respectively, in nine, eight, two rounds, and, 12 rounds.
Pacquaio's winning streak also includes having twice avenged the loss to Morales, whom he stopped in 10, and, three rounds, in January and November 2006. The run also includes 12-round triumphs over Mexican legends Marquez and Marco Antonio Barrera, as well as an eighth-round knockout of Jorge Solis, who entered their matchup unbeaten at 33-0-2, with 24 knockouts.
Pacquiao-Margarito, and, Pacquiao-Cotto were contested at catch weights favoring the smaller man, meaning that neither fighter can weigh more than that. Pacquiao weighed in at 144, and, 144.5 pounds, respectively, for both Cotto and Margarito, whose catch weights were 145, and, 150.
Still, Margarito had out-weighed Pacquiao, 165-to-148, by the time the fighters entered the ring.
Prince said that the notion of a catch weight "wasn't in the conversation" during the negotiations, emphasizing that "the fight is going to be at an even 147 pounds."
A former IBF lightweight champion, Mosley has fought at welterweight or higher exclusively since relinquishing his lightweight belt in 1999, including seven bouts at junior middleweight (154 pounds), and one other at 148 pounds -- an April, 2005 decision over David Estrada.
At junior middleweight, Mosley has twice stopped former world champion, Fernando Vargas, knocked out former world titlist, Ricardo Mayorga, and earned his second win over former world champ, De La Hoya -- the latter for the WBC and WBA crowns in September of 2003.
Mosley, who also dispatched of De La Hoya by split-decision in June of 200 for the WBC welterweight crown, also twice lost to former world titlist Winky Wright at 154 pounds, and was decisioned by Cotto in November of 2007 during a failed bid to earn the WBA welterweight belt.
Mosley ended a nearly 16 month ring absence against Mayweather, whom Mosley staggered yet couldn't finish in the second round. Mayweather followed a January, 2009, ninth-round knockout victory which dethroned Margarito as WBA super world welterweight champion.
Mosley is coming off September's junior middleweight, split-decision draw with ex-world champion,Sergio Mora (21-1-1, six KOs), at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Asked if he thought that Pacquiao's selection of him had anything to do with his age or a perception of deteriorating skills, Mosley said, "Maybe."
"People will do what they do to get their advantage. People thought that I was too old and at a disadvantage and past my prime against Antonio Margarito, and look what happened there. They felt like they had the upper hand, but it was up to me to prove that they didn't," said Mosley.
"When I fought Mayorga, they thought that I was past my prime and that I was going to go in there and get destroyed. But when we got into the ring, it didn't happen. But that's what the fight game is all about," said Mosley. "Nobody really knows what's going to happen."
To that end, Mosley watched last Saturday's Showtime televised, WBC light heavyweight (175 pounds) bout with interest, as 45-year-old Bernard Hopkins (51-5-2, 32 KOs) -- who turns 46 in January and was looking to become the oldest man in the history of the sport to win a major world title -- appeared to have successfully negated knockdowns in the first and third rounds to defeat 28-year-old Jean Pascal (26-1-1, 16 KOs) before Pascal's partisan fans at the Pepsi Colesium in Quebec City, Canada.
"They thought that Bernard Hopkins was over the hill, but he got in there and did a job on Jean Pascal. Jean Pascal called him out, thinking that it was the right time to get Bernard Hopkins, but it turned out that that was not true. I'm definitely encouraged by that," said Mosley.
"I figured that Bernard would win, and, I figured that he would win by knockout because of his experience and because of the type of person that he is," said Mosley. "I knew that he would work hard to win the fight. But, you know, I'm sure that's why Pascal picked him out because he thought he was older. That may be the way that Pacquiao' feels, but that's not the way that I feel."
Does Mosley believe, as Hopkins said after the Pascal fight, that he needs to score a knockout to defeat Pacquiao?
"I can probably win a decision, but I will most likely be looking to knock Manny Pacquiao out. I know that his defense is not as good as Floyd Mayweather's, and I know that Pacquiao's mentality is going to be that he will try to knock me out," said Mosley.
"So the thing is that I think he is going to try to come in there and knock me out, and I know that I'm going to go in there trying to knock him out," said Mosley. "So that's why I think that it's going to be a great fight because we're both guys who like to get in there and fight."
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