associatedcontent.com After two years of aggressive denial and of helping promote the most cynical matchmaking of an elite-level fighter in recent memory, the mainstream boxing media has finally come out loud and aggressive in their condemnation of Shane Mosley as Manny Pacquiao's next opponent on May 7th in Las Vegas.

But, lest we forget, these very same "experts" actually encouraged Bob Arum's hubris in matching Manny against anyone he damn well felt like. For two years, Pacquiao zig-zagged over three divisions, picking up meaningless belts from the loser's bracket against toothless tigers while the media nearly built monuments to the Filipino Buzzsaw and his greatness.

Dan Rafael of ESPN had this to say about the Pacquiao-Mosley matchup: "Arum doesn't care. He only wants to do what is best for himself, certainly not for boxing. He is going to put Mosley in the ring with Pacquiao soley because of name. It's a move that will squeeze out the last gasps of Mosley's once-outstanding career so Arum can generate another big payday while doing a disservice to real boxing fans who actually care about the matchups and not just a famous but faded name...A one-sided loss [and a draw in an awful fight] is not supposed to be how you land a fight with the pound-for-pound king and the sport's most popular fighter."

Of course, Rafael's statement is the truth, but the difference is that some of us have been saying this since Pacquiao, post-De la Hoya conquest, first started on his road to super stardom. Take out the name "Mosley" from the above quote and substitute it with "Hatton, Cotto, or Margarito" and it holds just as much water.