As Bob Arum slowly inches his way towards the completion of a proposed November 14 clash between Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto, Oscar De La Hoya has embarked on a drive to convince the Hall of Fame promoter to instead look at the allure of pitting the Filipino star against Shane Mosley.

Mosley is under contract with Golden Boy Promotions (GBP) and after the 37-year-old California native drew criticism for going on a media blitz begging Pacquiao to face him next, De La Hoya has been compelled to do all the talk on behalf of his over-eager fighter.

“We don’t want to take anything away from Cotto because he’s a great fighter,” De La Hoya told ESPN.com. “But Shane Mosley is now heading into that place as the most feared fighter on the planet. People don’t want to fight him, especially Pacquiao.”

While Cotto also holds a version of the world welterweight title, being the recognized champion by the World Boxing Organization, the now-retired Golden Boy stressed that “Shane is the top guy at welterweight, and I don’t see why or how Cotto can come down in weight.”

De La Hoya said Cotto “struggles to make 147 lbs (and) you have Shane wanting to come down a few pounds to accommodate Pacquiao and Cotto not really wanting to do that.”

The current World Boxing Association titlist, Mosley is coming off a brutal KO win over Antonio Margarito of Mexico and De La Hoya insists Mosley, who beat him twice, is the main man in the star-studded division.

“I don’t care who you are — Manny, Miguel Cotto, Floyd Mayweather — if you want to be the best welterweight, you have to fight Mosley. The biggest fights out there for Pacquiao are Mosley and Floyd Mayweather. There’s no doubt.”

De La Hoya said a Pacquiao-Mosley showdown is way better in terms of box-office appeal than a Pacquiao-Cotto encounter tentatively set at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

“Pacquiao wants to make the big dollars, and if Cotto decides to take the fight, he’ll have to make big dollars. I just don’t see the numbers being there. Pacquiao can fight the best welterweight, Shane Mosley, and make the most money doing it.”

Arum has already began negotiations with Cotto’s people, led by his legal counsel Gabriel Penagaricano and father and cornerman Miguel Sr.

Arum said Pacquiao prefers to have a catchweight of 144 pounds, while Cotto insists it has to be 145 pounds.  Wakee Salud, a close adviser of Pacquiao, said the fight is virtually “a done deal” since Cotto has also agreed to give Pacquiao the lion’s share of the total revenue.

“The weight is the only thing that is being discussed right now,” said Salud, who conferred with Arum via overseas call yesterday.

Another Pacquiao adviser, Canadian Mike Koncz, is flying to the US late this week to present Pacquiao’s other needs, said Salud.