INQUIRER Sports

LAS VEGAS?Larry Merchant tried to reel Manny Pacquiao into a call-out.

The question was leading, but the Filipino, who had just won a world title in a seventh weight class, refused to be suckered into a controversy.

Instead, when asked Saturday what his future plans were and who he?d want to fight next, Pacquiao issued a canned statement.

?I just want to take a vacation first,? he said. ?My job is to fight in the ring and it?s up to my promoter, [Top Rank chief] Bob Arum, to negotiate for my next fight.?

Merchant, the venerable television commentator, did get someone to call out the fighter he had in mind.

Actually, a thousand someones.

The people who lingered at the Garden Arena of the MGM Grand to watch the coronation ceremonies of Pacquiao as the new welterweight world champion called out the boxer themselves, chanting in unison:

?We want Floyd! We want Floyd!?

Now all the world, it seems, is waiting for Floyd Mayweather Jr. to respond to the challenge.

The undefeated Mayweather and Pacquiao could forge the biggest match next year and probably the most important boxing event in a long while if their handlers can somehow get to agree on a fight contract, especially with how the income pie will be split.

?Mayweather is the fight everyone wants to see,? said trainer Freddie Roach. ?I want Mayweather.?

Mayweather?s camp has constantly scoffed at the claim that Pacquiao is the best in the world pound for pound. But he has done little to point his management team to the direction of a compromise with Team Pacquiao.

And that has left Arum miffed.

?Manny is open to fight any time,? said Arum. ?And I?m not going to put up with all that nonsense or foolishness.

?If Floyd wants to fight Manny Pacquiao, he knows who to call.?

Almost instantly, Mayweather?s camp vowed it would make that call. Richard Schaefer, the CEO of Golden Boy Promotions which handles Mayweather, told HBO Sports head Ross Greenburg that he will call Arum Monday.

But with the results of the pay-per-view sales not due until Tuesday, Arum said he would wait.

?If Richard is going to call, let him wait until Wednesday,? he said.

PPV sales are going to be a crucial factor in negotiations, especially with who gets the lion?s share of the purse. Mayweather wants a 65-35 split, but Team Pacquiao said it won?t sign on with the fight with such sharing.

Mayweather fought Juan Manuel Marquez last September. That was ?Pretty Boy?s? comeback fight and it generated 1 million PPV buys, leading Schaefer to argue that unless Pacquiao-Cotto beats the PPV of Mayeather-Marquez, Floyd Jr. should get the bigger piece of the pie.

Shane Mosley was a hot candidate for Pacquiao?s next fight, but he was irked at GBP?s decision to launch Mosley?s next fight, against Andre Berto, on the eve of the Pacquiao-Cotto tiff.

While Pacquiao did not state any preference for an opponent, he did say he?ll likely stay at welterweight since making the move to junior middleweight would put him at a huge disadvantage.

?I think 154 pounds will be too big for me,? said Pacquiao.