On November 14, Pacquiao is slated to face WBO welterweight champion Miguel Ángel Cotto of Puerto Rico, at the MGM Grand Las Vegas. Even before Ricky Hatton's fight against Paulie Malignaggi last year, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum stated his desire for Pacquiao to fight Cotto. Pacquiao then gave Arum the go signal to arrange the fight after Cotto won a hard-fought decision against Joshua Clottey at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Among the details that were agreed upon for the Pacquiao-Cotto fight were the weight (both camps agreed to the 145-pound catchweight) and the purse (Pacquiao will get the 65% share of PPV buys, as compared to Cotto's 35% share). As of the moment, it is still not clear whether Cotto's WBO welterweight belt will be at stake, although WBO has ranked Pacquiao as the #1 contender for Cotto's welterweight belt