Read through Merchant's argument; it doesn't seem that ridiculous:

"First, once upon a time, it wasn't unusual for outstanding champions to fight way over their best weight to make money," Merchant said.

Merchant, who has forgotten more boxing than most of us know, reeled off a number of examples to support his fantasy:

• Sugar Ray Robinson, the generally recognized No.1 pound-for-pound fighter in history, was the welterweight and middleweight champion, who moved up for a shot at light heavyweight champ Joey Maxim in 1952 and was stopped in the 14th round of a fight Robinson had dominated until succumbing to heat exhaustion.

• Henry Armstrong, the pound-for-pound legend who simultaneously held the featherweight, lightweight and welterweight championships in 1938, challenged Caferino Garcia for the middleweight title in 1940 and got a draw.

• England's Ted "Kid" Lewis, who fought from flyweight all the way to heavyweight, was at his best at welterweight, where he had two reigns as champion between 1915 and 1919. But that didn't stop Lewis from challenging Georges Carpentier for the light heavyweight title in 1922 (and getting knocked out in the first round).

• Mickey Walker, a Hall of Famer who was welterweight champ and middleweight champ in the 1920s, twice challenged for the light heavyweight title. He also fought future heavyweight champ Jack Sharkey to a draw, despite being outweighed by 29 pounds.

For more recent examples, Merchant also had ammunition:

• Roy Jones Jr., who won titles at middleweight and super middleweight and was the reigning light heavyweight champion when he moved up to heavyweight for a shot at John Ruiz's alphabet title in 2003. Jones won it in dominant fashion.

• Bernard Hopkins, who after his dominant 20-defense middleweight title reign ended against Jermain Taylor, jumped up 15 pounds and easily won the light heavyweight title from Antonio Tarver last year.

Another reason the fight isn't as crazy as you might initially think? Merchant pointed to the fact that on the night Pacquiao fought Marco Antonio Barrera in their Oct. 6 rematch, Pacquiao weighed 144 pounds, 24 hours after weighing in at 130 pounds.

"Pacquiao would be in his prime, Oscar way past his trying to make a weight he hasn't made in (almost) a decade," Merchant said.

Then Merchant added the part that makes the fantasy perhaps a reality: "It sells millions (on pay-per-view), Oscar wins and goes on to fight (an eventually) revived Cotto or Hatton. Let's do it. If you're a fight fan, you have to watch it. It's not De La Hoya-Mayweather I, but it's a big deal and a lot of money. And if Pacquiao loses, so what? It doesn't hurt him. He goes back to fight at lightweight. The fight is a tantalizing curiosity like Jones fighting a heavyweight."

Merchant also mentioned another juicy storyline that would envelope the fight: Who would trainer Freddie Roach work with? He's been with Pacquiao for many years and was the trainer De La Hoya handpicked to train him for Mayweather after parting with Floyd Mayweather Sr.

And let's not forget the bitterness, although well-hidden, that surely must exist between De La Hoya and Pacquiao after Pacquiao signed with De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions only to turn around and pledge allegiance to Arum.

During the ensuing litigation, De La Hoya attempted to stop Pacquiao from fighting by trying to get an injunction, which didn't work. The sides ultimately settled and Golden Boy retains a small percentage of Pacquiao's promotional contract. Just think of the juicy stories a fight between them would generate.

"In the spectrum of the kind of fights you could have, it's a fun event," Merchant said. "Manny is shorter, but he's a left-handed puncher. Oscar would be the clear favorite to win and Manny would be the underdog, but all of their fans would have to watch it. It's about creating an event. That's an event."