Rod Nazario prefers Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico as the most suitable foe for his former fighter Manny Pacquiao, who is shopping for an opponent for a scheduled Oct. 17 fight.

"Cotto’s style is made for Manny," said Nazario, Pacquiao’s former manager during an interview yesterday.

Though Nazario believes Pacquiao has the tools and firepower needed to beat Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Shane Mosley, a pair of fleet-footed punchers who are also aching to get their hands on the Filipino pound-for-pound king, Cotto’s fighting style is perfect for Pacquiao.

"On my list, it’s Cotto, Mosley then Mayweather," said Nazario, who handled Pacquiao from 1995 until 2005. "Manny will not bother to look for Cotto because he’ll be there right in front of him unlike Mosley and Mayweather who could give Manny trouble because of their similar style."

Despite their separation, Pacquiao and Nazario have remained close and during Pacquiao’s last fight — a second-round knockout of Ricky Hatton last May 2 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas — Nazario was at ringside courtesy of the pound-for-pound king.

Another long-time observer of the fight game, TV boxing analyst Moy Lainez, echoes his old friend’s views about a Pacquiao-Cotto slugfest.

"Cotto would always come in and that would make it easier for Manny (to hit him)," said Lainez, who was also present when Pacquiao flattened Hatton.

"Cotto is like Hatton, but only bigger and I predict that a win by Pacquiao over somebody like Cotto would be dramatic and sensational," said Lainez.

Pacquiao is attending Cotto’s fight this Saturday (Sunday in Manila) at Madison Square Garden in New York to size him up and receive his second Fighter of the Year trophy from the Boxing Writers Association of America the day before.

Top Rank head Bob Arum, who promotes Pacquiao and Cotto, said he doesn’t have the final say on the selection of Pacquiao’s next foe.

Even if he promotes Cotto, "he still has a manager," stressed Arum.

"I have told everybody — and I don’t know how often I can tell it — that it is not my job. My job is to lay out all of the possible options to Manny. Then have (Pacquiao trainer) Freddie Roach and (Top Rank matchmaker) Bruce Trampler talk about the technical aspects and have Manny choose who he wants to fight," Arum told Steve Kim of maxboxing.

"And that’s my position. Who am I? I’m not a f---! chess master, moving these guys around. Yeah, you do that when a guy is coming up and a guy is not a well-known fighter, yeah, you make the moves for him. But Manny Pacquiao is on top of the world of boxing. I would never arrogate to myself, choosing his opponents and telling him, ‘Manny, this is who you have to fight.’

"Do I have some impact, yeah, but so does Freddie, so does Bruce, so do his other advisers. But ultimately, it’s Manny who makes the decision. He has to get in the ring," said Arum.