Floyd Mayweather Jr.: Shane Mosley fight all about the money -- Washington Post

By Gene Wang, Washington Post

Floyd Mayweather Jr. is fond of saying he doesn't fight for legacy anymore, instead preferring prize money. If he beats Shane Mosley on Saturday night in their non-title fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the undefeated six-time champion stands to collect the most lucrative payday of his life.

The windfall would not necessarily be the direct result of a win over his 38-year-old opponent, but because a victory would set up Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao, a fight which would be the most anticipated non-heavyweight match in decades. Record-setting money almost certainly would follow, and fight fans finally would get the main event they have been clamoring for since discussions broke down between the camps in January.

"Well, the thing is this, like I said before, of course I want to please the fans, and I want to please everybody that's buying pay-per-view," Mayweather said, "but self-preservation is the law of the land. I come first. I must fight for Floyd Mayweather first."

Considered perhaps the most proficient pound-for-pound fighter of all-time, Mayweather is better than a 4-1 favorite to beat Mosley, the WBA welterweight champion whose career is resurgent after he dismantled Antonio Margarito in his most recent bout.

A victory, according to some industry estimates, would yield Mayweather between $15 million to $20 million in prize money and perhaps more than twice that if a deal can be reached to fight Pacquiao. Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs) is no stranger to wildly profitable fights. His 2007 victory over Oscar De La Hoya set a record with 2.7 million pay-per-view buys and reportedly earned Mayweather $25 million.

"There's no [formula] on how to beat Floyd Mayweather," said Mayweather, 33, who also has beaten Ricky Hatton, Juan Manuel Marquez and Zab Judah, among other highly regarded fighters. "There's no [formula] on how to beat me yet, so the thing is this, everyone is trying to solve the problem. It's like a difficult math problem that no one can solve. No one can solve it."

Mosley (46-5, 39 KOs) has been training hard to become the first, although he'll fight under the specter of having admitted to unknowingly using performance-enhancing drugs before his 2003 bout with De La Hoya. Mayweather has made it a point to mention that during virtually every interview he has given leading up to the fight.

Mosley, meantime, has declined to answer questions in detail about his link to Victor Conte and Balco, from whom he allegedly received designer steroids. He instead has been spending much of his time during prefight news conferences sparring verbally with Mayweather, who has made such bravado an art form.

"I mean everybody grows up wanting to fight for a belt and wants to be world champion, and for them to just dismiss it like, 'Oh, I'm bigger than the belt,' I don't know," Mosley said of Mayweather preferring fortune over titles. "That just doesn't seem like [Mayweather is] in the sport for the sport. He's in it just for the money, which is good if he wants to do that. If he wants to fight for money, to each his own, but I love the glory, the legendary status of being a champion and winning belts and being the best guy out there. If he did that, the money is going to come regardless."

Source: washingtonpost.com

Amir Khan dismisses drug rumours surrounding Manny Pacquiao -- The Guardian

By Kevin Mitchell, guardian.co.uk

Amir Khan has again defended his stablemate Manny Pacquiao from accusations of drug-taking. If the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world was using them, he says, then suspicion must fall on him as well.

Khan is still in Vancouver awaiting a US visa before he can fly to Los Angeles to prepare for the second defence of his WBA 10-stone title against the New Yorker Paulie Malignaggi at Madison Square Garden on 15 May.

Before he left, he told the trade paper Boxing News that he is so familiar with Pacquiao's training regime it would be impossible for the Filipino to be taking performance-enhancing drugs without him knowing about it.

"I've seen how Manny trains and I've trained with him myself," Khan said. "I keep up with him in the mornings when we run, on the pad sessions and in the sparring sessions, so does that mean I'm on drugs as well?"

The Bolton fighter said their trainer, Freddie Roach, is strongly against the use of performance-enhancers. "I think it's just that Freddie's got two fighters in the camp who are very fit and very athletic. We get pushed and keep up with our training and we train very hard. That's why when we get in the ring it seems easy.

"There's other fighters who come to the gym and can't keep up with me, and can't keep up with Manny because they're not as athletic as us.

"I think when someone's doing well in the game, there's always negative things that people pick up on but I think it's just nonsense. And another thing, Freddie wouldn't allow it. If he found out a fighter was doing that, he'd throw them out of the gym, if he found out they were on drugs, because he's totally against it."

Source: guardian.co.uk

Floyd Mayweather Jr. has his uncle by his side as he climbs into the ring vs. Shane Mosley Saturday -- New York Daily News

By Tim Smith, NY Daily News

LAS VEGAS - Roger Mayweather is prone to outrageous statements and proclamations. But when he says that his nephew is the best boxer in the sport, it is not hyperbole.

As Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s trainer - the man behind the man - no one ever says that Roger Mayweather is one of the best trainers in the game.

"I don't get offended by that," Mayweather said Thursday. "The only thing I want is the best for my nephew."

It will be Roger Mayweather's strategy that the boxer carries into the ring when he faces Shane Mosley in a 12-round welterweight showdown at MGM Grand on HBO PPV on Saturday night. It is a strategy that has helped Mayweather build a 40-0 record.

Mosley (46-5, 39 KOs) represents the stiffest challenge of Mayweather's career, so he will need every bit of strategic help and every in-fight adjustment that his uncle can provide.

The fact that he works with a gifted athlete who is a superb boxer is a blessing and a curse for the elder Mayweather. It's like managing the 1998 Yankees - a team that won 114 games. People assume when you have that much talent all the man who manages it has to do is roll out the balls and bats.

Everyone assumes that all that Mayweather has to do is show up at the gym on time, hold the mitts for his nephew and turn the lights off before he leaves.

"I've been dominating this sport for 14 years and my uncle is one of the best trainers out there," Floyd Mayweather said. "But not once has Roger gotten Trainer of the Year."

David Mayo, a veteran reporter for the Grand Rapids (Mich.) Press who has covered all the Mayweather boxers, said Roger doesn't get the credit because of his carefree attitude.

"He has an inattentive and goofy nature when he's in the gym," Mayo said. "He's always playing with the kids or doing something else. It makes him look flighty and like he doesn't have that much attention to detail. But the results speak for themselves."

The nephew credits his uncle for much of his development because he took over his amateur career prior to the 1996 Olympic Games when Floyd Sr. went to prison on drug charges.

When Floyd Sr. was released, Roger turned Mayweather's training back over to him. It was right at the start of Floyd Jr.'s pro career. Floyd Sr. lasted 23 fights before he and Mayweather had a nasty breakup in 2000.

Mayweather brought back Roger. They have been together since, though Floyd Sr. has since healed the estrangement and has become more involved in his son's training for the Mosley fight.

"His father always had a hard work regimen, so he always worked hard with the way he ran and trained," Roger Mayweather said. "He got that from his dad. It really wasn't about making Floyd a fighter. I can make anybody a fighter. Making a superstar is the difference."

There is no question that Mayweather is a superstar in boxing. Roger Mayweather is credited with adding offense to Mayweather's already airtight defense. He said it was the difference between his nephew being just a good boxer or a superstar.

"Before they made him a Pay Per View fighter, HBO wanted to see if Floyd could fight," Roger Mayweather said. "Once they saw he could fight and box they were satisfied."

Mayweather said it wasn't that difficult to get his nephew to step up his offense. He said the conversion started when he fought Emanuel Burton and Diego Corrales.

"You have to throw punches," Mayweather said. "You can't be an offensive fighter if you don't want to take risks. You have to be willing to attack someone. You have to be willing to take chances. He already had the boxing skills so it wasn't that big a risk."

Naazim Richardson, Mosley's trainer, said Roger Mayweather deserves credit for helping to form one the best boxers of this generation.

"I can only go off the record of what I see with Floyd," Richardson said. "I have to assume he's outstanding. It takes talent to understand that you have the right guy and you just have to get the hell out of the way and let him do his thing. A lot of trainers can't do that. I respect Roger's game."

Source: nydailynews.com

Mayweather-Mosley JV bout doesn't pack a punch -- CBS Sports

By Mike Freeman, CBSSports.com

I've mustered every ounce in my gorgeous body to try and get excited about it. I've tried. Really, really tried. Read every blog on it with great exigency and followed every word out of the champion's mouth like a star-struck teenager and still my heart doesn't race. No matter what I try it's extremely difficult to get excited about Floyd Mayweather's fight against Shane Mosley.

The problem is that everyone knows what this fight really is. It's the junior varsity. It's the appetizer, the undercard. It's not real or substantial. As much as I love boxing (no one enjoys or defends the sport more) this fight is in many ways indefensible.

It's not just that Mayweather will likely obliterate Mosley. A Mayweather loss would be a significant upset. It's that the only fight which truly matters is Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. That's it. That is all.

Anything else is a waste. The notion we should all be sold on this fight is ridiculous.

Nothing else in boxing matters except Mayweather and Pacquiao. Boxing is trying to sell us Battlefield Earth when everyone is waiting for Avatar.

This is exactly the kind of silliness that has wounded boxing (perhaps mortally) and allowed mixed martial arts to rise from the brutal eccentricity and non-regality of its human cockfighting beginnings to now, where MMA knows what it's doing and boxing continues to not have a clue.

For boxing to have any chance at regaining the respect of the casual American sports fan, the respect it had for decades going back to the early part of last century, the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight is a must. Anything else is a distraction and further proof that boxing needs an intervention.

The irony is that boxing could've used a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight to steal some of the forward momentum the UFC took away. Interestingly, some in the UFC are actually making the same knucklehead moves that hurt boxing. Anderson Silva's showboating disgrace is the kind of thing that, if it occurred in boxing, there would be several Congressional investigations and just recently Tito Ortiz was arrested for suspicion of alleged domestic violence against a porn star. (When UFC behemoths and porn stars can't get along then the world is coming to an end.) Self-made grime stuck to boxing and if the UFC isn't careful the same thing will happen to it.

Instead of taking advantage, boxing keeps punching itself in the face.

What truly hurts this fight is the correct perception that Mayweather is going to inflict a butt whipping on Mosley, bashing him from every angle with every kind of punch. The only way that doesn't happen is if Mayweather fails to take the fight seriously and every indication is he's taking it extremely seriously.

"I've always said before there's no remedy on how to beat Floyd Mayweather," said Mayweather, using the time-tested third person. "Everyone is trying to solve the problem and like a difficult math problem no one can solve it."

Mayweather also claimed he was a better fighter than Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Robinson. Mayweather couldn't carry Ali's spit cup, particularly since Ali consistently took on the biggest and the best. As for Robinson, he would hit Mayweather once and Mayweather's kidneys would land in Florida and his liver in Cali.

Mayweather has attempted to expand interest in the bout with his usual pre-fight obnoxiousness and occasional dabble into step-n-fetch-ery, but try as he might Mayweather can't energize this fight because this isn't the right fight.

Some fight analysts, citing the attraction of the Mayweather brand, are claiming this bout could generate three million pay-per-views. I'll be one of the suckers buying because it's my job but why anyone else would shell out $50 to watch the JV fight is a mystery.

Boxing is once again abusing the trust and loyalties of a dwindling but passionate fan base and it's a shame. Just a damn shame.

For more from Mike Freeman, check him out on Twitter: @realfreemancbs

Source: cbssports.com

Mayweather-Mosley the precursor to Manny Pacquiao showdown -- Telegraph

By Gareth A Davies, Telegraph.co.uk

This is a massive fight for both Shane Mosley and Floyd Mayweather at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas, on Saturday night – both in the manner it is generating huge interest from the public in the US as well as in its commercial success – yet the biggest prize on the line for the two athletes themselves, is a meeting with Manny Pacquiao. All roads lead to Pacman after this.

For all hubris around Mayweather, Pacquiao stands at the next crossroads, marked ‘destiny’. If Mayweather believes his greatness is to be etched into time, he must take the road which leads to the face off with the most popular boxer on the planet, and, at present, its No 1 exponent, weight-to-lifeforce, in a ring.

For there is no escaping the Pacquiao fight waits in the wings. It would be unfair to call this a semi-final, but it is approximating that standing. Mayweather-Mosley, the pair of them prize fighters among the best anywhere in the sport from the past 15 years, is money-rich, but it is a contest of US bragging rights. Of Las Vegas bragging rights. Pacquiao versus the winner is the world watching. And the No1 pound for pound crown is then on the cloth.

A tedious, defensive points win for Mayweather could damage the sport, and heap criticism on Mayweather, but the styles don’t shape that way in this fight. Mosley is rarely in a tepid contest, has speed, guts and belief, as against Mayweather’s guile, speed and fistic ingeniousness.

Mayweather may put on a show, to demonstrate to fans that he can shine against Mosley. That becomes more likely because he knows Manny Pacquiao is waiting in the wings. It is the opportunity for Mayweather – who has a major financial deal for this fight which could earn him between $40 and $60 million US dollars – to showcase himself and increase his bargaining power before Mayweather-Pacquiao negotiations begin again in earnest.

That is if he wins, of course. Should Mosley triumph (and he is a 4-1 outsider) it is a given that he will face Pacquiao. In some senses, Mosley could be more dangerous for Pacquiao than Mayweather. Pacquiao’s style suits Mosley. The American showed why against Antonio Margarito. I’m not saying that Mosley would beat Pacquiao, because the Filipino’s speed could do for him, but it is possible.

Even if Mosley loses – and it is a close contest – there is a possibility that Mosley could be approached to meet Pacquiao if Mayweather plays hardball.

Make no mistake – Mayweather’s ego is enormous and to feed it he will need to defeat Pacquiao to leave the world in no doubt that he is the No 1 pound for pound fighter of this era. Unless he does so, opinion will remain divided forever.

No one wants to call Mayweather-Pacquiao ‘The Richest Fight of All Time That Never Happened’.

Mayweather’s fight with the Filipino wrecking machine is already geared up to be one of the greatest in history. Mayweather-Mosley, a major marketing success in itself, is all well and good. But Mayweather’s cunning plan could have been etched this way deliberately. Win well, win in dramatic fashion, and the heats is on Pacquiao.

Mayweather is boxing’s superstar of this generation, while Pacquiao has something divine about him. Mayweather, undefeated, a multi-division world champion, and following in the line of accession from Sugar Ray Leonard to Pernell Whittaker, to the present day. So much at stake in this fight – but all roads lead to Pacman.

Source: blogs.telegraph.co.uk

Why Mayweather Can't And Won't Lose To Mosley -- The Sweet Science

By Frank Lotierzo, The Sweet Science

Tomorrow night Floyd Mayweather 40-0 (25) will take his first major exam fighting above lightweight when he meets WBA welterweight champion Shane Mosley 46-5 (39). For the past month Mayweather has performed brilliantly as boxing's version of "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, portraying himself as the bad guy in trying to hype the PPV sales of the fight. Mayweather-Mosley isn't as anticipated or compelling as Leonard-Duran I, Leonard-Hearns I or De La Hoya-Trinidad, but it is one of the best fights that can be made in 2010 and it's the biggest welterweight clash in over a decade. It's also the most important bout of Mayweather's career and one he cannot lose.

Although Mosley is/was a great fighter, he's crowding 39 and hasn't fought in sixteen months. Prior to that he wasn't considered to be anywhere near the top of his game. He resurrected his career perception based on his stoppage of Antonio Margarito in January of 2009 (a fight I picked him to lose). And that's not meant to deride Mosley. Shane will retire as one of the least appreciated great fighters in boxing history. However, his willingness to fight any and all of the best fighters of his era has him crossing paths with Mayweather at the wrong time. Instead of waiting for Mayweather to find the gumption to move up and face him at lightweight, Mosley moved up in weight and fought Oscar De La Hoya, Vernon Forrest and Winky Wright two times each. To anyone who believes Mayweather-Mosley wasn't realized seven or eight years ago because of Mosley's reluctance, you're so biased you can't see straight. One fighter went out of his way to meet the best fighters at a higher weight, and the other conveniently retired, saying there was nothing left to prove while Antonio Margarito, Miguel Cotto, Shane Mosley and Paul Williams were breathing down his neck in the division he held a title three years ago.

No one reading this doubts that Mayweather is one of the most skilled fighters of his era. But his undefeated record is somewhat hollow. He's never agreed to a fight in which the deck wasn't stacked in his favor since his days fighting at lightweight - and that includes the upcoming Mosley bout.

Some fight observers question Mayweather's heart and toughness and imply that once he's dragged into a real firefight he'll wilt and fold. Don't count me among that group. I happen to believe there's a fire breathing lion inside of Floyd Mayweather and if and when he loses, it won't be due to him backing down psychologically. I believe Mayweather will fight and rumble when he's pushed and a loss under those conditions will be the result of him succumbing to a stronger and better fighter, not a tougher or more determined one.

The Mayweather-Mosley clash has been discussed from every angle possible - including fighting styles and strategies, PEDs, drug testing and the relationship each fighter has with their father. There's no need to continue that dialogue in this space.

This is what we know:

Floyd Mayweather was forced into taking this fight because he couldn't dictate the terms in solidifying a blockbuster bout with WBO welterweight champ Manny Pacquiao. Floyd also understands that he can save more face losing to Mosley (if he does) than if he lost to a former flyweight champ. He knows he's facing Mosley at an opportune time being Shane is on the decline at almost 39 years old and coming off the longest layoff of his career, coupled with some outside of the ring personal issues hanging over his head. Another thing Mayweather understands that Mosley doesn't even care about is, Floyd presents a style that troubles Shane, especially at this stage of his career, more-so than the opposite. Mosley is at his best when he's confronted by an opponent willing to bring the fight and engage him. He is more troubled with speed guys and movers when he has to push the fight - something he'll be forced to do against Mayweather. Fighting above lightweight Mosley hasn't been very effective when he's had to implement a plan-B during the bout, something he'll most likely have to do if he's to hand Mayweather his first career defeat.

This fight means everything to Mayweather because his legacy is on the line, that's irrefutable. On the other hand, Mosley already has the utmost respect of the boxing community and most historians. A loss to Mayweather at this stage of his career won't detract from the hall-of-fame career he's compiled. On the other hand Mayweather has conducted his career in a manner that he's not only insecure of his standing among the pantheon of all-time greats, he's to the point that if he loses to Mosley or perhaps Pacquiao down the road, he'll be more remembered for the fight he lost than the forty or so he won. The bottom line is Mayweather will lose any hope of ever being considered one of the greats if he loses to Mosley eight years after Forrest beat him and three years after Cotto won a decision over him. In order for Mayweather to extend the conversation pertaining to his place among boxing's greatest fighters, he must step up and seize the fight when he confronts Mosley. If he's half the fighter he insists he is, he'll find a way to do it.

Hearing Floyd say that he's greater than Sugar Ray Robinson and Muhammad Ali has been amusing - being that Floyd doesn't believe that himself. The lie detector for all fighters boils down to the level of opposition they faced. Edwin Valero knocked out every opponent he fought on the way to earning two world titles - and no one considers him the greatest puncher in boxing history, no one. Mayweather may be undefeated but the names missing from his record define him as much or more than the ones on it.

However, just because Mayweather's record is in part due to brilliant match making, it doesn't mean he can't fight. So the question becomes how does one believe Floyd will perform versus an opponent who despite being rusty and on the decline, is still the most formidable and dangerous fighter he's ever confronted during his fourteen year professional career?

It says here that although Mayweather is somewhat overrated by many, he can fight. The timing couldn't be any better and the table is set perfectly for Floyd Mayweather to score the signature victory of his career over a version of Shane Mosley he's favored to beat.

In order for Mayweather to pass himself off as the great fighter he so desperately wants to be seen as he must be victorious against Mosley. There's no way around it. The feeling here is Mayweather will win and that he appears to be on the cusp of fighting the most complete fight of his career against a still dangerous opponent. Beating Mosley would represent the defining moment of Mayweather's hall-of-fame career. But does beating him in 2010 really alter his standing among histories greatest fighters?

Frank Lotierzo can be contacted at GlovedFist@Gmail.com

Source: thesweetscience.com

Manny Pacquiao lawyer Daniel Petrocelli putting Golden Boys on firing line -- Examiner

By Michael Marley, Examiner.com

MICHAEL MARLEY'S PHILIPPINE DIARY, PART 2

GENERAL SANTOS CITY--In about a fornight, which is the British way of saying in two weeks time, the ducking and the doding will have ended.

Does that mean whirling dervish Floyd Mayweather Jr. will, at that time, get serious after having beaten back Sugar Shane Mosley and tell his team to make and not break the Big Fight against Manny Pacquiao?

Not necessarily, what I really have in mind here is that in about two weeks Golden Boys Oscar de la Hoya and Richie Rich Schaefer will have to sit down for a court ordered deposition in Pacman's defamation suit against them.

I've learned that Oscar and his CEO both blew off a recent scheduled deposition date with a last minute delay notice to Pacman attorney Daniel Petrocelli.

The deposition will be yet another showdown between Petrocelli, who won the big civil judgment against OJ Simpson on behalf of the family of the football superstar's murdered wife, and the heat and publicity seeking New Yorker Judd Burstein.

If de la Hoya and Schaefer duck the deposition again, then Petrocelli will go to a judge and seek money sanctions and other remedial action as so ordered.

“This shows you how serious Manny is about the steroid allegations lawsuit,” a source close to the Pinoy Idol said on Friday in this, his balmy hometown in Mindanao.

“Manny can't wait for Petrocelli to begin firing the hard questions at Oscar and Richie Rich because he remains hurt about the unfounded drug use allegations.”

The volatile Burstein has stated publicly that “Jesus Christ could not win this case” for Pacman.

By contrast, the over the top barrister also said "a dog" could handle his client, Shane Mosley's defamation action against the BALCO steroids bad guy, Victor Conte.

For his part, Conte said he's got either one or two eyewitnesses who will back up his story that Mosley knowingly accepted and used illegal steroids that Conte handed to him at BALCO headquarters in the Bay Area.

Mosley told a federal grand jury under penalty of perjury that he did use the illegal drugs before a fight, ironically enough, against Oscar but that he did not know at the time that they were verboten.

Again, ironically, in the upcoming Oscar deposition, Oscar will be asked numerous questions about his own dabbling in steroid use.

Burstein also took a personal shot at Petrocelli, who favors top of the line, well tailored suits, describing him as “well dressed: when asked to appraise the Los Angeles attorney's legal skills.

“The last time Manny was in a deposition with Petrocelli and Burstein going at it, he walked out of the room laughing,” the same source told me.

Clearly, although Burstein said de la Hoya and Schaefer merely expressed opinions protected fully by the First Amendment, the current lawsuit against the Golden Guys is no laughing matter to Manny.

Between Oscar and sidekick Schaefer and Roger, Floyd Senior and L'il Floyd, the declarations that allege that Manny has cheated to gain some or all of his great victories turned into sort of a Greek chorus.

Next up, answering questions under oath, Messrs. Oscar and Boxing Banker Richie Rich.

Your grillmaster will be Attorney Petrocelli who clearly does not buy off the rack at Ross Dress For Less. Btw, Burstein's wardobre is are not rags from a Salvation Army bin, either.

But, when it comes to this deposition, let's get off attire and back to barbecues.

I hear Petrocelli is bringing his own hot sauce.

The words spoken at that deposition will become public information sooner than you can say, "Saville Row."

(mlcmarley@aol.com)

Source: examiner.com

Manny's on the ropes in Philippines but it's not Pacquiao -- Examiner

By Michael Marley, Examiner.com

PART 1, MICHAEL WHITE GORILLA MARLEY'S PHILIPPINE DIARY

GENERAL SANTOS CITY—Manny is on the ropes and he is taking punches in bunches.

Manny is uncharacteristically using a defensive style.

Many pundits think Manny may be counted out and soon.

I'm here in Manny Pacquiao's hot and humid hometown and I can tell you that there is national concern about Manny's fate.

But the pundits are not talking about Pacman, they are discussing presidential candidate and Pacquiao politcal ally Manny Villar.

It's election season in the Philippines and, while Villar is trying to muscle his way into Malacanang Palace in capital Manila, Pacquiao is going head to head with poweful billionaire Roy Chiongbian for a Congressional seat from nearby Sarangani.

Let's just say, based on my “expertise” of being in this coutnry for less than 24 hours, that politics is a full contact sport.

Consider this:

Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzales claimed Thursday that cheating has already begun in tabulating the ballots of two presidential candidates.

“I'm telling you that cheating has begun...some money is being distributed to Comelec officials already these days. There will be cheating in the coming elections.”

No sooner had I landed in Manila around midnight Thursday that I got wind of assassination attempts against two Sarangani imcumbent offcials. But don't get too excited, it is said the two planned killings were planned for five days apart.

Also, the Comelec officials, who run the voting machinery and procedures in all local and national elections rejected the proposed parallel manual count in the May 10 voting, saying they would stick only with their first automated procedure. These officials said a parallel count would lead to widespread cheating in the vote counting.

And you thought Pacman wanted to leave the filthy waters of boxing for a more pristine stream.

Anyway, Pacman's second try for public office has generated worldwide media interest. Crews from the ABC “Nightline” program and the CBS “60 Minutes” news magazine were shadowing the Pinoy Idol on Friday.

“The worldwide interest has been phenomenal,” Pacquiao adviser Michael Koncz said. “We had the Arab network, Al Jazzera, here the other day. The Los Angeles Times is sending a reporter over and you see the ABS and CBS people here now.

“This is something we really wanted to do, to get the focus on Manny outside of boxing circles. We are very gratified there is so much interest.”

Pacquiao, who lost when he tried for Congress from GenSan against Dazzling Darlene Antonio-Custodio (intererestingly, like Chiongbian, the scion of a very rich and connected political clan), seems to have growing confidence in his electoral chances.

The fighter took Friday off but will return to the political hustings Saturday. On Sunday, he jets over to Manila, a two hour trip, to go to the Solar Sports studios where he will add his certainly expert analysis on the Floyd Mayweather-Sugar Shane Mosley fight.

But what if Pacman takes it on the chin, what if he does not toy with Roy in the voting?

Some segments of the Sarangani populace do not want to see Pacman swimming in the muck and mire of the trapos, the traditionally corrupt and vile political hacks. These folks prefer to see him concentrate on his real specialty, boxing.

If Mayweather fends off Mosley for his 41st pro victory in as many bouts, then it sets up a hot election in boxing, a real Fight of the Decade if not the Century.

Mayweather or Pacquiao?

Who R U Picking when that inevitably happens?

I say it happens whether Manny is the Honorable and I hope not the Horrible Congressman from Sarangani or not.

Over here, as political/boxing operative Hermie Rivera puts it, the Mosley-Mayweather bout is a mere audition to fight Da Pacman.

Or as the ads from phone company called SMART put it in plugging the Saturday, All American match: "Who deserves to face the Pacman?"

Meanwhile, the Cardinal of Manila has called for an end to political "mudslinging." I think the cardinal should worry more about gun slinging as the voting approaches. Mud you can easily wash off, bullets not so much.

Now where did I put down my fully loaded Uzi?

I've got to get back in the field and cover this election situation.

In the Philippines, politics is no joke.

Oh, shoot, I left my bulletproof vest in New York.

I wonder if a balutproof vest will be effective.

News alert: Pinay psychic Madam Auring just sent me a text message, she is predicting cheating, scandal, violence and voter fraud to be at a national and local alltime high on May 10.

And that is just in the "cleaner" precincts, she says.

She even says some “dead people” will be casting ballots.

Hmm, reminds me of Chicago when all those deceased people put John F. Kennedy over the top against Tricky Dick Nixon.

(mlcmarley@aol.com)

Source: examiner.com

Shane Mosley: Floyd Mayweather's 'Getting More Nervous And Scared' -- FanHouse

By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse

LAS VEGAS -- Nearly 16 months ago, Shane Mosley was emerging from perhaps the worst period of his life.

Mosley's marriage to the mother of three of his four children, was in disarray. The former world champion was under scrutiny after having admitted during leaked grand jury testimony that he had unknowingly used designer steroids that he received from BALCO Founder, Victor Conte, before defeating Oscar De La Hoya in September 2003. And he was entering his first fight under a new trainer after having fired his father, Jack Mosley.

But Mosley said that none of the so-called distractions factored into the fight, which ended with him blasting and battering down the hard-punching, Antonio Margarito over the course of a ninth-round knockout victory that earned Mosley the WBA welterweight (147 pounds) title before the largest crowd ever to witness an athletic event at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

"In all honesty, it wasn't what you guys in the media saw in that adversity as far as the divorce, and when you talk about the Victor Conte, and this other stuff, that was already long gone," said Mosley.

"Victor Conte was 2003. That's when that was a problem. And the divorce thing was pretty much already done in 2005, or, 2006," said Mosley. "Maybe it was just being in the gym and training just kept me away from all of that. My concern was winning the fight and being the best that I could be. And I beat the No. 1 guy at welterweight."

The win has the 38-year-old Mosley (46-5, 39 knockouts) facing perhaps the toughest challenge of his career as he enters Saturday night's HBO-televised pay per view clash against slick-boxing, defensive specialist, Floyd Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs) at the MGM Grand.

"Actually, I feel better than I did before the Margarito fight. Like I said, it's a totally different type of fight. This fight [against Mayweather] is not a strength-type of fight where a guy is going to be throwing a thousand punches and trying to wear me down that way," said Mosley, who stopped Margarito for the first time in his career.

"This is a different fight. This guy is going to try to out-think me," said Mayweather. "So I'll have to use that style of fighting to overcome what he has to offer. But I don't think this guy has faced anybody with my skill, power and know-how about boxing."

The lead up to the fight with Mayweather has also been replete with verbal warfare that can be traced back to September, when Mosley entered the ring following Mayweather's unanimous 12-round decision over Juan Manuel Marquez and interrupted Mayweather's post-fight interview.

"I felt like I had to do something to make this fight happen," said Mosley. "I felt like I had to do it on national television, and now, this fight is happening."

Since then, however, Mosley has had to endure all manner of chiding, insults and personal attacks from Mayweather ranging from his past steroid use to his divorce.

Mosley's trainer, Naazim Richardson, has said that Mosley has navigated Mayweather's aggression with aplomb.

"Oscar lost those early [verbal] battles against Mayweather, and it carried over into Oscar's emotions in the fight. But if you don't lose early battles, then you don't carry those emotions into the ring. I've said this a thousand times before, and I'll say it again: Shane is an exceptional human being who just happens to be able to fight his a**. off," said Richardson.

"Every great fighter gives you misdirection. You see pictures of him, and he's always smiling ,and you wonder, why the f*** is he so happy?" said Richardson. "If you ever saw him with his smaller children, when he gets with them, he turns nine years old too. But when he was in there with Margarito, Margarito was like, 'Where did the smile go?'"

A lot of the tranquility has had to do with the presence in camp of his 19-year-old son, Shane Jr., who is a successful amateur fighter.

"My son has had a chance to see everything, and now, he wants to make this a part of his career. I'll probably have to fall back after a couple of big fights and start training him a little bit and make sure that he becomes the best that he can be. I want him to have his own destiny and his own road. And when it's his time, I want his road to be clear," said Mosley, acknowledging that his involvement with his son could factor into his timetable for retirement.

"It all depends on all of the big fights that I win. If I win this one, and I win the next one," said Mosley, who would like to face Manny Pacquiao should he defeat Mayweather. "After that, you know, then, there's not much more that I can do, Once you've done that, you've pretty much run your course."

In 2003, Mosley admitted that he injected the steroids, "the cream," and, "the clear," which Mosley obtained from Conte through a relationship with his former strength trainer, Daryl Hudson. Mosley has insisted that he took the drugs without knowing that they were illegal steroids.

At Mayweather's insistence, both fighters are contractually bound to be randomly blood- and urine-tested for steroids by the United States Anti-Doping Agency leading up to their clash.

Mosley also has agreed to a rematch in the event Mayweather loses. In addition, Mosley's guaranteed $7 million purse is more than three times less than Mayweather's of $22.5 million, which is a record for a non-heavyweight.

Mosley, nevertheless, said that the buildup to the fight has not been emotionally taxing.

"It's been a big fight. It's the type of fight that I want. It's been a big promotion. But when you get into a big fight like this, you get what you ask for. Now, it's just time for me to perform," said Mosley, adding that he would spend the last two days winding down and getting himself mentally prepared.

"The last 48 hours, I'm just making sure that I maintain the weight. That's one of the most difficult parts of the fight is making sure that you make the weight," said Mosley, who said that he weighed 149 pounds on Wednesday, but could enter the ring at close to 160 pounds. "After the weigh-in, you eat real good and you make sure that you get a lot of rest. You just relax and get ready for the show."

The promotion has not been without its moments during which Mosley has been upset, mostly, in regard to the subject of steroids.

During an April 20, national conference call, Mosley lashed out at a reporter's question concerning the Olympic style drug testing in correlation to his admitted steroid use, which Mosley claims was inadvertent.

"It's ridiculous now that the media wants to make me the poster boy of steroids. If you guys want to continue to put that out there, so be it. You guys know the truth. I've always been a clean fighter, and I've been knocking out everyone since 2003 and before 2003," said Mosley.

"I don't feel that I should be condemned for something that I never tested positive for. I just told the truth about what happened. The truth was brought to me by the federal people that took me to court and who brought me up as a witness," said Mosley.

"So the truth was revealed to me there," said Mosley. "There's this man [Conte] that I had seen one time in my whole entire life, and at the deposition, that was the second time that I saw him."

During an April 22 interview with ESPN Radio, Mosley made a 90-second commentary about Mayweather's muscular security guards, who were shown lifting weights on Episode II of HBO's 24/7 series.

Mosley said the body guards "look like they're on steroids," adding that, "Maybe [Mayweather] dibbles and dabbles a little bit."

The fighter also asked if Mayweather "Is he gay or something?" when addressing Mayweather's ongoing comments about Mosley's "jheri curl" hairstyle, his natty attire during press conferences.

But the press conference this past Wednesday at the Hollywood Theatre at The MGM was largely devoid of the acrimony which had characterized much of the hype leading up to the fight.

"I'm pretty sure Shane is in great shape, but I don't think that he's in better shape than me," said Mayweather, in significantly toned-down rhetoric. "May the best man win. I am pretty sure that Shane feels deep in his heart and deep in his soul he is going to win."

Mosley, meanwhile, thanked "God for this match up," his father and former trainer, Jack Mosley, "giving me life, for bringing me to the gym when I was such a young guy, and, for staying with me through the hard times."

"It's been a long time since I've been in a big fight like this. I'm excited. I'm happy. We have three more days. The plan is to be Sugar Shane Mosley. To be the best in the ring. I'm gonna win this fight by being Shane Mosley," said Mosley.

"I'm very thankful to be in this position and have this opportunity. I've put everything I have into this fight. It's going to be one, if not the biggest fight of the decade, even of all history," said Mosley.

"I hope Mayweather is ready for this. Like [Mayweather's trainer] Roger [Mayweather] said, we can have dinner afterwards. We can have a big party. But right now, there's no love lost."

During Thursday's round-table discussion, however, Mosley couldn't resist bringing up the fact that he felt that he had gained somewhat of an edge over Mayweather.

"I can see him getting a little more nervous and scared. I think that it was at the press conference the other day. I didn't see it, but they say that when I turned around, to turn his way, he was already blocking," said Mosley, referring to the traditional moment when the fighters were posed together for media photo opportunities.

"I didn't see that. But everybody told me that he kind of like flinched, and I was like, 'Wow,'" said Mosley. "So maybe his nerves are getting tapped a little bit, which is interesting at this point. I mean, he should know that I'm not going to lay a hand on him until the first bell rings."

Source: boxing.fanhouse.com

Mayweather faces elite foe in Mosley -- ESPN

By Dan Rafael, ESPN.com

LAS VEGAS -- Few dispute Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s talent. Flashy and skilled, Mayweather is a supreme boxing technician with undeniable ring intelligence and sublime defensive skills.

He was reared from the crib to be a fighter -- his father, Floyd Sr., was a top professional; uncle and trainer Roger Mayweather was a two-time world champion; uncle Jeff Mayweather was also an experienced pro. In 1996, Mayweather claimed an Olympic bronze medal (after being robbed, many believe, in the semifinals), and he has won world titles in five weight classes from junior lightweight to junior middleweight.

He is a lock first-ballot Hall of Famer who reigned as pound-for-pound king for several years until Manny Pacquiao seized the mantle by battering a series of notable and naturally bigger men to earn the position during Mayweather's short-lived retirement in 2008 and part of 2009.

Yet, for all the glory, there remains a glaring weakness on Mayweather's résumé, one legions of critics point to most often when he goes off on a rant about being the best fighter of all time -- the less-than-challenging opposition he has elected to face since entering a strong welterweight division in 2005.

"I got respect for Sugar Ray Robinson. I've got respect for Muhammad Ali," Mayweather said. "But I'm a man just like they're men. I put on my pants just like they put on their pants. What makes them any better than I am? Because they fought a thousand fights? In my era, it's totally different, you know? It's pay-per-view now, so things change. It's out with the old and in with the new. Things change.

"Like I said, Muhammad Ali is one hell of a fighter. But Floyd Mayweather is the best. Sugar Ray Robinson is one hell of a fighter, but Floyd Mayweather is the best."

The notion is sacrilege to many, especially because although Mayweather makes the boasts, his strength of schedule simply does not back it up.

Mayweather, however, has a chance to at least shush the critics now that he is finally going to face an elite welterweight in champion Shane Mosley, whom he meets in the year's biggest fight so far on Saturday night (HBO PPV, $54.95, 9 ET) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

"He had to fight somebody if he wanted to be considered the best," said Mosley (46-5, 39 KOs), a two-time welterweight champion, three-division champion and pound-for-pound list stalwart.

Mayweather said the criticism is unfounded. He said it's not his fault he is so dominant that he makes the wins look easy.

"When I fight guys who they say will give me a tough fight, I can't help that the fight is so one-sided the fight is boring. That's not my fault," he said. "It's just that I'm that good. That's not my fault. You got some fighters that's talented. You got some fighters that are God-gifted. You got some athletes that's God-gifted. I just happen to be one of those athletes that's God-gifted. That's no different than Kobe Bryant or LeBron James."

When Mayweather was a junior lightweight, he beat the best and he did it easily in dominant TKO victories against Genaro Hernandez and Diego "Chico" Corrales.

In Mayweather's first fight at lightweight, he won the title by taking a tight decision from the No. 1 guy, champion Jose Luis Castillo. Then he outpointed Castillo again in a rematch.

But since then, it's hard to look at Mayweather's résumé and find that he has faced the best in his division.

At junior welterweight, Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs) didn't fight the top opponents, leaving the division after an expected one-sided thrashing of Arturo Gatti in mid-2005 to claim a belt he never defended.

When he arrived at welterweight in late 2005, the division was stocked with talented potential opponents: Mosley, Antonio Margarito, Miguel Cotto and later Paul Williams and Pacquiao, just to name a few.

All of them have faced at least one other man on the list, but Mayweather didn't fight any of them, earning the ire of many fans.

Mosley, for example, lost a tight decision to a prime Cotto in 2007, then upset Margarito -- a man many accused Mayweather of ducking -- with a dominant ninth-round knockout to win a second welterweight title in January 2009 (Mosley's most recent fight).

But Mayweather never even pretended to be interested in any of them. Instead, this is the fighters he has faced at welterweight:

• Faded former junior welterweight titlist Sharmba Mitchell in a monumental mismatch.

• Former undisputed champion Zab Judah, who was coming off a loss to journeyman Carlos Baldomir.

• Baldomir, the utterly outclassed but legitimate champion at the time, whom Mayweather understandably faced so he could claim the lineal title.

• Ricky Hatton, the junior welterweight champion who was coming up in weight and had struggled in a previous trip into the division.

• Juan Manuel Marquez, the lightweight champion who jumped up two weight classes to fight Mayweather in the latter's September comeback bout. For that fight, Mayweather, who already had every conceivable advantage, still came in over the contract weight. (Mayweather also fought a fading Oscar De La Hoya in a massive money junior middleweight title bout in 2007, winning a more-difficult-than-expected split decision.)

"He's fought lightweights and junior welters who move up to the welterweight division," Mosley said. "The guys I fight jump into the ring [at] 172 [pounds]. The guys he fights jump into the ring 145."

Mayweather had never really expressed interest in facing Mosley despite his stature. But after years of belittling Mosley, Mayweather was more or less backed into a corner. After negotiations with Pacquiao failed in January and Mayweather was left without any other big-name opponents, Mosley emerged as the only plausible fight when his unification fight with Andre Berto, scheduled for late January, was canceled unexpectedly because of a Berto family tragedy.

"As a welterweight, he hasn't fought another top welterweight, and I'm the first one that's he fought … so it makes the fight a big fight," said Mosley, who has made a living out of facing all comers, including De La Hoya, Vernon Forrest, Winky Wright, Margarito and Cotto, all when they were in or near their primes. "All the other guys have not really been the best, if you will. There are a lot of great welterweights out there that he could have chosen to fight instead of fighting the ones that he fought."

Despite the storm of criticism, Mayweather, guaranteed $22.5 million plus a percentage of the pay-per-view take Saturday, always brushes it off.

"They say I pick and choose who I fight," he said. "It doesn't matter. I'm Floyd Mayweather, and they come to see me regardless.

"Shane is a solid welterweight with great accomplishments, but I have been fighting these kinds of fighters my whole career without much appreciation. No one gives me credit for who I have fought during my career. From early to now, look at the opponents I have faced and see where they were when they faced me in the ring."

One of those defenses of Mayweather's previous selection of welterweight opponents -- to a point -- is from a surprising source: Naazim Richardson, Mosley's trainer.

"It wouldn't surprise me if he handles himself well in there with a real welterweight," Richardson said. "This kid can fight. [But] he secured his thing first, which I agree with. You come into the boxing game. You secure your money. You get your title. You secure your thing first. Now we can take some chances. There were things they said negative about Oscar. 'Oscar's not fightin' nobody.' Oscar got all that s--- secured and then [fought everyone].

"Don't overlook Floyd's genius in the ring. The kid's a genius in the ring. When the cameras come on, he loses his mind, but he's a genius in the ring."

Then Richardson's defense of Mayweather slacks off.

"The problem," Richard said of Mayweather's boasts of being the greatest ever, "is it doesn't match up with the cockiness you see. If he was a quiet guy, you'd have no problem with who he fought or the way he fought them. But it doesn't match up when you start mentioning guys like Robinson and Ali. It doesn't match up.

"It's not that he hasn't done a great job, it's just that he fought in one direction and one area and then you compare yourself to these guys who fought any and everything. His work has been enough to consider him an outstanding champion. All that's been proven. But to say you're the greatest of all time, you better put in that kind of work. It would make more sense coming out of [Mosley] than him."

If Mayweather's opponent selection has been a bid to keep his perfect record intact, Mayweather isn't letting on.

"I don't think about the '0,'" said Mayweather, whose last loss came on July 22, 1996, in the Olympic semifinals in Atlanta. "I think about winning. Everything takes care of itself if you win. Of course it's a great thing to be undefeated, but I don't consciously think about it when I'm preparing for the next fight."

Said Roger Mayweather, "Floyd knows how to win. Obviously, he doesn't know how to lose."

Floyd Mayweather is well-aware of his record, repeating it often. But maybe Mayweather isn't aware that at least three other all-time greats were 40-0 before suffering their first defeat: Robinson, widely considered the greatest fighter ever (Mayweather's opinion notwithstanding), George Foreman and Felix Trinidad.

Mosley, who will earn a guaranteed $6.75 million plus a piece of the pay-per-view profits in a fight expected to easily exceed 1 million buys, doesn't put much stock in Mayweather's perfect record, mainly because of whom he has faced in recent years.

"I think there is too big a deal being made about the fact that Floyd is undefeated," he said. "Before my first loss, I was 38-0 with 35 KOs. That's a hell of a record, but that didn't mean I couldn't be beat, and it doesn't mean Floyd can't, either."

Whatever happens, Mosley is practically giddy that Mayweather finally stepped up to the plate.

"I definitely have to give him props for jumping in the ring with me and making this fight happen," Mosley said. "It's a big fight, and he stepped up and took it. Maybe I didn't get as much as I should have gotten, but I got a lot and it's good enough for me."

Good enough too, perhaps, for those who have appreciated Mayweather's immense talent and only wanted to him to face the welterweight best.

That happens, at long last, on Saturday night.

Dan Rafael is the boxing writer for ESPN.com.

Source: sports.espn.go.com

Montiel stops Hasegawa in four -- The Ring

The Ring

Bantamweight contender Fernando Montiel scored one of the biggest victories of his career when he stopped respected titleholder Hozumi Hasegawa in the fourth round of their scheduled 12 rounder in Tokyo on Friday.

Montiel (41-2-2, 31 knockouts), a former titleholder at flyweight and junior bantamweight, unified two 118-pound titles and put himself in position to break into the pound-for-pound top-10 lists of most fans and media with the impressive stoppage.

Hasegawa (28-3, 12 KOs), THE RING's No. 1-rated bantamweight, was more aggressive than usual, pressing the action in the first two rounds, and landing his left in the third and the first half of the fourth rounds.

Montiel, a 31-year-old veteran from Los Mochis, Mexico, kept his composure, even when he was knocked off balance at the end of the opening round, and looked to land left-hook counter punches over the pawing jab of the Japanese southpaw.

Montiel found the mark with less that 10 seconds left in the fourth round, buckling Hasegawa's legs with a hook and driving the disoriented fighter to the ropes where he followed up with a series of hooks that prompted referee Laurence Cole to wave the bout off at 2:59 of the round.

Hasegawa, of Kobe, Japan, who had contemplated going up in weight before signing to fight Montiel, was attempting to make the 11th defense of the title he won from Thai legend Veeraphol Sahaprom five years ago. With the tough loss, the 29-year-old vet, who had struggled to make 118 pounds in recent fights, will likely jump all the way to featherweight if he decides to continue his career.

Source: ringtv.com

Pinoy challanger Bangoyan loses WBC title bid -- GMA News

GMANews.TV

Filipino Balweg Bangoyan’s bid for a world championship ended on Friday when he suffered a technical knockout (TKO) loss to Japanese champion Toshiaki Nishioka in their World Boxing Council (WBC) super-bantamweight title bout at the Nihon, Budokan in Tokyo, Japan.

The bout ended in the fifth round when the Japanese champion caught Bangoyan with his patented left, knocking the the Davao del Sur native down on the canvas.

Although badly hurt, Bangoyan managed to stand up on wobbly legs and tried to survive, only to be met by a barrage of punches by Nishioka as the Japanese went for the kill.

With the challenger absorbing more punishment, referee Gelasio Perez Huerta promptly stopped the fight at the 1:14 mark of the fifth.

It was the fourth successful defense of the 122-pound belt for the 33-year old Nishioka, who raised his ring record to 36-4, with 23 KOs.

Bangoyan, 23, suffered the first loss of his pro career in his first fight outside of the country. He now has a 15-1 record, with six KOs.

He became the latest Filipino who failed to win a world title after Marvin Sonsona was stopped in the fourth round by Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. for the World Boxing Organization (WBO) super-bantamweight crown last February.

Source: gmanews.tv

WBO king Montiel TKO'S WBC champ Hasegawa! -- PhilBoxing

By Salven L. Lagumbay, PhilBoxing.com

What was expected to be a classic fight turned out to be a blowout after WBO bantam king Fernando Montiel TKO'd WBC champ Hozumi Hasegawa in the fourth round minutes ago in Tokyo.

The WBO champ proved to be the real man tonight, defeating the previously unbeaten WBC champ.
With the win, Montiel joins WBO welter champ Manny Pacquiao in the long list of real world boxing champions.

Congratulations to Team Montiel, as well as the WBO for its excellence in boxing.

Congratulations also to Akihiko Honda's Teiken Promotions for a well-organized event that makes Japanese boxing even more proud.

Source: philboxing.com

Fighter Jose Miguel Cotto, Trainer Joe Santiago, Look To Overcome Adversity -- FanHouse

By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse

LAS VEGAS -- Neither boxer, Jose Miguel Cotto, nor his first-time trainer, Joe Santiago, has had the best of luck in this gambling town.

The last time Cotto was in Las Vegas was in April of 2006, when he lost his bid for the WBA lightweight (135 pounds) title to Juan Diaz.

Santiago was last in Las Vegas in November as the trainer for Cotto's younger brother, Miguel Cotto (34-2, 27 knockouts), who was dethroned as WBO welterweight (147 pounds) champion by Manny Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 KOs) following a 12th-round knockout.

But on Saturday night, the duo from Puerto Rico will be in the same corner when Cotto (31-1-1, 23 KOs) takes on 19-year-old, rising star, Saul Alvarez (31-0-1, 23 KOs), who is a winner of 27 straight fights, including knockouts in eight of his past nine fights.

"Vegas has not been a good place for us in the recent past, but you know, that's what can happen when you're in the big leagues," said Santiago, who has since been removed as Miguel Cotto's trainer, and replaced by Manny Steward. "But my job is to help Jose to be in great position to win, and we're ready, and we trained hard, and we're hoping to have a big win on Saturday."

Alvarez-Cotto will take place on the undercard of a clash between 33-year-old Floyd Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs) and 38-year-old WBA welterweight king, Shane Mosley (46-5, 39 KOs) at the MGM Grand.

"We have the experience, we have a tough fighter, and we have been in this type of situation before," said Santiago. "We have the confidence of having a great fighter, and we know that we've done the work to prepare for a great win on Saturday."

Both Santiago and Jose Miguel Cotto are in action for the first time since the January death of Miguel Cotto Sr., who replaced his own brother, Evangelista Cotto, with Santiago for Miguel Cotto Jr.'s June bout with Joshua Clottey.

"There is definitely a sense of loss that my father is not here with me because he's always been so much a part of everything," said Jose Miguel Cotto. "But I will definitely fight harder knowing that he is still here with me in spirit."

Miguel Cotto successfully defended his crown against Clottey with a 12-round, split-decision, but was removed following Cotto's loss to Pacquiao.

Steward will be in Miguel Cotto's corner for his June 5 challenge for the WBA junior middleweight (154 pounds) title belonging to Yuri Foreman, as the pair of 29-year-olds face off at the new Yankees' Stadium.

Jose Miguel Cotto is coming off of December's sixth-round knockout of Ilido Julio. In his past five fights, Cotto is 4-0-1, with four knockouts, including three straight stoppages.

"I didn't come here to be a stepping stone for anybody. This is an opportunity for me to, once again, show that I'm one of the best fighters out there," said Cotto.

"I came here to have a great fight and a great win," said Cotto. "I belong among the big leagues of boxers, and I will demonstrate on Saturday what Jose Miguel Cotto is all about."

Source: boxing.fanhouse.com

Shane Mosley and Floyd Mayweather are appetisers for Manny Pacquiao -- The Guardian

By Kevin Mitchell, Guardian.co.uk

When Floyd Mayweather Jnr boasted this week, "I'm better than Sugar Ray Robinson, better than Muhammad Ali," he did more than insult two legends (one dead, the other, sadly for all of us, ill-equipped to respond). He revealed the sort of hubris that often precedes a fall.

Boxing sometimes gets it right, and this is one of those occasions, a bout that brings together two fighters who could fairly claim to be among the finest sub-middleweights of all time, indisputably pre-eminent in the modern era. Yet, for Mayweather, victory over Mosley is a formality; the only regard he gives his opponent is for having the courage to show up.

This is not a one-man show, though. It is a proper contest, one with no sanctioned title at stake but the right for the winner to say, I am the best … out of two. Because, whoever wins, he will still have to beat Manny Pacquiao to lay claim to boxing's most meaningful crown, as the pound-for-pound king of the world. That is why the fight matters. It is Act I of a two-act play, a defining drama the fight game desperately needs.

Mayweather, unbeaten in 40 fights and ungracious in 33 years of living, will discover that, while his own perception of his place in boxing history is exalted, Mosley alone shares with Pacquiao the ability to stretch him to the limit. It is a place he has rarely been.

Mosley, in defeat, will give Floyd's ego and his skills a nightmare examination over the whole 12 rounds. He might even put him down – and that would raise an almighty cheer, near and far. Mayweather ought to be humbled by the experience.

For too long, however, "Money May" has treated boxing as a fiefdom rather than a place of work. He has little respect for other fighters, even those near to him in ability. And respect is the first virtue a young boxer learns when he walks into a gym. Without that perspective, a boxer at any level is drawn into habits and thinking that lead to destruction: over-confidence; arrogance; laziness. Nobody is immune.

Mayweather is not alone in paying history and the better ethics of his discipline scant attention. Eddie Futch, in a rare lapse of wisdom, suggested Mosley reminded him of Robinson, when Sugar Shane was preparing for his first fight against the late Vernon Forrest, in 2002.

Mosley, like Mayweather, was undefeated, with an almost identical record, 38-0. He had just knocked out the New Jersey-based Bristol welterweight, Adrian Stone, in three rounds. Like Mayweather, among his victims were Oscar De La Hoya and a string of stellar names. He was 31 and universally acclaimed with all the enthusiasm that Mayweather now is heaping on his own head.

But Sugar Shane wasn't Sugar Ray. He lost that next fight to Forrest – as well as the rematch six months later.

Mosley stayed for the long haul, though, and looked sensational in beating up Antonio Margarito in his last fight, a worryingly long 15 months ago. That's why the younger, quicker, slicker Mayweather will win.

Could Mayweather have beaten Robinson? Boxing records show there were 14 fighters called Ray Robinson - and only one real Sugar Ray. He beat every type of fighter there was, from brawlers to bums to artists - 173 of them in 200 contests across 25 years from lightweight to light-heavyweight. It is a laughable question.

Source: guardian.co.uk

Teenager Saul Alvarez Nearing Main Event Status -- FanHouse

By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse

LAS VEGAS -- Mexican-born, welterweight (147 pounds) Saul Alvarez took a record of 22-0-1, with 15 knockouts into his December of 2008, clash with hard-hitting Raul Pinzon, of Barranquilla, Colombia, at the Miccosukee Indian Gaming Resort, in Miami.

Alvarez, then 18, was coming off of an October, 10-round, unanimous victory over Larry Mosley, and was going in against a fighter in Pinzon who was 16-1, with 15 knockouts.

Pinzon's only previous loss had been by a 10-round, majority decision to then, undefeated, Euri Gonzalez, who entered their bout with a mark of 14-0-1.

Alvarez, who had fought almost exclusively in Mexico, blasted Pinzon out of the fight in just one round, sensationally illustrating what the building, national fuss had been all about for the youngster among his countrymen.

"First of all, you look at him, and you know that this kid is different and that he's special. I call him 'The Mexican James Dean,'" said Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, which has signed the red-haired, freckle-faced Alvarez to a promotional contract.

"Plus, he's very charismatic, very good looking, and he can fight, of course," said Schaefer. "Saul is undefeated. And the Mexican and Mexican-American people have embraced him as a potentially great superstar."

So confident is Schaefer in the talents of Alvarez, that the 19-year-old has been cast in the role of the co-main event for Saturday night's megafight between 33-year-old, six-time, champion, Floyd Mayweather (40-0, 25 knockouts), and, 38-year-old, WBA welterweight titlist, Shane Mosley (46-5, 39 KOs), whose crown is not on the line.

Alvarez, whose bout will take place at The MGM Grand, will meet 32-year-old, Jose Miguel Cotto (31-1-1, 23 KOs), of, Caguas, Puerto Rico, who is the older brother of 29-year-old, former three-time, world champion, Miguel Cotto (34-2, 27 KOs).

"Televisa, which is covering fight here, has been with Saul Alvarez the entire week. They're doing specials and feeds every day. The ratings that he gets are 15, and, 16 shares, which are similar to what the Mexican national soccer team gets, which is like, 17, and, 18 shares," said Schaefer.

"That means 16 percent of the entire nation is watching his fights," said Schaefer. "He usually fights in Gudadalajara, Mexico. He's been selling out 15,00-seat venues with people lining up outside."

Alvarez is 31-0-1 with 23 KOs. Alvarez has 27 straight wins, including knockouts in eight of his past nine fights, but none had as much exposure as the teenager will experience on Saturday night.

"I have listened to Saul's management team, and they're an experienced management and they know what they're doing. They feel that he's ready for that stage -- to be on one of the biggest cards of the decade and right before the main event," said Schaefer.

"I think that this is an experience which will help him. He wants to fight Manny Pacquiao. He wants to fight Floyd Mayweather. He has told me those things," said schaefer. "To be right before Mayweather-Mosley is an amazing platform, and he knows that. And I hope that his nerves won't fail him and that he's going to deliver, which we think that he will."

The only blemish on record of Alvarez (pictured below, at left, with Jose Miguel Cotto)_was a draw in his fifth fight as a professional, when he fought Jorge Juarez as a 15-year-old in June of 2006.

After that, Alvarez reeled off eight consecutive stoppages over an 11-month span -- including four in the second round, and, two in the fourth -- from July of 2006, through, June of 2007.

"Saul Alvarez is not weak in any one department. He sets things up with a jab. He's not in a hurry. He has power in both hands. He has good balance and good timing," said Doug Fischer, Co-editor of RingTV.com.

"He sets up punches and he blocks well, but could work on his defense," said Fischer. "I would say that his weakness is handspeed and lateral movement, and I base that off of his fight with Larry Mosley. Mosley basically out-boxed him, but Alvarez wanted it a little bit more."

Jose Miguel Cotto is coming off of December's sixth-round knockout of Ilido Julio, and has not lost since suffering a 12-round, unanimous decision setback to Juan Diaz for the WBA lightweight (135 pounds) title in April of 2006.

In his past five fights, Jose Miguel Cotto is 4-0-1, with four knockouts, including three straight stoppages.

"I didn't come here to be a stepping stone for anybody. This is an opportunity for me to, once again, show that I'm one of the best fighters out there," said Jose Miguel Cotto. "I came here to have a great fight and a great win. I belong among the big leagues of boxers, and I will demonstrate on Saturday what Jose Miguel Cotto is all about."

Alvarez did not back down when he heard Cotto's comments during a press conference on Thursday, instead, directing this salvo at his rival.

"The only thing that Cotto has going for him is his last name," said Alvarez. "Maybe it's better for him to remain in the corner and to help his brother."

Schaefer expects Alvarez to have remained unbeaten when he leaves the MGM Grand.

"Saul Avalrez really has captured the imagination of the Mexican people," said Schaefer. "He's an entertaining fighter, and an exciting fighter, and we think that he has a bright future. I really can't wait to see him on Saturday night."

Source: boxing.fanhouse.com

History compels Mosley -- Las Vegas Review-Journal

By STEVE CARP, LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

Shane Mosley still thinks he has something to prove.

Not to himself. He wants to prove his critics wrong.

Mosley wants to gain a measure of respect -- by beating Floyd Mayweather Jr. on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden -- that he thinks he has yet to receive.

"It's important to be viewed a certain way," Mosley said Thursday. "It's all about the history of the sport and how you're looked at.

"I know what I know. I don't have to prove anything to myself. I just want to prove to you guys (in the media) that I'm not through."

At age 38, Mosley should be pleased with his accomplishments: 46-5 record with 39 knockouts, five world titles in three weight classes, tens of millions of dollars in career earnings.

But the competitor in him won't let Mosley feel content.

Enhancing his legacy by becoming the first professional fighter to defeat the 33-year-old Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs) is more significant to Mosley than the $7 million he will get to fight him.

"That's my motivation," said Mosley, whose WBA title won't be at stake in Saturday's 12-round welterweight fight. "I don't think he's fought anyone with my speed, my power or my knowledge of boxing. To beat him would be very good for my legacy."

Mosley acknowledges that his approach has changed. He can't train the way he did when he was younger.

"When I was 22, 23 years old, I could work out all day and come back the next day and do it the same way," he said. "But when you get to be my age, you can't train all day and be able to come back the next day. So I've learned to be smarter in how I approach my fights.

"But my motivation remains very high. That's what's kept me in the game all these years -- I love to fight. That hasn't changed."

Mosley trained with Naazim Richardson for the second straight fight -- following a January 2009 knockout of Antonio Margarito -- and Mosley said their familiarity with each other has made preparing for Mayweather easier.

"Everybody in my camp was good," Mosley said. "We worked diligently every day, and I feel better than I did for Margarito.

"It's a totally different kind of fight. It's not a strength fight where he's going to be throwing a thousand punches trying to chop me down. It's a fight where I'm going to get a chance to use my skills."

Mosley said he never has been better prepared mentally to enter the ring. He dismissed two issues that could be huge potential distractions: his divorce from wife Jin and an ongoing legal battle with BALCO's Victor Conte, who supplied Mosley with steroids in 2003

"That stuff was already long gone," Mosley said. "I've already been through all that, so it wasn't hard to focus."

Mosley's attorney and friend, Judd Burstein, said the fighter's focus is solely on Mayweather.

"I've seen him this calm once before -- when he fought Margarito," Burstein said. "He was completely the master of his own destiny then. There was no usurping of the crown. His marriage had completely broken up before Margarito, and watching him get ready for this fight, he's completely at peace. All that Victor Conte stuff that's being put out there, he doesn't give a crap."

What Mosley does care about apparently is his place in boxing history.

"It would mean a lot to beat (Mayweather)," Mosley said. "I've trained well. I feel like I'm faster than I was five years ago. I'm still strong. I think we have a good game plan.

"This is the fight I wanted. Now it's time for me to perform."

■ NOTES -- Both fighters have undergone additional random drug testing in the past two weeks, and all tests have come back clean. Since the fight was announced in March, Mosley has been tested 11 times and Mayweather 10. ... According to the Nevada Athletic Commission, Mayweather's purse will be $22.5 million. ... Today's weigh-in at the Grand Garden will begin at 3 p.m. and is open to the public. Admission is free.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913.

Source: lvrj.com

Erik Morales wants Pinoy as next foe -- Manila Bulletin

By NICK GIONGCO, Manila Bulletin

TOKYO — Erik Morales is in the hunt for a Filipino foe.

Morales, who figured in a thrilling trilogy with Manny Pacquiao, will return to the ring either July 17 or 24 in Cancun, Mexico, according to his co-promoter Nacho Huizar.

Morales and Huizar joined hands recently when “El Terrible” made a successful comeback after a two-and-a-half year layoff with a 12-round decision over Nicaraguan Jose Alfaro in Monterrey, Mexico.

Huizar has spoken with Filipino boxing promoter Wakee Salud, who gave the name of Eusebio Baluarte as a potential opponent for Morales.

Baluarte, 22, is the Philippines’ super-lightweight champion and a holder of a 15-2 win-loss record with nine knockouts.

Salud said he will confer with Baluarte’s chief handler, Leonel Lazarito, as soon as he gets back to Manila.

Salud is here to watch the World Boxing Council super-bantam title match between Filipino challenger Balweg Bangoyan and Japanese champion Toshiaki Nishioka.

“I will talk to Morales about this proposal,” said Huizar, stressing that Morales, 33, will have the final say.

The heavy-handed Baluarte hails from Valencia, Bukidnon.

Morales beat Pacquiao in their first fight in March 2005 but Pacquiao exacted payback in January 2006 then showed his mastery over the Mexican in November of the same year.

Source: mb.com.ph

Shane Mosley's $12M defamation suit against BALCO founder Victor Conte could be thrown out -- New York Daily News

By Nathaniel Vinton, NY Daily News

Judd Burstein's dog might never get its day in court.

Burstein, the colorful New York attorney who represents boxer Shane Mosley, recently said that his "toy red poodle" could win Mosley's $12 million defamation suit against BALCO founder Victor Conte. But Burstein is all bark, according to legal experts who say the two-year-old case probably won't ever reach a jury.

"There's a good likelihood that a judge will throw it out on summary judgment before it gets that far," says Peter Keane, a law professor and BALCO expert at Golden Gate University in San Francisco who has followed the case closely.

Keane pointed to sworn statements Mosley has made that seem to undermine the basis of his own lawsuit - that Conte misled Mosley when he sold him steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs in 2003. Even in a "longshot" scenario of a trial, Keane says, no jury would be likely to award more than a dollar to Mosley, who reportedly stands to earn at least $7 million Saturday in his blockbuster fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr.

"There are no damages," Keane says. "Assuming the unlikely aspect that he wins (the case), what are the damages? How does he show anything like lost income or lost reputation?"

According to a source familiar with the case, Conte's legal team will soon file a summary judgment motion asking New York State Supreme Court Justice Louis York to dismiss the case based on the argument that Conte could not have defamed or damaged Mosley by accusing the boxer of something Mosley himself admitted to doing.

Mosley first sued in 2008, shortly after the Daily News published a story in which Conte disputed Mosley's public statements that his doping was inadvertent. In the story, Conte said he taught Mosley how to use BALCO's designer steroids and how to injected the endurance-boosting doping agent erythropoietin, or EPO. Mosley "knew precisely what (he was) using," Conte said in the story. "It was all explained up front and there was no deception."

The News has since published excerpts of Mosley's once-secret 2003 grand jury testimony, in which Mosley describes the detailed conversations he had with Conte about the EPO, which Conte told him how and when to inject. And earlier this month Conte and Burstein each posted YouTube video of a deposition Mosley gave last October in which Mosley describes the meeting once again.

In one of the YouTube clips, Mosley is pressed about his claim that he didn't know the drug was EPO until he went to the grand jury. "I must've had to known I was taking EPO," Mosley says. "I guess I had to have."

The clip has been viewed more than 17,000 times in two weeks. Burstein says it was unfairly edited, and posted the entire deposition on YouTube. Conte's lawyers believe it negates the claim itself.

If Conte's lawyers prevail with their summary judgment bid, the source said, they will consider countersuing Mosley for malicious prosecution and try to recoup attorney fees, which have climbed into the hundreds of thousands.

Mosley and Burstein have already triumphed in one important respect, however; their legal threats seem to have helped torpedo Conte's deal for a tell-all book. Skyhorse Publishing originally planned to release "BALCO: The Straight Dope on Barry Bonds, Marion Jones, and What We Can Do To Save Sports" in 2008, but Burstein promised to sue both the company and their insurance backers if they published.

In an April 15 interview with The News outside York's courtroom, where contentious settlement talks failed, Burstein said he was confident he could destroy Conte's credibility on the witness stand. Burstein shared internal Skyhorse e-mails in which an editor there expresses distrust in Conte, although not apparently over any of the veracity of the Mosley revelations. The e-mails circulated in the weeks after Burstein aired his threats.

An attack on Conte's credibility, however, is nowhere near enough to get past the First Amendment, says Herschel Fink, a noted defamation lawyer from Detroit.

"You almost need e-mails from Conte saying 'I can't prove this is true, but it makes a good story,'" Fink says. "The burden of proof is on the plaintiff, of course, to show not only that the statement is false, which is often difficult, but again that the speaker knew it was false or had a high degree of doubt," says Fink.

Defamation lawsuits have become a standard weapon in sports doping cases. Plaintiffs in recent years have included Roger Clemens, Lance Armstrong, and Jones (who also sued Conte, for $25 million, before admitting guilt and going to prison). Such complaints rarely end with the trial verdict they supposedly seek. According to statistics compiled by the Media Law Resource Center, there number of trials of libel, privacy and related claims against media defendants has steadily declined, from 266 in the 1980s, to 192 in the 1990s, to 124 in the first decade of the 2000s.

Olympic-style drug testing hasn't prevented either Mosley or Mayweather from leveling casting aspersions on the opposing camp. Mosley speculated this week that Mayweather "dibbles and dabbles a little bit" in steroids, and Mayweather responded by accusing Mosley of perjury.

"We do know this: We know that Shane lies under oath," Mayweather said. "So we know one thing that is going to happen. If Marion Jones went to jail, we know that Shane is going to jail."

Mosley said in a conference call earlier this month that a question about steroids was "stupid" because his BALCO associations were so far in the past. But he is the plaintiff driving the defamation case that has put his history under the magnifying glass. From a public relations perspective, Mosley's defamation adventure has backfired the same way that of Clemens' did.

"Before all these other revelations came out, in terms of his admissions, he was in a little bit of a stronger position," says Keane. "His chances were very slight, but with the new revelations I think Mosley's going to have a tough time establishing libel."

Source: nydailynews.com

Heading into Mosley bout, Mayweather never at a loss for words -- Philadelphia Daily News

By BERNARD FERNANDEZ, Philadelphia Daily News

Whoever first said "If you can do what you say, it ain't bragging" must have been someone very much like Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Mayweather, 33, is really, really good, and he knows it. So does everyone else who has observed the five-division world champion vanquish 40 consecutive opponents and seldom be pressured in doing so. The Grand Rapids, Mich., native, who enjoys an ostentatious lifestyle in that most ostentatious of cities, Las Vegas, often breezes through entire fights without losing a round, when he isn't knocking his man out.

But it is the enormity of Mayweather's ego that has put off even fight fans who, while appreciating his just-as-large talents in the ring, frown upon someone who doesn't mind telling you that he's the best who's ever been. Better than Muhammad Ali. Better than Sugar Ray Robinson. Better than Joe Louis or Rocky Marciano or Sugar Ray Leonard or Harry Greb or Henry Armstrong or anybody you'd care to name.

"No one has a chance to beat me," preens Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs), a 9-2 favorite who rates the odds of Shane Mosley (46-5, 39 KOs) pulling off an upset in tomorrow night's pay-per-view welterweight bout at Las Vegas' MGM Grand as somewhere between winning the Powerball lottery and utterly hopeless.

What about the late, great Robinson, acknowledged by many as the finest fighter, pound-for-pound, ever to draw a breath? Or Manny Pacquiao, a three-time Fighter of the Year honoree (Mayweather has won the award once) by the Boxing Writers Association of America, and who recently edged out Mayweather for the BWAA's designation as Fighter of the Decade for 2000-09?

"I'm not saying nobody else is good, but I know how to win," Mayweather said with his trademark smugness. "That's what I do. I win. I always win. I can adopt and adjust to any fighter, any style. I'm the best that ever lived, hands down.

"No one can get me to say Sugar Ray Robinson or anybody else was or is better than me. No one was better. No one is better. Maybe no one else ever will be better.

"But, hey, I know I'm never going to get the credit I deserve. People say, 'Floyd, get beat up. Get some black eyes. Stoop to everyone else's level.' Stupid. There's nothing cool about taking punishment, getting beat up, getting bloody lips. What is cool is the way I dominate you, shut you out, make crazy money and then go home to my family."

In the convoluted world of boxing, it is Mosley's media-friendly and, by comparison, humble demeanor that has stamped him as the sentimental choice to finally zip Mayweather's flapping lips, despite the fact that Mosley has admitted using performance-enhancing drugs prior to his Sept. 13, 2003, rematch with Oscar De La Hoya. Some have suggested Mosley was on the juice long before then. It is the equivalent of, say, Mark McGwire returning to baseball as a player and being cheered in visiting stadiums by fans willing to forgive and forget his tawdry past, provided he hits what are perceived as clean home runs and the pitcher is an even more obnoxious jerk.

It is Mayweather's demands that Pacquiao submit to more stringent, U.S. Anti-Doping Agency drug-testing that torpedoed their proposed fight in March, an ultimatum that a leverage-lacking Mosley was quick to agree to, that have caused him to be characterized by some as a my-way-or-the-highway bully instead of a crusader for cleansing a befouled sport. Whichever side of the fence fight fans are apt to come down on, "Money's" abrasive method of communicating can be as polarizing as the national debate over health care.

"I'm being criticized for my position on [stricter] drug-testing," Mayweather noted. "Look, I believe in drug-testing because I want to clean up boxing. What's so wrong with making sure a fight is fair?

"I hear people say, 'Oh, Shane is fast, he's as fast as Floyd.' Well, we know he was fast using enhancement drugs. How fast is he gonna be when he's got to fight all-natural?

"And Pacquiao . . . you know he's on something. I don't like to throw no nails, but all them guys are cheaters. We offered Pacquiao $25 million. I've never known a man that wouldn't take a drug test for $25 million, unless he was sure he wouldn't pass it.

"I seen Pacquiao go from ordinary to extraordinary just like that. He started at 106 pounds and now he's up to 147, and he's faster and hits harder! Anybody who knows boxing knows it just don't work like that."

Maybe Mayweather means everything he says, maybe he's just trying to agitate for his own purposes. His detractors seethe to take him down a notch or three, but angry men tend to make mistakes. Few ever have been better at capitalizing on mistakes than the loquacious Mayweather.

"You can write bad about Floyd, you can write good about Floyd, but one thing's for sure," he chided reporters during a teleconference, "you will write about me."

fernanb@phillynews.com

Source: philly.com

Mosley’s camp thinks it saw a second of doubt in Mayweather -- 15Rounds

By Marc Abrams, 15Rounds.com

LAS VEGAS – Interpreting body language is an inexact science at best, but Shane Mosley’s camp thinks it might have detected doubt – perhaps fear — in Floyd Mayweather Jr. at a formal news conference Wednesday before their welterweight confrontation Saturday night at the MGM Grand.

“I didn’t see it, but somebody told me that Floyd turned and flinched,’’ Mosley said of a moment when the two posed for photos in the ritual face-to-face, eyeball-to-eyeball showdown. “I was told he looked a little nervous. Like I said, I didn’t see it. But it’s interesting.’’

In a roundtable with writers Thursday, Mosley and his trainer, Naazim Richardson sounded as if Mayweather’s surprisingly polite appearance was a sign that the pre-fight rounds were at least a draw.

Suddenly, there was none of the usual profane trash-talk from Mayweather, who also can play as many roles as an accomplished actor. At the final news conference, he was so polite he could have been Mosley.

“He was acting like Shane,’’ Richardson said. “He lost those early battles.’’

An accurate nickname
Here’s a very big reason Mayweather calls himself Money:

According to contracts filed with the Nevada State Athletic Commission, Mayweather’s guarantee for Saturday night is $22.5 million. It is the biggest guarantee for a non-heavyweight. Mike Tyson and Buster Douglas had bigger guarantees. Douglas’ contracted guarantee for a 1990 loss to Evander Holyfield was $24 million.

The record for earnings for a single fight is $54 million, which is what Oscar De La Hoya collected after a percentage of pay-per-receipts were added to his check for his loss in 2007 to Mayweather.

Mosley is guaranteed $7 million. Do this Mayweather is making more than three times as much, according to Nevada Commission record. No wonder Richardson said a couple of weeks ago that Mosley was a lousy negotiator.

Putting on a show
Richardson calls Mayweather a genius in the ring. But he also said that Mayweather’s reputation for trash-talk is rooted in his desire to be a showman, which might mask his real character. He behaves in a way he might not if a camera wasn’t pointed at him, Richardson said.

“Point a camera at some guys and they’’ pull their pants down and slap their cheeks against the lense,’’ Richardson said. “If somebody applauds, they’ll do it again.’’

Mayweather has been the star of the Home Box Office’s popular 24/7 series in pre-fight programming.

“24/7 is his show,’’ Richardson said. “Now, he has to win the fight. But on the night of the fight, he has already entertained us.’’

Source: 15rounds.com