Roach discusses masterplan -- Sky Sports

Sky Sports

Freddie Roach believes that Manny Pacquiao's body attack will be the key to overcoming Joshua Clottey on March 13.

The fight, which takes place at the Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, could be one of Pacquiao's toughest yet despite Clottey entering as a big underdog.

The Ghanaian will be the first big welterweight WBO champion Pacquiao has met since moving through the weights and Clottey's size and strength has posed master-tactician Roach some questions in training.

"He's going to be like 165lbs going into the ring, he's going to be the biggest guy we've ever fought," he told Sky Sports News.

"He's going to be a very strong guy that's why we have to be very careful about the way we attack him.

"We're going to take his legs away from him, the body work will do that and with his passive defence, when he stands on the ropes and covers his face, the body's wide open and we'll crush him there."

Pacquiao is just looking forward to getting into the ring once again, almost four months after destroying Miguel Cotto in 11 and a half one-sided rounds.

"This is a very big and important fight for me because it is the first time at the Cowboy Stadium," he said. "There's a lot of people going to watch the fight.

"I'll just focus on the fight, do my best to give a good fight and to make people happy and to enjoy the fight."

Source: skysports.com

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Shane Mosley, Floyd Mayweather To Fight -- MyFox DC

myfoxdc.com



WASHINGTON - Boxing superstars Floyd "Money" Mayweather and Sugar Shane Mosley held a press conference Wednesday to announce their May 1 welterweight showdown.

A large crowd was on hand for the announcement that was made at the Lincoln Theatre. Locals such as D.C. Councilman Marion Barry were drawn to the excitement of the event.

FOX 5’s Dave Ross spoke with one-on-one with Mayweather, Mosley and fight promoter and former great Oscar De La Hoya about the importance of the fight and what it means to the boxing world.

Source: myfoxdc.com

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Shane Mosley: Floyd Mayweather to 'Wonder Why Is He Hitting Me So Much?' -- FanHouse

By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- On May 1, 38-year-old Shane Mosley will put his WBA welterweight (147 pounds) title on the line against 33-year-old, undefeated, Floyd Mayweather at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Mosley (pictured above, right, with Mayweather) will have been out of the ring for about 16 months by the time he throws his first punch against Mayweather, last having been in competition for a January, 2009, ninth-round knockout of Antonio Margarito.

Mosley will turn 39 in September, around which time, if he defeats Mayweather, he would be considering the rematch, which is mandated by a clause in their contracts in the event that Mayweather loses in May.

Mosley has fought four fighters twice, and, endured the criticism for having admittedly used steroids in 2003. But now, Mosley stands to make his largest career payday against Mayweather.

In addition, Mosley has no immediate plans to retire, all of which he talks about with FanHouse in this Q&A.


FanHouse: Shane, you have had some very big wins throughout your career, including two over Oscar De La Hoya, two knockouts of Fernando Vargas, and one stoppage each against Ricardo Mayorga and Antonio Margarito. How would a win over Floyd Mayweather rank in comparison to any of those?

Shane Mosley: This would be, I mean, this is a victory that's going to be so big. It's going to be one of the fights of the decade. Of this decade. I'm just excited to be in this type of a matchup, so that I can be able to show myself.

I want to show the talent and the skill that I have, even at this age. I'm going to be able to knock Mayweather out?

That's like a dream. And then, I can go ahead and fight [Manny] Pacquiao after that? Oh, Man. I can't wait to get into the ring and to dig my teeth into Mayweather.

I can already see that I have the size. I have good hand speed, and I think that he may be underestimating the type of speed that I have and the way that I throw my punches.

He might be underestimating me. It's not the same as fighting a guy that's 135, or 140. He's fighting a guy that's a real 147-pounder. Or, if you will, I've fought at 154.

The guys that I lost to, Winky Wright and Vernon Forrest, these guys can go up to 160. They can fight a Kelly Pavlik, and these big guys.

They're ready to fight big guys, and I'm hurting them and dropping them.


FH: Are you saying that you will be the first man to stop Floyd Mayweather?

Mosley: I think that if he gets hit on the chin, he's going to end up going down. I think it's going to be a knockout. If I land the punches that I know that I can land, he's going to go down.


FH: So, can you break down the fight for us and tell us how it's going to go down?

Mosley: The fight's going to go like this: He's [Floyd's] telling me to use my jab. And, you know, yeah, I think that I'll take his advice, but I was going to do that anyway, and use my jab a little more, and touch him.

I'm going to touch him, and touch him, and touch him. And then, he's going to wonder 'Why is he hitting me so much?', and, 'I've never been hit this many times in a fight before.' Then, he's going to get nervous and scared. And once he does that, that's half of the fight.

If I'm leading on the cards, that's half of the fight. He's still got to fight me. It's going to be my jab, my footwork, and I've got use everything that I have.

I can't just go in there and knock the guy out. A lot of times, I beat the guy at what they do best. When I fought Louis Collazo, who is not on the same level as Mayweather, I out-boxed him.

Even though I was a bigger and stronger person, I clearly out-boxed him the whole fight. It was just that he was a great, southpaw boxer. So I can do many different things, and that's what gives fighters problems.

Because I'm so universal.


FH: What is your official stance on the whole Olympic-style drug testing notion?

Mosley: I love it. I love it. Because it's been since 2003 since that drama [his admitted steroid use] happened. But, you know, we need to clean up boxing. I think that he has a point there. Clean up boxing, and let people know that when we get into the ring, it's the real stuff.

It's one thing that interests me is that, Mayweather shoots something up in his hands before his fights. I don't know what it is. I'd like to know what it is. And the only place that it's legal is in Las Vegas. And that's probably why the Pacquiao fight didn't happen.

Because he can't do that in Dallas or the other places. He can only put that in his hands in Las Vegas, so, that's another thing. But you know what, I don't care. He can put whatever he wants to on his hands.

But my thing is, does he have any advantage to it? Is it a stimulus? Making him have more energy or be in better shape?


FH: Can you talk about the rematch clause?

Mosley: The rematch clause I think is there because there is some concern. There is some concern of him losing this fight. That's what makes this fight great.

It was asked for at the beginning of the negotiations. 'We need a rematch clause, Okay?' I'm like, 'You want a rematch clause? OKay, no problem. You don't have to ask.' We don't need to even put that on pen to paper. My word is as good as that.

When I fought [Fernando] Vargas, he was like, 'I want a rematch, I want a rematch.' I'm like, 'Oh, you want a rematch? Okay, let's go.'

But when I wanted to fight [Manny] Pacquiao or Mayweather, the damper was put on me. I was there waiting to fight either one of these guys, and they didn't even really have a fight made. They couldn't even make things work.

But did they care about if I was going to wait it out or anything? No.


FH: So, the rematch clause, in your mind, gets you a two-for-one in that you get to beat Floyd twice?

Mosley: I get to beat him twice, and, hopefully, like I told him, I said, 'Make sure that you do that rematch.' Because when I fought [Miguel] Cotto, and I thought that I edged him out, but it was a close fight.

But he ran. And I never seen Cotto no more. Nobody ever spit out my name.


FH: And you fought two guys twice, right?

Mosley: Actually, it's three, no, four guys. Oscar De La Hoya, Winky Wright, Vernon Forrest and Fernando Vargas. That's four.

So, you don't need a contract from me. It's like, 'Oh, you want to fight again?' That wasn't good enough for you?' Let's try this again.


FH: You're going to turn 39 in September, a time when you'd likely be thinking about fighting a rematch with Floyd if you win the first fight. So, after that, what would it take for you to begin thinking about retirement and riding off into the sunset?

Mosley: I don't know, man, I'm on the Bernard Hopkins plan, you know? [Laughs] I'm on the Bernard Hopkins plan, man. We run in the same line. He loves the sport, I love the sport. It's going to be hard to get away from this sport.


FH: You feel that good?

Mosley: Aw, man, I feel great. I feel great. I just feel like I can go on forever. I know that I'm going to have to give it up and probably start training my son and other fighters, and just becoming more, maybe getting more into the promotional part of boxing.

I want to definitely be involved with boxing for the rest of my life. This is my life. I've been boxing now for 30 years. And this is what I know. And I'd love to stay in it and help the sport.

And help the young guys come up and just watch it. There's no other sport like boxing. This is my love.


FH: How old is your son, and what has he accomplished in the sport?

Mosley: My son, now, is 19 years old. His name is Shane Mosley Jr. He's a junior, and he's boxing as well. He's pretty good. He's 6-foot-1, and he's going to fight in the Golden Gloves on March 2.


Source: boxing.fanhouse.com

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Pacquiao shoots for fireworks against Clottey -- AFP

By Rebecca Bryan, AFP

LOS ANGELES — Manny Pacquiao doesn't know if his March 13 welterweight world title clash with Joshua Clottey in Dallas will be his last, but if it is, he'd like to go out with a bang.

Then again, Pacquiao says he always wants to provide some fireworks for the fans.

"For me as a fighter I have a big responsibility not only for myself and my family, but I have to give a good fight, more action, give enjoyment to the people," Pacquiao said amid the crush at trainer Freddie Roach's Wild Card gym in Hollywood on Wednesday.

"I don't want them to say it's boring."

Pacquiao, 50-3 with two drawn and 38 knockouts, will defend his World Boxing Organization title against Ghana's Clottey, 35-3 with 21 knockouts, at the spectacular Cowboys Stadium - the billion-dollar home of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys that opened last year.

The bout will be on the same date that Pacquiao was expected to face unbeaten American Floyd Mayweather, before negotiations ended in acrimony.

Mayweather is now booked to face fellow American Shane Mosley on May 1.

The collapse of the highly anticipated Mayweather bout, and Pacquiao's run for a congressional seat in his native Philippines, has sparked talk that this could be the 31-year-old Filipino's last fight.

"I don't know," Pacquiao said Wednesday with a small smile. "I can still fight."

But Roach acknowledged that Pacquiao's last bell could be approaching.

"You know, it could be," Roach said.

"The thing is, if Mayweather or Mosely - depending who wins that fight - doesn't come on board to fight us, who else is out there to fight right now?

"Mayweather's the fight the world wants to see. I feel if he doesn't come to the table, maybe if Manny wins the election and gets into politics and gets busy in politics it could be his last fight, yes.

"I don't think so, but it could be."

Promoter Bob Arum said it would all depend on Pacquiao.

"If he wants it to be his last fight it'll be his last fight. It's completely up to Manny," Arum said. "Sure, I'd love him to keep fighting because he's at the top of his game."

Added Roach: "I think Bob Arum wants to introduce him at the Mayweather fight as 'Congressman Pacquiao.'"

But first, there's Clottey, who has vowed to be more than simply a fill-in fighter destined to fall to the Philippines' powerhouse.

Roach and Pacquiao say they have been working on a strategy to tackle the defensive-minded Clottey.

"We have been working on that quite a bit," Roach said, adding that if Clottey goes too far into a defensive shell, he can't win the fight.

"You've got to throw punches to win the fight," Roach said.

"I know that Clottey is a very good defensive fighter, but we have a technique for his style," Pacquiao said.

That's what Pacquiao will be thinking about until March 13 - and not the mega-fight that might have been.

"Right now I don't want to talk about Floyd because he has an upcoming fight and I have a fight, too," Pacquiao said. "I think what we need to do is focus on our fights."

Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved.

Source: google.com

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Pacquiao keeps it light at media day -- ESPN

By Shelley Smith, ESPNLosAngeles.com

By the time he arrived, the throng of already anxious reporters and photographers was beginning to jostle one another nervously. "Manny time," apparently, doesn't take deadlines into consideration.

But just as soon Manny Pacquiao walked into the Wild Card gym, where he has been training for the last month in anticipation of his March 13 fight against Joshua Clottey, flashed his famous smile and began walking and talking through the gauntlet, producers were exhaling and all was forgiven.

Pacquiao laughed, he joked, he answered questions posed by reporters from Hollywood, reporters from the Philippines, reporters from who knows where. He was patient and good natured -- a far cry from many big-time athletes who don't understand the importance of working the crowd. Especially this crowd.

It was media day, and if boxing itself doesn't draw a strange assortment of characters, media day ensures it. Alongside dozens of grizzled veteran boxing writers was a man hoping to sell Pacquiao's people on the 14 episodes he's produced on-line of "Minny Pacquiao," a YouTube favorite that features a pint-sized Pacquiao billed as "Manny Pacquiao's shortest, biggest fan," another man hawking custom-fitted mouthguards, two women with a banner promoting Manny Villar for president of the Philippines, and fight promoter Bob Arum, who was telling anyone who would listen that the Floyd Mayweather camp deliberately put out misinformation that Pacquiao is using a drug invented by the Philippine army that negates pain when a soldier is shot.

And all that was in addition to the usual suspects who hang at Hollywood's Wild Card gym. The gym is owned and run by the renowned and immensely respected Freddie Roach, whose crew includes his brother, Pepper, and one-eyed Shane Langford, whom Roach found living on the streets years ago and gave a place to sleep (at the gym) and a job. (Langford's eye is permanently closed after a 2005 knockout.)

Pepper and Shane are like a two-man comedy team. Pepper routinely hands visiting women a slip of paper, he says, with his number. The paper reads 911. "If my wife answers hang up," he says, to which Shane interjects, "And my number is 411. Same thing."

They are delightful and warm, the kind of people who lend credibility to the crazy family theory that envelopes us all. In the midst of the two-plus hour media session, one of the security guards yells, "Silver Rav-4," which means that a silver Rav-4 car is blocking someone's exit in the jammed parking lot behind the gym, where cars are double and triple parked.

No one responds, which causes Pepper to yell to the guard, "Say it in English."

Laughter is a big part of Wild Card and laughter is a big part of Pacquiao's schtick as he moves, one by one, through the media hoard, including entertaining questions from a crew from "Sports Soup." Later, he'll be on Jimmy Kimmel, again.

On Thursday, the Mayweather-Mosely circus comes to Los Angeles. It's hard to imagine their circus being more colorful than the one Pacquiao, Arum and Freddie Roach produced on Wednesday. You just can't make this stuff up.

Shelley Smith is an ESPN correspondent based in Los Angeles.

Source: sports.espn.go.com

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De La Hoya helps hype Mayweather-Mosley bout -- USA Today

By Bob Velin, USA TODAY



There they were, three of the greatest boxers of their generation, sitting side-by-side.

Oscar De La Hoya, the Golden Boy, flanked by Floyd "Money" Mayweather Jr. and "Sugar" Shane Mosley on Wednesday afternoon at a news conference in McLean, Va.

Once, De La Hoya met these guys in the ring. Three times, in fact — twice vs. Mosley (46-5, 39 KOs) and once vs. Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs). Each time the Golden Boy was the conquered, never the conqueror.

Three of his six career losses came against them. Twice by decision to Mosley when both were in their prime, and once by decision to Mayweather near the end of his Hall of Fame career in the highest-grossing fight of all time, with a record 2.4 million pay-per-view buys.

De La Hoya is promoting the May 1 mega-fight between Mayweather and Mosley at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas (HBO pay-per-view) in what could be the fight of the year.

"If you can't beat 'em, join 'em," De La Hoya said, laughing.

De La Hoya says he loves to dissect fights but can't figure this one out. "It's going to be a tremendous fight," he said. "For the first time in my life, I don't know who can win this fight.

"Mosley has the power to be aggressive, he has the speed and he's smart in the ring. Mayweather is elusive; he's slippery because his defense is on the money. He's probably the best defensive fighter I've ever seen.

"If it goes the distance, I have to go with Floyd, because Floyd knows how to dissect his opponents, how to frustrate them. He knows how to make you get away from your game plan."

At 38, Mosley is five years older than Mayweather, but he feels his age is more of an advantage. "When I fought (Antonio) Margarito, I was actually the mover and the boxer and the faster puncher; Margarito was supposed to be the younger, stronger fighter. And yet I beat him in every area," Mosley said. "I'm going to be very fast and very strong and mentally prepared. That's what the whole boxing game's about, having the mental upper hand."

There will be Olympic-style blood testing for this fight at Mayweather's request, a demand that sunk a proposed Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight.

"There's too much cheating going on in sports, period," Mayweather said. "Not just boxing. ... If I'm the face of boxing, I want to be in a sport that's clean.

"I'm not cheating, so why should anyone else cheat."

Mosley, who once admitted to unknowingly taking steroids in 2003 on the advice of his strength coach, is totally on board with having blood taken.

"I never tested positive for anything in my life," he said. "I'm a clean guy. I want to live a long life. I don't want to have any defects when I'm 50 because of something ... in my boxing career."

The three-city press tour ends today in Los Angeles after hitting New York and Washington.

Source: usatoday.com

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The True Source of Pacquiao’s Success Revealed -- 8CountNews

By Lorne Scoggins, 8CountNews.com

Successful sports celebrities are often raised to a status well above what they are actually able to maintain in the public eye. Eventually, this nearly always leads to a certain amount of disappointment to those who idolize them. Why? The answer is simple. Celebrities are actually just like the rest of us. They are human. No matter the level of celebrity they manage to achieve, nothing changes that fact.

The word “fan” is short for “fanatic”. According to Merium-Webster, the origin of the word is from the Latin , “fanaticus: inspired by a deity, frenzied”. In modern day usage, to be a fanatic means to be one “marked by excessive enthusiasm and often intense uncritical devotion”.

Manny Pacquiao is not a deity. He has never claimed to be. The man who played the superhero in the movie “Wapakman” is still just a simple man from General Santos City, Philippines. However, many fans seem to have categorized him as a near-superhuman being. His boxing skills are unquestionable, and in the ring, he does indeed appear to be superhuman. Outside the ring, he displays a form of modesty that is extremely rare to those who have achieved such a high level of success. Yet people now tend to demand more from him than he can reasonably deliver.

When a celebrity literally has millions of adoring followers, he can’t possibly be expected to sign every single autograph and pose for every photo. Still, in the public eye, he’s bigger than life. This is despite the fact that Pacquiao himself has never attempted to place himself in such a lofty position. To the contrary, he has remained very constant in maintaining his humility.

At the post-fight press conference following his victory over Miguel Cotto, he was compared to Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard and Marvin Hagler. In usual form, Manny modestly denied such accolades. Instead, he simply praised God for what he has been able to achieve in his career as a boxer.

“You know what? I always think myself that I’m just an ordinary fighter…that I can fight the best fighter, and you know; sometimes I can beat a good fighter.” –Manny Pacquiao

“If I think of what I achieve in boxing, you know, even myself, you know, it’s unbelievable. I can’t believe it.” Manny said. “But you know, nothing [is] impossible if you believe God. If you believe God, keep praying…nothing [is] impossible.”

These words are perfectly paralleled to the scripture that states; “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” There exists only one true deity, and if fans would take notice, Manny Pacquiao continually attempts to point to Him as the one who is worthy of our praise. Still, it seems that Pacquiao’s admirers continually miss the point.

The popular view in modern society stresses that one is responsible and even in control of his or her own fate. In truth, no matter how dedicated one is or how diligently he or she works to accomplish great things, there is no guarantee of success. We are not guaranteed riches and glory in this life. In fact, we are not assured another breath or another heartbeat. God gives us a free will to make our own choices. Such choices can lead to our success or to our detriment, but all true blessings come from God.

In truth, for anyone who wishes to achieve great things in life, there needs to be a proper combination. Faith combined with diligence, persistence and hard work equal success. The man who kneels to pray in the corner of the ring before and after every fight has indeed achieved great things. He is an inspiration to millions. He brings a message of hope to many who live in seemingly hopeless conditions. He exemplifies what can be achieved through faith and hard work. As we enjoy the brilliant boxing skills and appreciate the riveting personality of Manny Pacquiao, let’s not ignore the message that he continually attempts to convey through his constant praises of the one who has brought him to this point in his life.

Source: 8countnews.com

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Pacquiao sings George Benson on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' -- The Examiner

By Marv Dumon, Examiner.com

Sporting a red jacket with a Philippine flag, a white shirt, and blue jeans, boxing’s current pound-for-pound king Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao graced ABC’s popular late-night show ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ on Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010.

Cheers for 'Pacman'

Pacquiao walked to a live studio audience which erupted cheers – many in the crowd were Filipinos or Filipino-Americans. The crowd chanted “Manny! Manny! Manny!” which prompted television host Jimmy Kimmel to jokingly implore his audience to calm down.

Kimmel began his comedic assault: So, you’re still living with all those guys?

Manny, looking down, seemed initially uncomfortable at the question.

Pacquiao: I live with 10 guys now.

Kimmel: You never get any privacy?

Pacquiao: I get a little privacy.

Questions on Floyd Mayweather, Jr

Kimmel went on to touch on the botched fight negotiations with Floyd Mayweather, Jr., and Pacquiao explained his position to take a blood test given certain parameters.

Pacquiao walked into the comedic trap set up by Jimmy Kimmel: “Lets take a urine test right now!”

Pacquiao laughed.

He added: I think he [Mayweather] wasn’t ready for the fight. The job of the fighter is to train hard and to fight in the ring, not to change the rules because NSAC [Nevada State Athletic Commission] is there to implement rules. I am open to fighting anybody.

Kimmel found another joke. This time, the sport’s pound-for-pound king did not grasp Kimmel’s poking sarcasm, who implied that the Filipino was too good for his Ghanaian opponent.

On Joshua Clottey

Kimmel: Have u heard of Joshua Clottey before?

Pacquiao: Yeah he fought [Miguel] Cotto.

Kimmel: Most people believe that you won’t have trouble.

Pacquiao: The fans are very confident. For me, nobody knows. He’s [Clottey] also bigger, and a former world champion. I don’t underestimate my opponents. I respect my opponents.

Kimmel: Did u train how to sing tonight?

Pacquiao: Yeah. I trained today [boxing] and I trained how to sing.

Kimmel: You go on “American Idol.” If they don’t like you, beat the crap out of them.

Last Fight?

Kimmel: Will this be your last fight?

Pacquiao: This will be my last fight before the election.

Kimmel: If you’re the president, will you continue fighting?

Pacquiao: [Laughing] I’m not running for president, I’m running for Congress.

Kimmel: What song will you sing?

Pacquiao: “Nothing’s Gonna Change My Love For You.”

Pacquiao, as usual, sang with effort and heart at the classic George Benson song. He sang a shortened version with the show’s live band. Again, the crowd yelled Manny! Manny! Manny!

Kimmel had earlier called Pacquiao as the best singer in boxing. On March 13th, Joshua Clottey may yet hope that is “Pacman’s only talent in the ring in the middle of Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

The show taping occurred on the same day at Disney's El Capitan Entertainment Center, located on Hollywood Boulevard in the heart of LA's star studded Walk of Fame.

Other celebrities that appeared on the show tonight include actor Ethan Hawke who stars in an upcoming film with Richard Gere “Brooklyn’s Finest.”

Replay of the Pacquiao interview is expected to be posted on the 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' site within 24 hours.

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RICKY, THIS IS NO COMPANY FOR OLD MEN -- UK Express

By Niall Hickman, UK Express

FLOYD MAYWEATHER jnr has issued a warning to Ricky Hatton: “Think long and hard before you step back into the ring.”

Mayweather was in New York yesterday at the launch of his clash with Shane Mosley on May 1, having come out of retirement last year.

Mayweather became the first fighter to beat Hatton in December 2007, when their Las Vegas showdown broke all pay-per-view records in Britain, and he is convinced Hatton should think very seriously about returning to the sport following his second-round knockout loss to Manny Pacquiao last year.

Mayweather, 33, who will be defending his perfect 40-fight record against Mosley, 38, at the MGM Grand in Vegas, said: “Ricky is a great fighter and a great warrior. He has done so much for boxing and he took his defeat by me like a man.

“He is talking about coming back and, of course, he has every right to do that. What I would say, though, is that it gets harder when you get into your 30s to get into shape.

“This is a young man’s game. He will have to train a lot harder to get back into the shape he was and he has got to ask himself a lot of questions.

“He has to think long and hard before he steps back to boxing. Every fighter has a right to earn a living and he is entitled to do whatever he wants.

“I can’t tell him what to do. What I would say, though, is that boxing is tough and rough and you have to be in it 100 per cent, otherwise you have to get out.

“All fighters need a break to get their batteries going again and he is no different. Maybe the rest will do him the world of good .

“What I do know, is this is a hard enough sport when you are young. It is so much harder to get in shape and stay in shape when you are older.”

Hatton, 31, has now returned from holiday in Australia and is looking at making his ring return in June, more than a year after he was left on the canvas by Pacquiao.

Even though he admits he considered quitting, the lure of the fight game proved too enticing for Hatton.

Mayweather-Mosley looks set to be yet another blockbuster and, even though the boxing world desperately wanted to see Mayweather fight Pacquiao, Mosley has real pedigree, having twice beaten Oscar De La Hoya, one of the modern-day greats.

Mayweather is still widely regarded as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, despite the fact he has boxed just once – a routine 12-round points win over Juan Manuel Marquez last September – since beating Hatton in 2007.

Mayweather failed to reach an agreement to fight Pacquiao over the issue of drug testing. Mayweather wanted Olympic-style tests, which are incredibly accurate for any performance-enhancing substances, whereas Pacquiao said the usual boxing blood tests would suffice.

Both Mayweather and Mosley will undergo Olympic testing in the run-up to their clash and Mayweather said: “When it comes to performance-enhancing drugs, I stepped up to the plate.

“I want to show the world that my sport is clean. If others don’t wish to do that, fine. Shane Mosley is prepared to do that and that is why I am facing him .

“Mosley has the WBA welterweight belt – but everyone knows belts just collect dust.

“I don’t need a belt to tell everyone that I am the best there is – bar none.”

Source: express.co.uk

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VIDEO: 'Hellboy' visits 'Pacman'

Boxing News World

Enjoy the clip.



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VIDEO: "I got to where I am without steroids" - Floyd Mayweather Jr

Boxing News World

Enjoy the clips.





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VIDEO: “If he gets hit on the chin, he's going down” – Shane Mosley

Boxing News World

Enjoy the clip.



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VIDEO: "They put me on the cover of (THE RING), but they write bad about me" - Floyd Mayweather Jr

Boxing News World

Enjoy the clips.













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Mosley already tired of Mayweather's pre-fight antics -- Reuters

By Steve Ginsburg, Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Shane Mosley is already tired of Floyd Mayweather's pre-fight antics and will knock him out when the two meet in May, the boxer said Wednesday.

The two American fighters scuffled on their opening day of their press tour in New York and 24 hours later at the Lincoln Theater in Washington went nose-to-nose jawing at each other.

"I'm a mild-mannered guy. People must understand I'm a gentleman when the other person has been a gentleman as well," Mosley told reporters. "If he wants to get feisty, that's OK.

"His personality is to fight before the fight. Since I'm older I understand this. He can't do the same thing he's done to other fighters because I know his tactics.

"He's not in my head, no. I've waited for this fight for too long."

Whether or not the pre-fight clash was merely boxing theater, it is clear Mosley does not care for Mayweather, who has been hurling insults this week as quickly as his jab.

"I'm just happy this fight is taking place," said Mosley. "He can say what he wants to say, he can do what he wants to do. It doesn't matter to me.

"I just want him to show up in the ring. There's nothing he can say to me that would make me mad. I just want to see him on May 1 and we can settle it with our fists."

The Mayweather-Mosley fight at the Las Vegas MGM Grand was signed only after the mega-fight between Mayweather and WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao collapsed.

Mosley (46-5, 39 knockouts) bristles at the idea that he was an afterthought, having long sought a fight against either Mayweather or Pacquiao.

"I was waiting for a year to fight either one of these guys," the WBA welterweight champion said softly. "Did they care if I was going to wait? No. But it's the fans who are going to benefit from this fight."

"I don't play. I give 100 percent. I'm going to give everything that I have. Mayweather knows that."

The 38-year-old Mosley was nattily attired in a charcoal gray suit, with a light-green shirt and a green floral tie. He glanced at Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs), who was casually dressed in a sweat suit.

Mayweather, 33, laughed with fans, signed autographs and posed for pictures. Each signature was accompanied with an insult lobbed toward Mosley.

Mosley shrugged and said: "I'm going to knock him out. I can't wait to get into the ring and dig my teeth into Mayweather. It's going to be the fight of the decade."

(Editing by Dave Thompson)

Source: reuters.com

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Roach on Pacquiao's training, future -- FoxSports

FoxSports

Manny Pacquiao's trainer, Freddie Roach, will talk with FOXSports.com each week leading up to Pacquiao's March 13 welterweight title fight with Joshua Clottey (on HBO pay-per-view).

This is the second in a four-part series. Part I


FOXSports.com: How'd training go this week?

Roach: Training's going great. Manny's doing very well. We're headed towards our peak. He went 10 rounds on Tuesday. He'll do 11 rounds today (last Thursday) and he'll max out at 12 rounds on Saturday so he'll be in the best shape for the fight.


FOXSports.com: You and Manny have had so much success. How do you keep your message fresh to him?

Roach: He's very smart. We work on moves. Especially with Clottey. We're watching tapes of him. We're finding his flaws and his habits. When you have a new opponent in front of you, you always have to find the best way to fight him. That's how we keep it fresh with a new opponent. Joshua Clottey is dangerous - he's a dangerous guy. We have a lot of respect for him. But I have a lot of confidence in my fighter and we'll knock him out before it's over.


FOXSports.com: You just said Clottey is a dangerous fighter. What are you guys focusing on in training?

Roach: How to break his defensive style when he goes to the ropes. We're working on that quite a bit. We're working on if he's coming to us, if he decides to do that. We're getting ready for every scenario that can happen actually. We've been watching a lot of tapes on him. He fights people with different styles, of course. But his habits are there and we can take advantage.


FOXSports.com: With all the hype surrounding Manny -- people saying he could be the best fighter of his generation -- how hard is it to keep him level?

Roach: It's amazing to me that Manny Pacquiao still comes to my gym and works as hard as he does. It's like the first day he came. After winning seven world titles, you'd think somebody would slow down a little bit, lose their edge, be a little cocky. Not Manny Pacquiao. He trains as hard today as the first day he came to my gym. I actually have to slow him and stop him sometimes and turn the bell off in the ring, so he doesn't work anymore. His work ethic is tremendous and that's why he's such a good fighter.


FOXSports.com: Have you or Manny or both of you started to think about your respective legacies?

Roach: We're not caught up in that so much. I that will settle in maybe when we're both retired and looking back on it. We're in the middle of it right now. It's a great relationship. We have a great rapport with each other. But the thing is, we're just getting ready for fights to fight the best fight we can to please the audience. Manny Pacquiao, he's a performer. He wants to make people happy. That's why he trains so hard and fights so hard.


FOXSports.com: How long do you see Manny still fighting?

Roach: Well, Manny Pacquiao's a fighter -- especially in the way of his dedication he could fight for a long time if he wanted to. But I like to see him fight Joshua Clottey. We'll fight the winner of the Shane Mosley-Mayweather fight. And then I want Manny to retire. He's got a lot of interests in life. He's singing, TV shows, movies and politics. He didn't put everything into boxing. He can do other things also. So I'd like to see Manny retire on top and I'd like to see it pretty soon.


FOXSports.com: With the politics, the acting, the singing, the TV, how does Manny keep it all together?

Roach: He loves to entertain. There's no stage big enough for Manny Pacquiao. He loves to perform. After practice here at the gym he goes to singing classes and stuff like that, voice classes and learns how to play the piano and guitar. He just likes to stay busy with all that. You know a lot of people would say that's a lot of distractions and stuff, you know his mind is on the fight when he's in fight mode. But when he's not in fight mode, he's doing other things and enjoying life. I think he'll be president of the Philippines some day because he cares about his people.

Source: foxnews.com

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Spectre Of Mayweather Looms Over Pacquiao -- The Sweet Science

By Ron Borges, The Sweet Science

Freddie Roach tried. So did Manny Pacquiao. They couldn’t do it for long but you had to give them an ‘A’ for effort. They both tried to talk about Joshua Clottey.

“He is a very strong guy and he’s a strong puncher,’’ Pacquiao’s trainer said of the man who will challenge Pacquiao March 13 in Cowboys Stadium outside Dallas. “His best punch is the uppercut but we will not fall into that pocket too often to let him use that shot. I do have a lot of confidence in my fighter and the reason why is the way he has been sparring. We have big strong guys that fight a lot like Clottey. Manny has been handling them with ease in sparring.

“Manny is on top of his game and he’s got the game plan down and he’s very sharp right now. I’m happy where he’s at. I think we will overwhelm him and the fight will end before 12.

“I don’t care who trains Joshua Clottey for this fight, he can’t beat us. He is what he is. Let’s face it. He fights the same way in every tape I watch. Whether he fights southpaws or right-handers, he is predictable. He’s good at what he does but he does the same thing over and over again and he is very predictable. He’s going to try to change for this fight but once he gets in he will revert back to it. We are 100% ready for his style.

“He’s resilient. The beginning of the fight is going to be very hard because he is a very good opponent and he likes to fight. We will break him down and I am confident the fight will not go 12 rounds.

“We have watched a lot of tape on Clottey. We know his characteristics, we know his mistakes and we know his habits. I do feel that the way Manny Pacquiao is training for this fight, the game plan and how to beat Clottey is in place. I know Clottey is a big strong guy and a great fighter and we respect him and he’s a real tough guy but with Manny Pacquiao I feel that he’s going to overwhelm him with his speed and his combinations. I do believe he will be the first person to stop him before the 12th round.’’

That was about it for legitimate Clottey talk. After that Roach, Pacquiao and promoter Bob Arum all had a hard time keeping the conversation away from the real reason this fight was made, which is because The Fight was not. That fight was to be the showdown with Floyd Mayweather, Jr., a bout not only boxing fans but general sports fans were buzzing about.

It did not come off because Pacquiao refused to accede to Mayweather’s demand he agree to random blood testing for performance enhancing drugs right up to nearly fight time. Although Pacquiao would rather have talked about Clottey, the spectre of Mayweather continues to hang over him and this fight, making it little more than a footnote unless a moment comes when Clottey appears to be competitive against the finest pound-for-pound fighting machine in the world.

Assuming that doesn’t happen, and Clottey’s resume gives no reason to expect he will be anything more than stubbornly resilient, the talk remains what it has been for months – who refuses to take a drug test worth $40 million?

This has affected the promotion with Clottey in many ways but Arum did his best when discussing it to turn it into a show of Pacquiao’s strength in the marketplace rather than weakness at the doctor’s office.

“To be frank, we had to overcome disappointment,’’ Arum claimed. “People were looking forward to a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight. That is clear. Our job is to present Joshua Clottey as he is. A bigger guy. A stronger guy. A guy who has never been off his feet. A real test for Manny Pacquiao. That is what will sell this fight.

“You can’t say there are two household names fighting on March 13th but Clottey is a well-respected welterweight. He lost a very close decision to Miguel Cotto in his last fight. He won the title by stopping Zab Judah. He is a formidable opponent and I think that the public gets it. The pay-per-view at $49.95 is going to do extremely well and we are very pleased with the ticket sales at Cowboys Stadium.’’

Arum has predicted at least 45,000 in attendance, which is a sellout the way they have configured Cowboys Stadium, and whatever crowd they get will be there because of Pacquiao because as hard as Arum tries to sell Clottey, no one’s buying. They’re buying Manny vs. Whoever and all sides seem to know it.

“He is truly a crossover star,’’ Arum said by way of putting the best face on this situation. “That was our goal when we started with Manny was to break him out from the Filipino base that he had. We were able to pick up millions of Hispanic fans and we have broken him in to the general conscience of the people around the world. How many fighters of our time go on Jimmy Kimmel Live and go on Good Morning America and have a big article coming out in Time magazine? I think that is saying something.’’

It is but at this stage of things most of what is being said in the days and weeks leading up to this fight is about the fight that wasn’t, a fact that grates on everyone involved.

“I don’t want to talk about or think about blood testing,’’ Pacquiao said. “I want to focus on the Clottey fight. I did take a blood test when I fought Erik Morales. I didn’t think I would fight Mayweather because people know Mayweather was not ready to fight me.’’

That has become part of the prevailing explanation from the Pacquiao camp even though one could turn that argument inside out and level the same charge at Pacquiao. As Mayweather jokingly said a few weeks ago, “What kind of fight don’t take a $25 million drug test (no wonder he had trouble with the IRS)? A guilty fighter.’’

Whatever the reason, the failure of the two sides to come to an agreement on a fight the general public badly wanted to see is one both sides will have to live with for some time. How long is anyone’s guess.

The prevailing wisdom is eventually monetary pressures will force that match to happen but Roach indicated for him there’s a better reason to make the match than the money it’s worth.

“We are not happy with his [Floyd Mayweather Jr.] remarks,’’ Roach said. “Manny wants to fight him in the future because of the remarks he made. Sometimes when Manny is shadowboxing, he will show me how Mayweather fights and how he will take care of the problem. I’ve never seen Manny do that before. He was trying to ruin our reputation with those allegations so we do want to fight him and we do want to knock him out.

“I would like to shut him up of course. Obviously he is just going to have to go by the rules. It is like saying we want to fight five-minute rounds. Commissions do that, not fighters. If you let him have his way it’s like giving away the first two rounds – it’s crazy. I do want Manny to fight him and I know Manny would knock him out and then the whole world will be happy.’’

Perhaps so but Pacquiao has said he can live without it, believing his legacy has already been written. Although a win over Mayweather, the best fighter of this era not named Pacquiao, would enhance that legacy he seems well able to go on without it even if the people around him cannot.

“I’m OK,’’ he said. “I don’t need to fight him. What I believe is Floyd Mayweather is not ready at this time to fight with me. That’s why he makes the reasons to cancel the fight. I feel bad and disappointment because he is accusing me of using drugs or whatever and trying to ruin my name in boxing. People know I have been successful through God and hard work.

“I don’t really need Floyd Mayweather because what I have achieved in boxing is good enough for me and people know that by comparing my achievements in boxing to his achievements.’’

Perhaps but the simple fact is the two of them are involved in something known as prize fighting and the prize is not some alphabet organization’s belt. The real prize is the money they pay you to fight for the belt and there’s only one way either of them can earn $40 million in one night – if the other is in there with him. Anything else is small potatoes.

Source: thesweetscience.com

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Battered performer: Rodela serves as Pacquiao punching bag -- The Examiner

By Michael Marley, Examiner.com

MICHAEL MARLEY REPORTING LIVE FROM MANNY PACQUIAO'S TRAINING CAMP

(Michael Marley's saturation coverage of Manny Pacquiao goes on. There are eight million stories in Pacman City and he may wind up covering all of them before departing for Dallas and the March 13 bout against rugged Joshua Clottey.)

HOLLYWOOD—Every great boxing champion camp's needs a DPB, designated punching bag.

A young, newly-crowned Muhammad Ali used to rip into the rugged Detroit heavyweight Harvey “Cody" Jones on a daily basis. Jones, a good pal of mine, used to take his licking and keep on ticking.

Pacquiao is fortunate to to have Oxnard's 27 year old David Rodela, who is like Jones in that he can absorb incredible punishment and retain a sense of humor about his perilous job.

Rodela calls Manny “his friend.”

After learning how Pacman once literally broke his jaw (with full headgear and big gloves) just before he demolished Ricky Hatton and watching his get slammed from pillar to post Tuesday at the Wild Card Gym, I suggested may want to reconsider Pacman being his “pal.”

“If he's your friend, David, then I would hate to see your enemies."

Rodela laughs. He does that a lot, I guess it's his safety valve when he gets out of the pressure cooker that sparring with Pacman surely is.

Make no mistake about Pacman's competitive fires during sparring as he likes it when his sparmates fire back and fire back continually.

Speaking in Tagalog Tuesday, he told one of his hired hands: “Keep punching, keep punching. Treat me like a punching bag, do me like the bag!”

As you might expect, the employees try to comply with this order which only brings a rain of further punches coming wickedly fast and from all angles by Megamanny.

Rodela figured in another sparring incident when Pacman dropped him with a body shot. Skeptics in the Floyd Mayweather camp said the gym knockdown was staged.

I asked Rodela if he was just trying to make his bossman look good.

“No,” Rodela said, “it was real. He got me good.”

Rodela, who is about 10 pounds over his fighting weight of 130 pounds, will never forget the jawbreaker.

“It was the left hand, I never saw it coming and I don't remember it well but they all told me what it was,” Rodela said.

Stevie “Two Pounds” Forbes has been in camp as well but is leaving now for a fight at the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut Saturday night.

The engaging Forbes dented Oscar de la Hoya when they fought prior to Manny's destruction which sent the Golden Guy into an unplanned, early retirement.

It wasn't so obvious during their outdoor stadium bout near here but, when I saw all the makeup caking Oscar's face at the postfight press conference, it was easy to figure out what it was covering up. Forbes nearly spoiled what was billed as Oscar's “Homecoming.”

Forbes is a Coach Freddie Roach favorite and they really click. Forbes told me he gave Pacman's trainer the nickname, “Cerebreal Assassin.”

It's a fitting nickname for the Professor of Pugilism, I think.

“You may be one of the few fighters around who knows what cerebreal means,” I said to the slick Forbes.

Suffice to say, the Auburn Hills, MI, resident is one of the brighter crayons in the boxing box.

I kidded with Forbes about being African American when the ani-Pac forces continually put forth the canard that Manny has always avoided black foes from the USA.

Neither Forbes nor rising prospect Shawn Porter got that memo.

Forbes still thinks that Mayweather-Pacquiao will get made.

“I think he and Manny will fight sometime because it has to happen. I look at it this way, Manny is the top guy right now, Manny is 1A and Mayweather is 1B. I have to put Manny as my 1A because of what he's done against other top guys.”

Forbes looks at boxing like a chess game and he said Pacquiao is underrated when it comes to cleverness inside the ring.

“Oh, Manny is good at that,” Forbes said. “Manny breaks opponents down mentally and so does Mayweather. They both just break the opponents down. It's like a chess match and Manny and Floyd are always a move or two ahead of the other guy.”

If and when Mayweather and Pacman do tangle, then maybe we should have Michael Buffer just yell, “Checkmate!”

(mlcmarley@aol.com)

Source: examiner.com

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