By Robert Morales, LA Daily News
Although Manny Pacquiao has become a better all-around boxer over the years, he is a whirlwind of action in the ring and never has shied away from engaging anyone in a slug fest.
From the sound of it, Pacquiao has that in mind for tonight when he defends his welterweight world title against "Sugar" Shane Mosley at MGM Grand in Las Vegas (on Showtime pay-per-view).
"I'm excited for this fight because Mosley can throw a lot of punches and he wants to fight toe-to-toe," said Pacquiao, 32, of the Philippines.
That has been the theme for this promotion. Even though Mosley, 39, is coming off a one-sided defeat to Floyd Mayweather Jr. and a lackluster draw to Sergio Mora, the thinking has been Mosley would fare much better against a fellow attacker like Pacquiao rather than crafty fighters such as Mayweather and Mora.
Pacquiao isn't afraid to take chances. His trainer, Freddie Roach, said he'll take plenty tonight.
"When you like to exchange and you like to throw punches, you put yourself in harm's way," Roach said. "That's why Manny is the most exciting fighter in the world. I can't take that away from him. He's always liked to throw combinations, and when you let your hands go you leave yourself open.
"We're going into this fight and we're going to throw a lot of combinations, and Shane is going to come back and it's going to be an exciting fight."
No risk, no reward, as the saying goes. Mosley may be seven years Pacquiao's senior, but he always has lived up to that credo.
"I think that people see my power and they know I will bring an exciting fight," said Mosley, who is 46-6-1 with 39 knockouts. "And also the fans choose to see knockouts. They want to see someone who has some power. They want to see a fight where there is risk being taken.
"For this fight it's very risky for someone like Manny Pacquiao to fight someone like myself. People want to see what's going to happen. Is Manny going to get knocked out? Or is Manny going to knock Shane out?"
Mosley has not been stopped inside the distance. Pacquiao has.
Mosley's trainer, Naazim Richardson, suggested Pacquiao's way of doing business could change once he feels Mosley's power.
"Shane Mosley is quick to say this guy is a gladiator and this guy is going to fight me," Richardson said. "But it doesn't matter. I have to prepare Shane Mosley for a defensive fighter with every man he faces because if Shane hits you solid, you're going on the defensive.
"I don't care how much of a gladiator or how tough you were before. When Shane tags you, you'll be a defensive fighter."
Richardson is not taking anything for granted.
"Pacquiao offers opportunities because he's a gladiator," Richardson said. "He offers those opportunities, but he may limit those opportunities in dealing with Shane. There is still a strategy involved with every gladiator.
"I don't believe that even Pacquiao will stand there and fight with Shane. As aggressive as he has been with those other guys, I mean, you can't stay aggressive with Shane. Pacquiao is capable of doing other things and I, for one, believe that he's going to do other things."
Speed could turn out to be an interesting element. Both fighters have a lot, but Mosley's speed could work more to his advantage. That's what he thinks, anyway.
He used Pacquiao's victory over Antonio Margarito in November as proof. Pacquiao won by eight, 10 and 12 points, but he suffered a lot of punishment.
"I look at different fights and I see in the Margarito fight that Margarito landed the most punches ever on Manny Pacquiao," Mosley said. "So if Margarito is fast enough to land punches on Manny Pacquiao, then I know I am fast enough to land punches on Manny Pacquiao."
Mosley will be trying to work the ring in a way that would reduce the number of punches Pacquiao (52-3-2, 38 KOs) unleashes.
"It's all the angles and the way you move and how you turn to where you make him not throw as many punches," Mosley said.
No problem, Pacquiao said.
"We studied hard for this training camp and we applied different techniques and different styles in the ring," he said. "We're ready to fight and I can adjust right away in the ring to whatever style it is."
The way these two fight, this could be a real barnburner, one that could be decided in the first half. The thinking is Mosley has to get to Pacquiao early to have a chance because Mosley probably will tire and Pacquiao won't.
"The first five rounds of this fight are very critical," Roach said. "The way we go about attacking Shane is going to have a lot of thought behind it. If you just walk into Shane and attack him, you just walk into the fire. He'll counterpunch the hell out of you and he has knockout power."
About 6,500 attended Friday's weigh-in. Mosley came in at the 147-pound limit. Pacquiao weighed 145.
Source: dailynews.com
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