Pac-Man Advisor Koncz Says: If They Fight A Third Fight, Pacquiao And Marquez Will Box At 145-Pounds -- Eastside Boxing

By James Slater, Eastside Boxing

As fans have no doubt read, the frontrunner to land the spot as the next challenger for superstar Manny Pacquiao is Mexico’s Juan Manuel Marquez. Both Bob Arum and Freddie Roach are reported to want this match-up to come next for Pac-Man and, unless Golden Boy can match the offer Top Rank have made to Marquez, this is the fight that will almost certainly happen (on November 5th or 12th).

The biggest question the fans have had when it comes to this prospective fight, is at what weight the fight - which will be the third clash between the two modern day legends - will go ahead at. In two sensational meetings, in 2004 and 2008, Pacquiao and Marquez fought at 126 and 130-pounds respectively. Since then, though, the incredible Filipino has marched through the lightweight, the light-welterweight, the welterweight, and even the light-middleweight divisions. As a result, the fans have asked aloud the question: can “Dinamita” compete with Pacquiao at 147, even 140-Pounds?

Well, according to Pac-Man advisor Michael Koncz, if and when the two warriors do meet again, it will be at 145-pounds and no lower.

According to a news piece on GMA News, Koncz said “It’s 145. We’ve had general discussions with Top Rank’s Bob Arum.”

Koncz informed the media that he and Manny “haven’t sat down and made a decision yet,” but that the 32-year-old global superstar will not fight under 145 as he himself understands it.

Arum has in mind a few alternative foes for Pac-Man just in case the Marquez fight falls through for whatever reason, but Marquez himself promised fans on Saturday (after the awful bore that was Pacquaio WU12 Mosley) how he would “give Pacquiao a real fight.” It seems the 37-year-old great is up for the trilogy.

But, in light of Koncz’ statement, will there be too many fans willing to give Marquez a chance in fight-three? Can Juan Manuel be effective at 145-pounds?

As fans will surely recall, Marquez weighed-in at a announced weight of 142 for his losing fight with Floyd Mayweather Junior in September of 2009, and the Mexican hero looked less than toned for that fight - after making the heavier weight with the assistance of a diet that consisted of quail eggs and piss (his own). How, then, can Marquez be expected to be able to fight to his usual standards at 145 - against Pacquiao at that?

Marquez, 52-5-1(38) has never been stopped in his illustrious pro career. I fear that if he faces Pacquiao at an agreed weight of 145-pounds, this will change. Why can’t Pac-Man, if he truly wants to prove who the better fighter is, make some effort at leveling the playing field by agreeing to take the fight at 138 or 139? I’m sure Manny could make such a weight without overly compromising his chances of winning. Can the same be said of Marquez if he agrees to fight at 145?

Source: eastsideboxing.com

Shane Mosley receives suspension after Pacquiao fight, Drug tests not back yet -- Examiner

By Rick Rockwell, Examiner.com

On Tuesday morning, Fight Sports Examiner was informed by a representative of the Nevada State Athletic Commission that Shane Mosley was suspended until June 22nd. By Tuesday afternoon, Fight Sports Examiner received further clarification on Mosley's suspension from the Executive Director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission Keith Kizer. According to Mr. Kizer, Mosley was suspended for precautionary reasons due to the minor injuries he sustained in the fight with Pacquiao on Saturday May 7th.

Mr. Kizer also shared some details on the drug testing. Although the results aren't "in yet", both Manny Pacquiao and Shane Mosley were tested the night of the fight and there are no indications or expectations of any problems with their results. The tests should be back within the next week or two.

Manny Pacquiao defeated Shane Mosley via Unanimous Decision in their WBO welterweight championship fight live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Pacquiao retained the title as Mosley failed to win a single round on 2 of the judge's scorecards (119-108, 120-108, 120-107).

It's unclear as to what Mosley's next move will be. Many boxing pundits are calling for his retirement after his performance against Pacquiao. However, Mosley's camp has given no indications on retiring. As for Pacquiao he's expected to fight again in November against either Juan Manuel Marquez or Timothy Bradley.

Source: examiner.com

Marquez accepts terms for Pacquiao fight, Golden Boy to respond -- Los Angeles Times

By Lance Pugmire, Los Angeles Times

Manny Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum, said Tuesday that Juan Manuel Marquez has accepted a revised offer to fight Pacquiao in November. The hitch is that Marquez's promoter, Golden Boy, has the opoortunity to match the deal, and its chief executive says he plans to.

Golden Boy Chairman Richard Schaefer told The Times on Tuesday that it's his understanding Marquez has agreed to a Pacquiao fight at a lowered welterweight catch weight of 144 pounds, with $5 million guaranteed in what would be a third meeting between the fighters.

Pacquiao and Marquez battled to a 2004 draw, and Pacquiao won a split-decision in 2008.

Yet, through the end of this year, Golden Boy has the contractual ability to match any financial deal Marquez, the world lightweight champion, is offered. Schaefer said he has a date reserved for a boxing card on Sept. 17 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas. One possibility is that Marquez would fight on that date against new world welterweight champion Victor Ortiz of Oxnard.

Ortiz has previously fought at 140 pounds, so he could fight at 144, too, Schaefer said.

Regarding the finances, Schaefer said he was confident Golden Boy could secure a $5-million payday for Marquez, saying, "I'm sure HBO would be on board," in helping to put the bout together.

Schaefer said there's a possibility newly crowned world super-welterweight Saul "Canelo" Alvarez could stage a title defense on the Sept. 17 card.

Source: latimesblogs.latimes.com

Shane Mosley: He Couldn't Versus Mayweather And Wouldn't Versus Pacquiao -- The Sweet Science

By Frank Lotierzo, The Sweet Science

When former three division champ Shane Mosley 46-7-1 (39) signed to fight WBO welterweight title holder Manny Pacquiao 53-3-2 (38), most observers were pretty confident that based on Mosley's recent history, he probably wouldn't win, but he'd at least push Pacquiao to fight and treat the fans to an exciting bout. Pacquiao represented another huge payday for Mosley and one last chance for him to redeem himself having coming off of two underwhelming showings against Floyd Mayweather and Sergio Mora in his last two bouts.

For Pacquiao, he wanted to beat Mosley more impressively than Mayweather did this time last year and make history by being the first fighter to stop Shane since he turned pro in 1993. So it was easy to see why the ballyhoo for the fight was huge. If nothing else the two warriors would deliver a thrilling fight for as long as it lasted. Only a funny thing happened once the two fighters stepped into the ring. Mosley came to grips with what mostly everyone was saying before the fight, that he was too old and civilized to mess with Manny and if he tried to push the issue on fight night, the reality would more than hurt, it would be embarrassing for the almost 40 year-old Pomona legend. And fighters fear being embarrassed more than they do losing or getting knocked out.

There's only two things that can make a fighter shut down and look to do just enough not to get knocked out or win. The first is the fight is a set up and the fighter who's not really taking any risk to win knows it - or he's afraid of what very well might happen to him physically if he dares to press the issue and fights with all he has to win. This past Saturday night we saw this from Shane Mosley during the course of the 12-rounds the fight went. Shane did all he could to prevent Pacquiao from getting the thing he wanted most, a stoppage win over him to add to his escalating legacy. So basically Mosley got what he wanted - he made a ton of money and wasn't stopped.

I have no doubt that walking to the ring that night Mosley's intent was to derail the Pacquiao express. No way the fight was a set up before the fighters exchanged blows at the bell for round one. However, that changed when Pacquiao asserted himself and had answers for everything Mosley thought he wanted to do. And after Manny dropped Shane for only the second time of his career in the third round,
Mosley accepted that he couldn't win the fight and the only thing he could do was try to keep Pacquiao from stopping him. And on the night of May 7th 2011, losing on his feet looked much better to Mosley than trying to win the fight and maybe getting stopped in the process.

See, those double and triple jabs that Shane threw were code in several ways. For starters, they were just enough to keep Pacquiao from really trying to take liberty with him because one of these times there just might be a big right hand behind one of them. And secondly they said "stay away from me." At first Manny was slightly fooled by them, but he soon caught on. And once he did it was as if Pacquiao said subconsciously that if you're not really trying to hurt me or win the fight, I won't try and kill you. I'll make a few runs and try to get the stoppage win, but it's not a matter of life and death and I respect your experience and reputation, so I'll be cool.

Again, forget about the official result and decision victory for Pacquiao. Just as he did with Joshua Clottey, Pacquiao showed Mosley enough that the thought of engaging him broke his will and forced him to fight to survive instead of to win. And doing that against even an old Mosley is impressive because of all the class fighters Mosley has fought no fighter ever made him submit in the ring. Not Oscar De La Hoya, Vernon Forrest, Winky Wright, Fernando Vargas, Ricardo Mayorga, Miguel Cotto, Antonio Margarito or Floyd Mayweather. Sometimes when one fighter can force his opponent to give up before he knocks him out, it's more impressive than actually knocking him out. For Manny Pacquiao to show Shane Mosley enough in three rounds that Mosley basically says to himself, I know you can beat me and you don't have to stop me to prove it, is pretty spectacular.

No, Pacquiao didn't look like Sugar Ray Robinson's equal this past weekend, but he never was. In fact I don't think he's Sugar Ray Leonard or Roberto Duran's equal, but he's still the fighter of the decade based on what took place between 2000-2010. He's an all-time great but I think it's pretty clear he's turned the corner physically and if he really did injure his leg training, maybe that's another sign that he's beginning to decline ever so slightly.

Yes, we were duped and believed Shane would make it a fight. And in hindsight as it was stated here before the fight, Mosley's only shot was to empty his wagon early and try to catch lightning in a bottle and stop Pacquiao. But apparently Mosley and his trainer Naazim Richardson thought that it wasn't worth the risk and that's why they watched a lot of Pacquiao-Marquez II. Shane was never going to win the wait and react game, but it would enable him to navigate his way to the finish line in second place of a two man race, and it did.

So there you have it. Floyd Mayweather was too technically proficient and cerebral for a 38 year old Mosley - Manny Pacquiao was too physically brilliant for a 39 year old Mosley. In essence Mosley couldn't beat Mayweather and wouldn't try to beat Pacquiao. You be the judge of what's more impressive?

Personally, I'm more impressed with Pacquiao breaking Mosley's will than I am with Mayweather trumping his skill. But that doesn't necessarily translate into a Pacquiao victory over Mayweather. At the end of the day both fighters beat an empty package in Shane Mosley and all that he has remaining, or should I say had, was his name. In actuality, both Victor Ortiz and Andre Berto would be riskier fights for both Pacquiao and Mayweather than Shane Mosley circa 2010-2011.

Source: thesweetscience.com

A Fan’s View of Pacquiao – Mosley from Vegas -- Boxing Insider

By William Holmes, Boxing Insider

It started as soon as I got off the plane.

I’ve been waiting for this the past five months, a chance to see the world’s best fighter in the world’s fight capital. I’ve been to the World Series, the Stanley Cup, an NBA playoff game, an NFL playoff game, a UFC title fight, and I have seen Manny Pacquiao fight in Dallas, and Bernard Hopkins fight in Philadelphia. However, I have been told I cannot truly be considered a fight fan until I see a fight in Las Vegas, and that the excitement in Sin City is an experience every fight fan should experience. They were right.

As soon as I got off the plane you’re greeted the sight of slot machines, and tired travelers sleeping in the airport waiting for their planes to take them home. You’re then shooed into a longer than expected line to get a taxi to your hotel. On the way to your hotel you see the fight being hyped everywhere, on billboards, on the radio, even the taxi driver was talking about it. The hotel receptionist greets me in Tagalog, she recognized I was part Filipino. I simply replied mestizo while pointing at myself, indicating that I could not speak Tagalog. She smiles and states, “I hope he wins”, and then wishes me luck. She must have given me some luck, because dinner that night was paid for courtesy of a Phillies victory.

I awoke the next day excited and amped, weigh ins were today, and I was one day closer to the fight. The cab driver revealed that cheapest you could a scalped ticket for the fight was about $1,200, and that it’s been awhile since Las Vegas had a big name fight. I wanted to get good seats for the weigh in, so I arrived an hour and half early. I should’ve arrived earlier. The MGM Grand Garden Arena was draped off, exposing half of it for the diehard fans who wanted to catch a ten minute glimpse of the fighters as they weighed in. Eight thousand fans showed up to watch a weigh in, and I’d estimate 90% of them arrived an hour early. People were chanting, some were singing, some were waving flags, but all were excited. Manny Pacquiao fans greatly outnumbered Shane Mosley fans; it was obvious that he owned this city. Tracy McGrady, Floyd Mayweather Sr., and Lou DiBella were seen to be in attendance at the weigh ins. After the weigh ins, I heard people in the crowd mention that employeed at the MGM Grand had to turn away approximately 2,000 fans. I suddenly became glad I arrived an hour and a half early.

Some members of my family were in Las Vegas this weekend to watch the fight. We decided to meet at the Wok in the MGM Casino for dinner after the weigh ins. Luckily, right next to us was Jorge Arce and some of his friends and advisors. He had four bottles of water and multiple plates of sushi in front of him. He was fighting in his highest weight class ever, yet still evidently had to cut weight, and couldn’t wait to feast. After he was done eating and preparing to leave, I looked at him and said good luck Jorge. He started to speak to me in Spanish, another language that I did not know, but was kind enough to take a picture with me and thanked me for wishing him good luck. We shook hands and he simply stated “I’m going to need it.” I must have passed off the good luck from my hotel receptionist to him, because despite being a large underdog, he won the next night by TKO.

That night some friends of mine were in Vegas for a bachelor party, and I tagged along. There are beautiful women everywhere in Las Vegas, and I mean everywhere. At the first night club we went to bartenders, clubbers, and members of my own party expressed their jealousy when I mentioned I was here to watch the big fight live. Nearly everyone had mentioned they had bet on the fight, and many of them would wind up losing money the next night. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, and that night was a blur. Let’s just say that when I left the last club I went to, the only star in the sky was the sun, and it was very, very, bright.

My last day in Las Vegas was the day to go see the fight. My brother and I originally attempted to buy three tickets so that we could sit together. We wanted to buy three because he was also buying a ticket for his wife. The fight sold out so fast that we couldn’t buy three tickets next to each other, so I bought a ticket and said I would sit by myself. It did not bother me one bit, I was happy just to go. I’ve always been a huge fight fan, and considering my heritage, Manny Pacquiao is my favorite athlete. They could’ve said my seat was on the roof with a hole cut out to peer down below and I would’ve been pleased with it.

The casino floor of the MGM Grand was a sea of people. How could I go to a title fight in Las Vegas and not bet on it? As I waited in line at the sports book, I noticed the guy in front of me bet $10.000 on the fight, and the guy to the right of me bet $2,000 on the fight. I meekly and humbly bet $20 on the fight, and the cashier seemed to laugh at me as he informed me that I’ll win $2 if Pacquiao wins. As I walked away I thought to myself, but my whole trip will also be validated if Pacquiao wins.

The first thing that stood out was how empty the arena was for the undercard fights. It dawned on me that most of the people in attendance were not here to watch a night of boxing, but here to watch one fight, Pacquiao vs. Mosley. Everyone who was there dressed in their absolute best. You could hear arguments in the bathroom about who would win between Pacquiao and Mayweather, and who was to blame for this fight not materializing. In the mezzanine you heard a lot of Tagalog and Spanish, mixed in with some English. The excitement was in the air, it was almost time for the big fight. The arena slowly filled up, and by the time Jorge Arce fought it was nearly packed. The Arce/Vazquez fight was action packed, and came to a thrilling conclusion as Vazquez’s corner threw in the towel. Arce did not win that fight because of good luck, he won that fight because of his heart and determination. It brought the crowd to its feet, and only helped build the anticipation for the main event.

I struck up conversation with two Mosley fans to the right of me before the main event. They both strongly felt that Mosley would win, and we broke down the strengths and weaknesses of both fighters. When they realized I was sitting by myself for the fight, they stated “you must be a big fight fan.” I explained that I couldn’t consider myself a fight fan until I saw a fight in Las Vegas, but I’ve always followed the sport of boxing.

Every big fight has celebrities singing the national anthem. Charice sung the Filipino National Anthem, Tyrese sung the United States’ National Anthem, and Jamie Foxx sung ‘America the Beautiful’. All three had members of the crowd singing. Top Rank had promotional video of past fights featuring Ali, Leonard, Hearns, and others that had the crowd screaming in anticipation. Mosley picked LL Cool J to sing ‘Mama Said Knock You Out’ for his walk out song. His walk out song selection was Mosley’s highlight of the night. Pacquiao came out smiling as Jimi Jamison sang ‘Eye of the Tiger’. By the time the crowd was in a frenzy, the reason for my trip had finally arrived.

Both fighters started cautiously, as they were trying to feel each other out. Mosley was the taller fighter with the reach, but that has become the standard for Manny Pacquiao fights. The crowd reacted with every punch, and erupted when Pacquiao knocked Mosley down in the third round. That apparently was all Pacquiao needed to do to win the fight, as he chased Mosley back pedaled from Pacquiao the rest of the match and clearly only wanted to survive. The biggest noise the crowd made for the rest of the fight was when a shove was incorrectly ruled a knockdown. It only angered the Filipino fighter, and for the last two rounds he appeared to step on the gas pedal in an attempt to finish Mosley. You could hear chants of “knock him out” from the crowd, and boos in between rounds as Mosley did nothing to try and win the fight. At the end of the night Pacquiao was announced the winner, but most of the crowd was not pleased. However, a Pacquiao victory was pleasing to me.

I have visited the Philippines once with my family, and I swear every bar in the Philippines has a karaoke machine. Music and singing is a big part of Filipino culture. My mother did not attend the fight, but she wanted to attend the after party when she heard that Pacquiao would be singing there. At the questionable price of $70 a ticket, my family and I went to the Mandalay Bay to see Pacquiao’s concert. It was nothing but Filipino’s, and I again wished I knew Tagalog as most of the performers spoke in my Mother’s native language. The opening acts performed for what appeared to be an eternity, and we grew impatient as we only wanted to see Pacquiao. Pacquiao is known to be notoriously late, and he of course was late to his own party. When he finally arrived, it was stunning to see a man who just fought a twelve round title fight, dressed in a suit and tie, with no marks on his face, smiling to sing at a concert for his fans. Perhaps he is so talented at boxing, that he was more nervous to sing in front of his fans than to fight in front of his fans. As he sang, the Filipino’s in the crowd danced and sang along. The songs were in Tagalog, and he spoke to the crowd in Tagalog, I had to ask my Mother to translate for me. The concert reminded me of my trip to the Philippines and being in front of the karaoke machine with my relatives who I just met. His fight may have failed to live up to expectations, but his concert did not. He performed until past 3AM, and finished with a lively rendition of La Bamba, in Spanish. Of course, I did not understand the words to that song either. I looked at my Mother and saw that this concert made her a very big Pacquiao fan, as she could care less about boxing. It was too violent for her, and there was more to her culture than just fighting.

When I arrived at my hotel it was past 4AM, and I had to be at the airport within two hours. The fight may not have lived up to expectations, but the pre-fight hype and activities in Las Vegas exceeded my expectations. A Pacquiao victory ensured that the trip was money well spent. I arrived at the airport an hour and a half before my flight, and I was extremely tired. I took a quick nap on the airport floor. Amazing how stories tend to come full circle.

William Holmes writes for our sister site MMAOnline.com

© 2011 BoxingInsider LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed with out written permission.

Source: boxinginsider.com

What's the secret behind Pacquiao's amazing strength and power? It's nothing more than hard work -- Daily Mail

By Jeff Powell, DailyMail.co.uk

As the greatest pound-for-pound fighter on the planet celebrated the conquest of yet another larger champion than himself by giving a pop concert, the rest of the world marvelled yet again at how he finds the strength and the power to perform such feats.

With the moth-balled pretender to the throne renewing his unsubstantiated insinuations about drug abuse, Manny Pacquiao’s master trainer has decided to shed light on the real secret. It’s called hard work.
So hard that the redoubtable Sugar Shane Mosley was knocked down for only the third time in his venerable career and overwhelmingly out-pointed even though the PacMan was way below his best in successfully defending his world welterweight title on Saturday night.

So hard that Floyd Mayweather Jnr, solid professional though he is when active, may never fancy trying to match all the sweat, strain and effort which would be required to challenge the ruler of the modern ring.

As Mayweather the self-styled Money Man retreated into his mutterings about blood tests on the vampire scale, the PacMan’s human genius of a mentor offered an explanation that was more down to earth than unearthly.

Freddie Roach, circus-master at the Wild Card gym in Hollywood, said: 'Manny is one of those rare athletes with an astonishingly high energy level, which enables him to keep exercising over and over again. He begins the day with a long hill run on which only his dog can keep up with him. That is followed by hours of gruelling callilsthenics, after which he often repeats his minimum abdominal routine of 2,000 sit ups.

'Then he goes into 15-rounds hitting the pads with me – also doing exercises in the 60 second intervals between rounds. It’s crazy.'

As for the sparring, which is always fierce under Roach, his conditioning coach and dietician Alex Ariza reports: ‘On days when an especially heavy sparring session is scheduled we ask him to skip running but he always says no and goes out on his own if we won’t go with him.’

Ariza – the specialist who was sacked by Amir Khan but may be re-appointed following the British world light-welterweight champion’s scrappy win over Paul McCloskey – adds: 'Manny is one of the most highly conditioned athletes in the world.

'His mental intensity makes him virtually oblivious to pain. He’s a phenomenon. He has a resting pulse rate of 42 beats per minute which rises to 205 under extreme physical pressure and which he can maintain for long periods.'
The hyper-activity which has established Pacquiao as the first and only world champion in eight different weight divisions – from flyweight to light-middleweight – also fuels his multi-tasking as a Congressman in his native Philippines, a singer and an action movie actor.
The constant intensity also drives the frequency and the power of the punches to which vanquished opponents across all those championship poundages ruefully attest.
Bear in mind that in the three rounds which history considers the most thunderous of all time, Marvin Hagler and Leonard Hearns were throwing about 50 punches every three minutes.

Pacquiao, despite a lower out-put against the runaway Mosley, is currently averaging nigh-on a hundred and thereby hurling more than a thousand punches over the 12-round distance in most of his title fights.
If his challengers last that long.

Given those extraordinary physical properties with which to work, Roach has developed this one-time one-punch pony into the all-round boxing machine. Once a basic south-paw with a killer left hook, Pacquaio is now a multi-combination head and body puncher with an equally concussive right hand.

In the process, not unlike Muhammad Ali, he has transcended his sport to become an iconic figure in many parts of the world. Not only that, but given the tens of millions of his countrymen who throng the streets and squares back home to marvel at his exploits in the ring, a potential Phillipines president.

All this appears to be too much to bear for Mayweather, especially since a third criminal charge – this one for threatening to have security guards shot – has been added to his arraignments for assault, battery and larceny.

Mayweather, having just been dropped by The Ring world rankings after a year inactivity, declined to watch from ringside as Pacquiao even though he lives in Las Vegas, also on his way to an overwhelming points decision, did what Mayweather failed to do by decking Mosley.

Nor, I suspect, will he want to hear or read all this about the PacMan being Superman.

His only possible remedy, however, is the one currently resting in his own hands.

Source: dailymail.co.uk

Pacquiao again shows he's a headliner -- Las Vegas Review-Journal

By TIM DAHLBERG, LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

Manny Pacquiao always was going to get his $20 million. That was part of the deal that lured him to Las Vegas, where wealthy whales and B-list celebrities gathered ringside to watch him beat up yet another pretender to his crown.

On this night his opponent was a reluctant combatant, there seemingly only to get his big payday. But Pacquiao wasn't about to let that ruin his plans for a big evening on the Strip.

He fought poverty, beat Shane Mosley and shared a dais with Paris Hilton. The president of the Philippines called to chat, and then it was off with his massive entourage for a concert at a neighboring casino.

All in a night's work for the little fighter who can.

"People know I'm trying to do my best," Pacquiao said. "I think they're satisfied."

Hard not to be when the most entertaining fighter since Mike Tyson worked as hard inside the ring as he did later in a concert that stretched into the wee hours of the morning. It wasn't Pacquiao's fault that Mosley spent most of Saturday night trying to find a spot between the ropes where Pacquiao couldn't hit him rather than try to put up a good fight.

Hilton seemed happy about it all. The faux celebrity joined Pacquiao and his wife at the postfight news conference to give her analysis of the fight, and the verdict was, well, favorable. "It was a very amazing fight," she said.

Others who might know boxing a bit better probably would disagree, but Pacquiao couldn't do a lot about it. He floored Mosley with a left hook in the third round and spent the rest of the night chasing after him despite a cramp in his left leg that made his opponent even harder to catch.

Much like with Tyson in his prime, though, Pacquiao mostly got a pass for his choice of opponent. Though the 16,412 fans at the sold-out MGM Grand Garden booed in the later rounds, they were booing Mosley, not Pacquiao, for a fight that dragged on for 12 rounds before coming to a predictable end.

Indeed, most fans -- Hilton included -- seemed to be happy just to see Pacquiao in action. That's the lure of the Filipino phenom, who continues to be the sport's biggest draw even while being fed a questionable diet of opponents in recent fights.

Mosley was the latest, a fighter who looked shot in his bout last year with Floyd Mayweather Jr. and looked even worse against Pacquiao.

Once a great fighter, Mosley at the age of 39 lacks the reflexes to compete anymore even if he refuses to recognize it.

"I don't think he tried to win the fight; he just tried to survive," said Freddie Roach, who trains Pacquiao. "When you get to that point in boxing, it's time to call it a day."

Promoter Bob Arum tried to defend his pick of Mosley as Pacquiao's latest victim, saying Pacquiao is so good that no fighter can look good against him.

That's bogus, because other fighters out there not only could give Pacquiao a challenge but conceivably could beat him.

No. 1 at the top of that list, as everyone in boxing knows, is Mayweather, who seems as reluctant to sign for a fight with Pacquiao as Mosley was to put up a fight with him.

But the clamor for a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight has died down with Mayweather inactive and facing legal problems that could land him in jail, and that fight seems even longer away than it was before.

Next up for Pacquiao likely will be a third fight against Juan Manuel Marquez, who fought to a disputed draw with Pacquiao in 2004 and then lost a split decision to him two years later.

But, while that fight is somewhat intriguing, Marquez is basically a lightweight while Pacquiao has grown into a full-blown welterweight who would have a big size advantage.

Pacquiao will make another $20 million regardless of who is in the ring with him. That's big money for any fighter, even if a fight with Mayweather conceivably could double that purse.

Before that happens, though, Pacquiao has stuff to do back home. The biggest sports hero the Philippines has had also is a congressman trying to build a hospital in his province, and the yellow gloves he wore in the fight were, he said, a symbol of the fight to end poverty in his native country.

He might or might not go down as one of the greatest fighters ever. That will be for boxing historians to decide when his career is over.

But as his excellent weekend in Las Vegas showed, he might be the hardest working fighter ever.

Tim Dahlberg is a Las Vegas-based national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at tdahlberg@ap.org or at http://twitter.com/timdahlberg.

Source: lvrj.com

Shane, don't come back! -- New York Post

By George Willis, NY Post

LAS VEGAS -- Sugar Shane Mosley has started his own promotional company and hopes to build it into a viable business in the boxing industry. He should make it his new full-time job after his disappointing performance against Manny Pacquiao Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

The last thing anyone envisioned was Mosley, a three-division champion, basically running away from Pacquiao for most of the 12-round welterweight championship. But that's what happened after Pacquiao dropped Mosley with a straight left hand in the third round. Mosley spent the rest of the fight trying not to get clocked again.

"It didn't seem like a big shot when he threw it," Mosley said of the knockdown punch. "But the impact of it was strong."

Mosley barely survived the third round, but made sure he'd survive the rest of the fight, staying in constant retreat with gloves up and seldom engaging the pursuing Pacquiao. Mosley (46-7-1, 39 KOs) complained a blister on the sole of his right foot was a distraction and limited his ability to be aggressive. "I was at a disadvantage," he said.

Mosley's safety-first approach frustrated a sellout crowd of 16,412 as well as Pacquiao, who wanted to earn his $20 million purse.

"The people want to see exchanging punches," Pacquiao (53-3-2, 38 KOs) said. "They want to see a good fight. That's what I want. But Mosley doesn't want to fight toe-to-toe. He's always running. Every time I want to throw a lot of punches, he goes away.

"I was expecting him to fight with me at least five rounds of the 12 rounds, to fight toe-to-toe with me so we can give a good fight; we can test our power and stamina. But what am I going to do when my opponent doesn't want to fight toe-to-toe? It's not my fault."

Judges awarded Pacquiao 34 of the 36 rounds scored. Mosley, who earned $5 million, won the 10th round on one judge's card and a 10-10 draw on another when he was credited for a knockdown. Replays showed he clearly pushed Pacquiao, who dominated the rest of the round.

Pacquiao's trainer, Freddie Roach, said it's time for Mosley to consider retirement.

"I don't think he tried to win the fight," Roach said. "He just tried to survive and when you get to that point in boxing, it's time to call it a day."

Mosley said he'll contemplate his future during a long vacation. He's 0-2-1 over his last three fights, including one-sided defeats to Floyd Mayweather Jr. and now Pacquiao. He looked his age in both fights.

"At 39 I still feel young, but I guess Father Time catches up with you," Mosley said.

Mannymania is only going to build, but just who his next opponent will be is a complicated issue. Top Rank boss Bob Arum said it will be Juan Manuel Marquez, Timothy Bradley or Zab Judah.

Top Rank will be sending a contract proposal today to Marquez, but Golden Boy Promotions has the right of first refusal on Marquez. That means if Golden Boy wants to keep Marquez, it'll have to guarantee him the same money he'd make in a Pacquiao fight against another opponent.

Pacquiao won't fight a Golden Boy fighter until his defamation suit against the company is settled. Pacquiao is suing Golden Boy over comments made suggesting Pacquiao might have used performance-enhancing drugs.

A third fight with Marquez only takes place if he's no longer under contract to Golden Boy Promotions. Otherwise it's Bradley or Judah in November.

Mayweather has been inactive for a year and has two legal cases pending.

Mayweather already indicated he would want a tune-up bout before fighting Pacquiao. So don't look for Pacquiao-Mayweather until 2012 at the earliest.

george.willis@nypost.com

Source: nypost.com

Floyd Mayweather remains logical next foe for Manny Pacquiao; just don't hold your breath -- Grand Rapids Press

By David Mayo, Grand Rapids Press

Manny Pacquiao couldn’t stop Shane Mosley because it’s hard to knock out someone who won’t fight.

Still, Pacquiao maintained his place on the pound-for-pound throne, forced some marketplace contemplation at HBO by taking the fight to Showtime’s pay-per-view arm (they may not have the equal subscriber bases, but they reach the same PPV providers), and kept a six-year unbeaten streak intact.

With all that said, a few things of note:

Floyd Mayweather remains the opponent who makes the most sense for Pacquiao -- remember back when people used to worry about who was the most sensible opponent for Mayweather? -- but it’s illogical to expect it this year.

If they haven’t fought by 2013 -- remember when we thought they might have fought twice, even three times by then? -- then it’s probably illogical to expect it, ever.

So if they defy logic yet again, super. You would think a fight almost certain to be the richest in history, between two men fortunate to share the same weight division simultaneously, would be rubber-stamped. Then money, steroid talk, blood testing, blood rivalry, a lawsuit and a lot of ego got in the way.

Mayweather hasn’t fought in 374 days, and counting, with no firm plan to fight, much less a firm fight planned. He panned Pacquiao-Mosley beforehand by urging fans, via Twitter, to watch Lady Gaga on HBO instead, as if they shared demographics.

If Mayweather is still that concerned about boxing, and taking the play away from Pacquiao, he remains the most empowered and best equipped to do something about it.

Mayweather-Pacquiao wouldn’t make or break boxing, which may never be makable again, and certainly isn’t breakable. There are plenty of fights that fight fans want.

There’s only one that sports fans want.

Pacquiao’s most likely next opponent is Juan Manuel Marquez, whom he has faced twice previously, in epic fights at much lighter weights. They fought to a 2004 draw that Marquez dominated after suffering three first-round knockdowns, and a 2008 Pacquiao split decision. Plenty of people argue that Marquez won both.

Those fights were at 126 and 130 pounds. Pacquiao now fights at 147. Marquez has fought heavier than 135 only once, when he weighed 142 and Mayweather routed him for 12 rounds. Mayweather was criticized for making his comeback, after a 21-month layoff, against a much smaller foe. Now, Pacquiao is braced to face the same fighter, at approximately the same weight, three years later.

Maybe that’s why Mayweather criticizes Pacquiao for fighting his pre-tenderized victims -- Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Mosley and perhaps Marquez.

So is there any reason to watch Pacquiao-Marquez III?

Yes, because in the absence of a Mayweather fight, Pacquiao needs a measuring stick to judge himself against ... himself.

A third Marquez fight could indicate how much Pacquiao has improved in the past three years, against someone who offers a familiar template. And if it ends up another survival struggle, at a weight where Marquez didn’t look comfortable last time, then perhaps promoter Bob Arum’s hyperbole that Pacquiao is the best fighter he has ever seen would warrant reconsideration.

That is, unless Marquez is to Pacquiao as Ken Norton was to another Arum-promoted fighter of some note, Muhammad Ali.

Arum never has done a better job than with Pacquiao, who has done his part by winning big and endearing himself to the buying public and adoring countrymen in the Philippines, while the promoter serves up big-name has-beens at the perfect time in their athletic descent.

Arum has encouraged Pacquiao to keep alive the defamation lawsuit against Mayweather and others, related to steroid accusations, as a bargaining chip. And since December 2009, boxing’s biggest promoter has convinced everyone that boxing’s biggest fight has somehow, mysteriously, escaped his arbitrating, negotiating, cajoling, compromising control.

Meantime, Arum has fed Pacquiao three of his own fighters -- Miguel Cotto, Joshua Clottey and Antonio Margarito -- and free-agent Mosley, all of whom got big paydays for fighting the king of Arum’s Top Rank stable. Arum keeps all the promotional profits while feeding Pacquiao easy-to-make fights against opponents his company knows well, and considers safe. Pacquiao wins and earns. Mayweather sits and tweets.

Barnum and Bailey had nothing on Bob Arum.

Shane Mosley grabbed a payday. Let’s hope it’s his last.

E-mail David Mayo: dmayo@grpress.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/David_Mayo

Source: mlive.com

Pacquiao clobbers Mosley to retain WBO welterweight title -- China Post

The China Post

LAS VEGAS, Nevada--Philippine master Manny Pacquiao retained the World Boxing Organization welterweight title on Saturday by beating American Shane Mosley to extend his winning streak to 14 bouts.
Pacquiao came out strong in the third round, knocking Mosley down with a straight left hand and then went on to earn a unanimous decision in front of a sellout crowd of 16,000 at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

The mainly partisan Filipino crowd, clad in yellow to match Pacquiao's gloves, were delighted to see their hero get the decision 119-108, 120-108 and 120-107.

“He felt my power,” Pacquiao, 32, said. “I wanted to fight toe to toe. I did my best to give a good fight.”

Pacquiao, a 10-time world champion in a record eight weight divisions, was making the second defense of his current welterweight crown.

The southpaw from Sarangani, who suffered from leg cramps in the middle rounds, dominated from the opening round as Mosley spent the majority of the fight in full retreat, bringing back memories for Pacquiao of his fight with Joshua Clottey.

Pacquiao (53-3-2, 38 KOs) was the aggressor, continuing to push forward and trying without success to go for the knockout, especially in the third and 11th and 12th rounds.

After the fight, the multi-talented Pacquiao was scheduled to head across the Las Vegas strip to the Mandalay Bay hotel for a singing engagement with his band at a “Beach Party.

Pacquiao threw 552 punches compared to just 260 for Mosley. The Filipino said his biggest problem was his legs, which started cramping in the middle rounds.

“I told my coach to press my legs because I can't move,” Pacquiao said. “My legs tightened up during the fight. I couldn't move. It is the same thing that happened to me against (Juan Manuel) Marquez. Now it has come back.”

Mosley claimed he would expose Pacquiao's weaknesses but there was no turning back the clock for the 39-year-old four-time world champion, who looked every bit his age.

Pacquiao's knockdown in the third round was just the third time in Mosley's 18-year career that the American challenger has hit the canvas. Mosley's main goal appeared to be simply keeping his record of never being knocked out intact.

“Mosley is not slow,” Pacquiao said. “He's fast and I had to be cautious of his counter-punch.”

Mosley (46-7-1, 27 KOs) managed to succeed in not getting knocked out but was booed loudly, especially in the eighth and ninth rounds.

Referee Kenny Bayless awarded Mosley a suspect knockdown in the 10th round as television replays showed that Pacquiao was throwing a punch off balance, slipped and went down with a little help from Mosley's right hand.

Mosley denied that he is showing his age.

“You can't blame age,” Mosley said. “Manny is an exceptional fighter. He truly is the pound-for-pound king. He has speed and power that I have never felt before.

“He surprised me with that power with the knockdown. That's the most legitimate knockdown on me in a long time.”

Indeed it is the first time Mosley has been knocked down in nine years, since losing to Vernon Forrest in 12 rounds.

Pacquiao earned close to US$15 million while Mosley collected about US$5 million.

With Mosley out of the way, Pacquiao expects to fight next in November, possibly against Marquez.

Pacquiao was supposed to fight Floyd Mayweather last year but the fight fell through in a dispute over drug testing. Pacquiao said Saturday that his legacy is solid with or without a Mayweather fight.

Source: chinapost.com.tw