PACMAN TO SLAY MOSLEY LIKE PAPER DRAGON?
New York, NY – After an intense display of combative savagery in the first quarter of 2011, boxing begins the second quarter of the year hopefully with a bang whentop “pound for pound” ranked eight time world champion and international icon Manny “Pac Man” Pacquiao attempts to defend his current WBO welterweight title (147) against three division champion “Sugar” Shane Mosley (46-6, 1 KOs) over 12 or less rounds of throw down at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, NV, Saturday at 9 PM ET on Showtime PPV.
MANNY’S PATH OF DESTRUCTION
Since his “coming out party” massacre against Marco Antonio Barrera (W TKO 11), Boxing Writer’s Association of America’s “Fighter of the Decade” Manny Pacquiao is the first boxer in history to win a staggering eight world titles in eight different weight divisions. Considering the level of opposition he has faced by thrice scrapping with Erik Morales (L UD 12, W TKO 10, W KO 3), twice going to war against Juan Manuel Marquez (D 12, W SD 12), and by pounding out one sided drummings over world elite combatants Oscar De La Hoya (W TKO 8), Ricky Hatton (W KO 2), Miguel Cotto (W TKO 12), Joshua Clottey (W PTS 12), and Antonio Margarito;`Manny’s ring endeavors have proven to be credible accolades in support of his status as an all time great living legend.
A CLOSER LOOK AT PACMAN
Many of “Pac’s” victims have been systematically broken down by “master” trainer Freddie Roach’s pre fight observations. Roach’s fight plans consist of strategies and tactics which are usually executed with relative ease by Pacquiao resulting in emphatic victory for the Filipino Phenom. During such conquests, Manny has shown his own brilliant ring intellect by displaying an ability to control a foe by making an opponent fight his type of fight. On the contrary, (as seen in the early rounds in his bout against Cotto), Manny; on occasion, can get caught in the heat of the moment, become distracted, deviate from his predetermined fight plot, (and to his credit) make the adjustments necessary to beat his opponent at their own game. Pacquiao’s unique style is a hybrid of aggressively fast paced boxing accompanied with sound defense. In consideration of his overall attributes of speed, power, movement, and genius boxing IQ, Manny Pacquiao may not only be the game’s most complete fighter, he may be the most dangerous. However, as suggested by several commendable media outlets in regard to his involvement in movies, music, and politics; Manny may be “burning the candle at both ends” and possibly losing some focus toward the hurt business of boxing.
MOSLEY’S ROAD TO BECOMING SUGAR SWEET
Shane Mosley exploded on the scene recording an outstanding perfect 34 victories with 32 knockouts before facing Oscar De La Hoya. In a career defining fight for Mosley, he and De La Hoya fought at an excruciatingly violent pace and typified their act of madness with a memorable 12th round of reckless abandonment to the finish. Mosley proved to be the better man, winning a split decision handing Oscar his first true defeat. In the wake of his newly found super-stardom, Mosley successfully defended his titles three times before meeting a prime and hungry Vernon Forrest. Forrest shockingly handled the smaller Mosley with ease and managed to send him to the canvas twice in round two. The courageous Mosley was able to get up and fight valiantly to the finish. Despite losing the bout on all scorecards, Mosley won the admiration of fight fans world wide. Six months later, Mosley and Forrest would do it again, and a better version of Mosley showed up on that night, however the result would read the same (L UD 12). Being the competitive enforcer that he his, Mosley regrouped and returned to earn a pair of wins, most notably against old rival Oscar De la Hoya (W UD 12), but in postmortem, Shane would then go on to be upset in a couple of scraps against defensive wizard Winky Wright (L UD 12, twice). Removed from the aforementioned setbacks to Wright, again, Shane would bounce back, and the Mosley of old surfaced by scoring two consecutive back-to-back TKO wins over former belt holder Fernando Vargas (W TKO 10, W TKO 6). After dispatching of Vargas and winning his next fight, Shane went onto face Miguel Cotto. In a closely contested scintillating war of action fighters, Mosley dropped a unanimous decision to Cotto. Always a good sportsmen, Mosley didn’t make excuses or complain about the unfavorable verdict and fueled another comeback. In his next bout, Shane knocked out madman thug Ricardo Mayorga with a blistering hook in the 12th round. After trashing Mayogra, Mosley scored his most impressive win in years by pounding the hell out of boxing’s latest feared bad boy Antonio Margarito (W KO 9). After the collapse of what would have been the biggest fight of all time between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, Shane, who had been calling out Mayweather for years, was given his opportunity to finally meet Floyd. With exception of Shane staggering Mayweather in round two, Mayweather won virtually every round against Mosley (L UD12). In Mosley’s most recent appearance, he fought to a listless draw against former Contender TV champ Sergio Mora.
A CLOSER LOOK AT SUGAR
Mosley brings action, intensity, passion, heart and drama to the show. Despite his advanced age, Shane still has great hand speed and has serious power that can turn your lights out at any moment, especially in the late rounds. In facing some of the best fighters of the past 20 years, Mosley also enjoys a highly keen boxing IQ and has been celebrated as one of the sports best fighters for the nearly a dozen of years.
SIGNORELLA WANTS TO KNOW!
Ring Talk readers: Who do you have winning the fight; how and why? My prediction is that the bout will be a highly competitive contest involving a multitude of physical battering in which we see Pacquiao getting hit (and possibly hurt) more than we are accustom to seeing. Having said that, I believe that Shane will succumb to Manny’s overall speed and skills. Hence; I see the aging warrior Mosley being stopped for the first time in his illustrious career via 8th round TKO in a war.
UNDERCARD ACTION
Fighting for the first time since being man handled by Sergio Martinez, come backing former middleweight (160) strap carrier Kelly Pavlik (36-2, 22 KOs) returns to the ring after a year absence to battle heavy handed pug Alfonso Lopez (21-0, 16 KOs) in a proposed 10 round affair.
Recently knocking out 8 of his last 10 opponents, pulverizing power punching WBO super bantamweight (122) belt holder Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. (20-1, 17 KOs) scraps against colorful former champ Jorge Arce (56-6-2, 43 KOs) over 12 scheduled rounds. Exciting junior welterweight’s (140) Mike Alvarado (29-0, 21 KOs) and Ray Narh (25-1,, 21 KOs) will engage in a slated 10 round show opener.
ESPN JOINT
As per usual, the popular fight series “ESPN Friday Night Fights” kicks off the boxing weekend. Each installment of the decorated series features news, analysis of upcoming bouts, interviews, celebrity guests offering insight into the world of boxing, and competitive scraps. This week’s card features unbeaten super featherweight (130) Diego Magdaleno (18-0, 6 KOs) against unheralded veteran Gilberto Leon (31-8-2, 11 KOs) in a possible 10 round main event from the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, NV, Friday at 10 PM ET on ESPN 2.
John Signorella