Mosley Trainer Sees Upset Win

MANILA, Philippines — Just when you are about to count Shane Mosley out, the California-bred fighter always comes up with a huge performance, something his outspoken trainer believes will happen when the California-bred fighter faces Manny Pacquiao on May 7 in Las Vegas.

“I think the Pacquiao fight with Shane will give him a chance to do what he has done several times before,” Naazim Richardson told examiner.com.

Richardson stressed that Mosley has the uncanny ability to bounce back when people begin thinking he is about to assume the role of a cannon fodder.

“You’ve seen Shane lose to Vernon Forrest. (Ricardo) Mayorga slashed Vernon Forrest. Then Shane smashed Mayorga. You’ve seen Shane lose to (Miguel) Cotto. (Antonio) Margarito slashed Cotto. Then Shane smashed Margarito,” Richardson pointed out.

Describing Pacquiao as “a beast,” Richardson said the styles of the two combatants promise fight fans a treat at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

The scheduled 12-round welterweight title match will be a “barnburner,” said Richardson, who plans to bring Mosley to Big Bear, California, a training facility 7,000 feet above sea level.

Richardson is positive that after the fight, those who have criticized Mosley for being down-the-hill and too old would eat their words.

Actually, Richardson doesn’t want them to eat crow and is just looking forward to saying four little words to their detractors: “I told you so.”

-manilabulletin

Pacquiao in CNN's Top 20 stories of 2010 list

Manny Pacquiao continues to reap international recognition, with CNNGo.com, CNN’s Asian travel guide website, including his congressional win in last May’s Philippine presidential elections among the 20 stories that changed our world in 2010.

Pacquiao placed 19th in a list that included the India cricket scandal, the Hong Kong tourists killed in the Manila bus tragedy, the Commonwealth Games failure in New Delhi, Korea military hostilities, and the almost year-long Red Shirts protest in Thailand.

"The fighter of the last decade could be the politician of the next," it said in the story.

Pacquiao, in his second run at public office, knocked out Roy Chiongbian, the candidate that the powerful Chiongbian political clan chose to match up against the Filipino boxing legend for the lone congressional seat in Sarangani province in the May 2010 elections.

Pacquiao began his congressional duties in June, but requested for a two-month-long leave to train for his fight against Antonio Margarito last November.

The eight-division world champion also topped SportsIllustrated.com’s top boxing stories of 2010.

"Already boxing's most exciting fighter, Pacquiao became a global phenomeon in 2010, penetrating the American sporting mainstream like no Asian-born athlete in history," wrote Bryan Armen Graham.

Graham said that aside from winning nearly half of boxing’s 17 weight divisions, Pacquiao was also featured in 60 Minutes almost a year after being included in Time magazine’s 100 most influential people.

Pacquiao also earned the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) 2009 Fighter of the Year and Fighter of the Decade awards, and scored dominating victories against Joshua Clottey and Antonio Margarito this year.

For winning the 154-pound World Boxing Council (WBC) super welterweight strap, Pacquiao became the first boxer ever to win eight world titles in eight different weight classes.

His other titles are 112 lbs (WBC flyweight), 122 (International Boxing Federation junior featherweight); 126 (The Ring featherweight), 130 (WBC super featherweight), 135 (WBC lightweight), 140 (The Ring junior welterweight) and 147 (WBO welterweight).

He is scheduled to defend his WBO welterweight title against former three-time world champion Shane Mosley on May 7.
 
– Jon Perez, KY, GMANews.TV

Pacquiao heavy favorite vs Mosley in May fight

It didn’t come as a surprise that Manny Pacquiao emerged the heavy favorite to whip Sugar Shane Mosley in their May 7 face-off at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

A fighter many believe is way past his prime, Mosley will turn 40 on September 7 or four months after facing Pacquiao in the ring. He is also coming off two unimpressive bouts, against Floyd Mayweather Jr. (a unanimous decision loss), and Sergio Mora (a draw).

No wonder, odds readily tilted on Pacquiao’s side with still a few days left before 2010 ends.

The 32-year-old Filipino boxing champion has been initially installed a 4-1 pick by sports bookies in the U.S., with one online bookie even making Pacquiao a -900 odds, as reported by the Examiner.

5Dimes Sportsbook pegged Pacquiao a 7-4 favorite, meaning a $700 bet on the Filipino southpaw would only yield $100, while a $100 bet on Mosley would earn you $450.

In contrast to Mosley, Pacquiao had been impressive in his previous fights, such as against bigger opponents like Joshua Clottey and Antonio Margarito in 2010.

The boxing superstar dominated Clottey in their March outing at the Cowboys Stadium in Texas, scoring a unanimous decision to retain his World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight belt.

Then he brutalized the 5-foot-11 Margarito the full 12 rounds at the same Texas stadium on his way to winning the World Boxing Council (WBC) junior middleweight crown, for his eighth world title belt.

But Mosley, who is the only man in history who had beaten the great Oscar De La Hoya twice, is undeterred with his underdog tag. “They think I’m the easier fight, that’s fine with me."

“Pacquiao’s a fighter like me; he comes forward. I promise you, I’ll hit him on the chin. His defense is not that good. The guys who come at me, I knock out," added Mosley.

Top Rank chairman Bob Arum said promotion for the bout will officially kick off in February with a three-city press tour.

The Hall of Fame promoter said Pacquiao and Mosley are set to promote the fight in Los Angeles, New York and Washington, where he hopes to get an audience with President Barack Obama through the help of Senate Majority leader Harry Reid, the Las Vegas Senator whom Pacquiao helped in his reelection campaign in the last election.

And since Mosley will be coming from San Francisco, Arum said the official press conference of the fight is likely to be held in the same city within the Bay Area.
 
– JVP, KY, GMANews.TV

Phenomenal 2010 for P4P King Pacquiao

It has been a phenomenal year for Manny Pacquiao, with the reigning pound-for-pound fighter of the world showing no signs of slowing down.

The past year, Pacquiao won two fights against two of the toughest boxers in their respective weight divisions, while at the same time earning citations left and right.

The award given by the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) served as the highlight of his 15-year professional career.

Pacquiao was named as the 2009 Fighter of the Year and Fighter of the Decade by the BWAA, an award that earned him true international recognition, cementing his place alongside boxing legends Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis and Sugar Ray Robinson.

He dominated Joshua Clottey in their 12-round World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight title fight in March, winning by unanimous decision, then battered the bigger Antonio Margarito in November to claim the World Boxing Council (WBC) super welterweight belt.

The WBC super welterweight crown is the eighth won by Pacquiao in the same number of weight classes, becoming the first boxer ever to reach that milestone.

He won his first world title at 112 lbs (WBC flyweight), then won seven more in the following weight divisions: 122, International Boxing Federation (IBF) junior featherweight; 126, The Ring featherweight; 130, WBC super featherweight; 135, WBC lightweight; 140, The Ring junior welterweight; 147, WBO welterweight; and 154, WBC super welterweight.

Aside from being a world-class champion boxer, Pacquiao is now making a name as a lawmaker after being elected as the representative of the lone district of Sarangani province in the 15th Congress of the Republic of the Philippines.

His numerous accomplishments in 2010 landed him a spot in the Top 10 sports stories in
The Atlantic.com, a US-based media company.

Pacquiao was also included in the Top 50 boxers by Bleacher Report, a website that publishes original and entertaining sports editorial content.

Winning eight world titles while registering stoppage victories over boxing greats Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera, Ricky Hatton and Oscar De La Hoya in the process were the reasons why Pacquiao was included in the list.

Pacquiao's ring return is scheduled on May 7, when he defends his WBO welterweight title against former three-time world champion Shane Mosley.  

– Jon Perez, KY, GMANews.TV

Arum: Pacman-Floyd no go in 2011

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum believes the highly-anticipated fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. may be further put aside following the arrest of the brash undefeated boxer from Michigan in Las Vegas over the weekend.

With Mayweather facing a long court case in 2011, Arum decided to pick three-time former world champion Sugar Shane Mosley as Pacquiao’s next opponent.

Mayweather was detained at the Clark Country jail Friday after he was accused of poking a security guard in the face outside his home last November. He was arrested at the posh Bellagio Resort and Casino in the Las Vegas strip.

Initially, no bail was ordered and police initially said the 32-year-old Mayweather might remain in jail pending a court date.

But Mayweather’s lawyer Karen Winckler intervened, according to an AP report, paving the way for him to be freed less than 12 hours after his arrest.

Outside of it, the former Olympic bronze medalist also faces misdemeanor battery and assault charges in Las Vegas and in his hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and a felony coercion, grand larceny and robbery case stemming from a September dispute with his children and their mother at her home as also cited by the same wire report.

"It’s crazy. It gets crazy and crazy," said Arum, who returned to the U.S. Sunday after attending Pacquiao’s birthday celebration in General Santos City over the weekend.

"They’re out to nail him and I hope he’s taking it seriously because if he’s not taking it seriously, he can be away for a long, long stretch."

Pacquiao, who just turned 32, has nothing to say but to wish well the same man who once accused him of being under the influence of an illegal substance.

"He (Mayweather Jr.) is facing a lot of problems. I hope he can find a solution so he can get back to fighting," said the eight-time world division champion and world’s top pound-for-pound fighter in Filipino.

A Pacquiao-Mayweather fight had been twice aborted as the two camps failed to agree on the major issue of drug testing to be conducted on both fighters.  

- JVP, KY, GMANews.TV