Mosley Will Be The Hardest Puncher Pacquiao Has Faced As A Welterweight

Manny Pacquiao's last fight in the lighter weight divisions took place over two years ago when he battered and dominated the rugged David Diaz before ultimately stopping him in the ninth round to capture the WBC lightweight title. Since then, the Filipino superstar has moved on to pick up titles in three more weight divisions - jr. welterweight, welterweight and jr. middleweight - all the while taking on opponents who were considered to be naturally bigger than him. Time and time again, fans questioned if the smaller man would be able to handle the power and strength of his opposition, and each time, Pacquiao would prove that he could. On May 7, 2011, he will once gain face an opponent considered to be bigger and stronger, but this time, he's stepping in with Shane Mosley, arguably the hardest hitting puncher he's faced since becoming a full-fledged welterweight.

Although some fans are upset with the selection of Mosley as Manny Pacquiao's next opponent, there's no denying that the three-division world champion is still a dangerous threat. Despite the fact that he's coming off of a draw with Sergio Mora and a lopsided unanimous decision loss to Floyd Mayweather, Shane Mosley still possesses the kind of punching power that can change a fight in an instant. In fact, Mosley has knocked out more fighters than any of Pacquiao's last 5 opponents. Not to mention, with the exception of Miguel Cotto, who has been in 16 fewer fights, Shane Mosley actually sports one of the highest knockout percentages that Pacquiao has ever encountered.

Miguel Cotto (35-2, 28KOs) - 75.68 KO%

Shane Mosley (46-6-1, 39KOs) - 72.22 KO%

Ricky Hatton (45-2, 32KOs) - 68.09 KO%

Oscar De La Hoya (39-6, 30KOs) - 66.67 KO%

Antonio Margarito (38-7, 27KOs) - 58.70 KO%

Joshua Clottey (35-4, 20KOs) - 50.00 KO%

The punching power of Mosley is something that Pacquiao's trainer, Freddie Roach, is not taking lightly. "It's not an easy fight. He's very dangerous in the early rounds. You saw what happened to Mayweather," he would tell Ruslan Chikov of the Golzka paper. "We can't look past him. Mosley is a tough guy. He has a good chin and he has good hand speed." While some may scoff at the notion that Shane Mosley actually has a chance to defeat the pound-for-pound champion, at the very least, he has a much better puncher's chance against Pacquiao than anyboy else has had in the past two years. That being said, if you thought guys like Margarito, Clottey, De La Hoya, Hatton, or Cotto might be able to pull off the upset, then the same should be said about Mosley, who will no doubt find a home for his own shots. The question is when he does land a shot, like he did against Mayweather, will Pacquiao be able to take it?

It won't be long before we actually get a chance to find out.

By Gary Reynolds of fighthype.com

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 that 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. (unanimous decision loss) and Sergio Mora (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 book within 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, including ones 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 in retaining 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, Pacquiao’s eighth world title belt, in his attempt at the 154-pound division.

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 behind 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 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.

Pacquiao not taking fight against Mosley lightly

Pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao is not taking American boxer Shane Mosley lightly.

Pacquiao said Mosley has the speed and experience and he needs to train hard for their May 7 fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In stressing how a good fighter Mosley is, Pacquiao said he was made to choose two different dates for the Mosley tiff, April 16 or May 7.

“I chose May 7 so I have more than enough time to prepare,” he said.

“This is not an easy fight. I need at least eight weeks to train for the Mosley fight,” Pacquiao said.

As to where the eight-week training will be conducted, Pacquiao said he has yet to speak to his coach, Freddie Roach after the holidays.

Roach has also said in several interviews that Mosley will be a tough opponent and hopes to train the Filipino ring icon for a longer period this time around.

But he added he will start “some light training” already after his long vacation.

Pacquiao was interviewed on Thursday in General Santos before his whole family flew to Boracay, where they spent Christmas.

They will stay in Boracay for a week. Afterward, the whole family will fly to Japan for a week-long vacation, then to Australia for another week-long trip.

The whole family left the city around 11 a.m. Thursday aboard a private plane for their extended foreign trips.

“We need to take a longer vacation to make the kids happy. Their father had been busy for the past months, pero sulit kasi medyo mahaba ang bakasyon namin kasama siya (but it’s worth it because now we get to spend a long time with him),” Jinkee, Pacquiao’s wife, said.

Pacquiao’s Chance To Relax A Bit In Mosley

This is it! This is the fight which I posted in PhilBoxing last November 21, 2010, calling it a boring fight. The world’s top fighter in all divisions, facing a boxer way past his prime, come May 7, 2011.

Manny has been facing opponents much bigger than him, with the likes of Oscar de la Hoya, Miguel Angel Cotto, Joshua Clottey, and lately the most gigantic of them all, Antonio Margarito.

Pacquiao has fought these foes against all odds. He brawled against the Golden Boy whom many believed as a tough opponent due to his size and experience. He dominated de la Hoya and showed humanity that a fighting Filipino is worthy to be on top of the world. read more...

By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com

Roach: Mosely fight wont be easy for Pacquiao

Trainer Freddie Roach is predicting that his boxer, WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao, will stop "Sugar" Shane Mosley on May 7 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Mosley has been down in one fight, against Vernon Forrest in 2002. The goal for Team Pacquiao is to accomplish something that no other fighter has been able to do, to stop Mosley.

Roach says it "won't be easy." Mosley is known to have a very good chin. He fought some of the biggest names in the sport, including Winky Wright, Oscar De La Hoya, Ricardo Mayorga, Antonio Margarito, Fernando Vargas and many others. The only fighter who had him seriously hurt was Forrest.

"Shane is a very durable guy. He has a good chin. It won't be easy but I think we can stop him in the late rounds. It won't be an easy fight. When he beat Margarito, everyone thought he was the best fighter at welterweight. We're going to train very hard for this fight. We don't take any opponent lightly," Roach said.

Mosley eager to fight Pacquiao

Shane Mosley believes Manny Pacquiao is tailor-made for him.

Shortly after Top Rank big boss Bob Arum confirmed that the two are going to slug it out on May 7 next year at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the 39-year-old American puncher reached out to boxing writers across the US, telling them how thrilled he is to face Pacquiao and how he will dismantle the Filipino dynamo.

“I'm a bigger guy than him and he gets hit,” Mosley told Dan Rafael of ESPN.com. “And you saw how I hurt Floyd (Mayweather). Manny is going to come forward and I will hit him on the chin at some point. His defense is not like Floyd's. Manny will come at me, and I will knock him out."

Mosley is drawing inspiration from his fight last May against Mayweather, who outpointed him but who himself was badly hurt in the early goings.