Manny Pacquiao
When you conquer the king of the mountain, as Sugar Shane Mosley did a little more than four months ago, then you presume that the mountain is yours.
The WBA welterweight king who defeated the feared former king Antonio Margarito is waiting for his coronation.
Despite the incredible upset before more than 20,000 pro Margarito fans, Mosley may be passed over for the expected match with boxing’s best fighter Manny Pacquiao by other less-deserving fighters, including one who was retired.
“It’s not fair,” Mosley says.
If you know Mosley then you understand that he’s not the kind of fighter who cries and moans over bad decisions. Earlier in his career, despite advice to the contrary, he accepted fights against opponents that others ignored like Vernon Forrest and Winky Wright.
Now, the Pomona native believes that he deserves a shot at the best fighter of all, Pacquiao.
Talks between Mosley and Pacquiao’s camps have taken place but nothing has been agreed upon. One stipulation to make a fight between the two is Mosley dropping down in weight to 142 or 144 pounds.
“I have to protect my fighter,” said Freddie Roach who trains and advises Pacquiao. “Shane Mosley and Manny would be the best fight for the fans. Both like to fight.”
What Roach means is neither boxer likes to counterpunch or employs a defensive style a la Floyd Mayweather.
Recently Mayweather un-retired and is now scheduled to fight Juan Manuel Marquez, a former Pacquiao nemesis.
Mosley wonders why Mayweather gets all the breaks.
“I’m tired of the public being fooled by him,” said Mosley of Mayweather, who fights Marquez on July 18 in Las Vegas. “People are accepting the games he is playing. He’s coming back because he needs the money.”
At the press conference held to promote the Mayweather-Marquez fight, many asked why the former pound for pound king wouldn’t accept a fight with Mosley?
Mayweather replied that he offered a fight with Mosley that was refused because of the timing. But subsequent offers have been rebuked by the Las Vegas fighter who last told Mosley during a baptismal party that he was retired and wanted to spend time with the family and had no plans to return.
That turned out to be not true.
When our reporters saw Mayweather sparring in the gym and sent other investigators to check out the scene, the Mayweather camp kicked out our photographer and then said rumors of Mayweather sparring were not true.
Basically, you can’t believe a single word coming out of the Mayweather camp.
“He wants to wait until I’m 42,” said Mosley.
Next week Miguel Cotto fights Joshua Clottey in a match between two Top Rank fighters. It’s hoped that Cotto wins so that a match between the popular Puerto Rican boxer can be made with Pacquiao.
It’s another thing that miffs Mosley.
“I beat the best welterweight in our time (Margarito) and I beat him in spectacular fashion,” says Mosley, adding that Margarito crushed Cotto and the Puerto Rican beat the Pomona fighter by debatable decision. “If Cotto beats Clottey let him fight Margarito in a round robin tournament. I’m the welterweight champion.”
That’s a good point.
Mosley says that internationally he has a bigger name than Cotto or Mayweather.
“People know me all over the world,” said Mosley who often travels to Asia. “Even in Singapore, Australia, all the way in India, Mali, they know me all over the world. It’s not me just saying that. They watch my fights. I’m a boxing household name in England, and the Philippines. They know what I can do, they know my work.”
The best fight for fans in Mosley’s estimation is a showdown with boxing’s current pound for pound champion Pacquiao.
“I always keep myself in shape,” said Mosley who is currently in Big Bear Mountain where he normally trains before fights. “I love the feeling of being in shape.”
Mosley says he will try and see if his body can drop down to 142 or lower. No other fighter in the world piques the Pomona fighter’s interest than Pacquiao. He knows Mayweather will never fight him due to fear of losing. But Pacquiao is another story.
“Pacquiao is a real fighter,” Mosley says. “I’m the number one welterweight.”
It’s the fight most fans dream about.
By David A. Avila
