Pacquiao vs Mosley: It's Time To Rumble

[Dark Horse]

Hello fight fans, it has been announced in recent news that Manny "Pac Man" Pacquiao will face "Sugar" Shane Mosley, May 7th in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand, with the WBO Welterweight Title on the line. With this clash of styles, this fight has all the makings of a slug-fest waiting to erupt.

After the symphony of destruction that Manny Pacquiao conducted on his last opponent Antonio Margarito, one has to wonder what challenge the aged veteran Mosley can bring to the table. Can the old war horse saddle up one more time and charge through the battlefield? Or will the Pac Man chew him up like a dot on the screen of the 1980's video game? The answer might seem obvious but as we all know, things aren't always what they seem.

Manny Pacquiao's last opponent Antonio Margarito had the advantages of 4 1/2 inches in height, 6 inches in reach, and nearly 20 lbs on fight night. Not only that the Tijuana Tornado was as tough as they come, with all the skills necessary to take out his smaller opponent. Did this matter? No. Pacquiao won every round in delivering one of the worst beat downs Margarito has ever sustained. The fight should have been stopped in the 9th or 10th round, but Margarito's corner let their man continue to be outclassed, out boxed, knocked out of his socks. After defeating this much bigger opponent so handedly, his biggest opponent yet, is there anyone that can stand in his way? The answer quickly begins to look like a resounding No.

But wait a minute, No matter how good Pacquiao looks, on May 7th there is still going to be another man across the ring from him with intentions of upsetting the world and he still has to beat that man, Shane Mosley.

At the age of 39 there are few people in the world of boxing or elsewhere giving "Sugar" Shane a chance. His last 2 fights have left much to be desired as he suffered an embarrassing defeat at the hands of Floyd Mayweather, and fought to a disappointing draw against Sergio Mora at 154lbs(a fight that should have been fought at 147lbs if Mosley was to win). So is Mosley walking in the clouds thinking that he can take Pacquiao? Maybe not. It should be noted that Mosley also fought Antonio Margarito, and where Pacquiao was not able to finish him, Mosley knocked him out with ease. But, was that the last great performance for Shane Mosley? Was that his one time to turn back the clock and show that time does indeed stand still for some? We will find out.

Mosley will come into this fight like most of Manny Pacquiao's recent opponents, the bigger man. But will his size and strength be enough to dent the seemingly impenetrable armor of Pacquiao? Speed should be comparable in this bout, Pacquiao has shown no signs of slowing even at heavier weights, and Mosley has been able to maintain his hand speed as well throughout his career. There are many unanswered questions as it stands. From my view this seems like the tallest order of Shane Mosley's career, and a proving ground challenge for Pacquiao.

Mosley will come to fight make no mistake about that, but his age is the real question here. Is that going to stop him? Will he have the stamina and endurance to take the punishment that will inevitably come from Pacquiao? And, will Pacquiao who appears to be taking his opponent very lightly, show up prepared to take on this challenge? There were reports from his last training camp that he was very distracted with his political obligations, and lacked the focus he needed in preparation for Margarito. He was able to beat Margarito with his speed, but that won't completely save him against the light feet and equally fast hands of Mosley. If Pacquiao makes the mistake of underestimating Mosley, we could very well see the Pac Man become the Flat Man on the canvas.

As an added bonus to this thread I have provided links to both Manny Pacquiao and Shane Mosley's fights with Antonio Margarito. Watch how each man handled him, how they fared, and based on that and my own analysis above tell me what you think about this fight and each mans odds.



(Mosley - Margarito)(each part is in the right menu)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hz1ilcj7xrs

(Pacquiao - Margarito)(Scroll down the page and start at part 4)
http://mayweather-vs-mosley-update.blogspot.com/p/pacquiao-margarito-replay-part-1-5.html

 

[Fizzy]

Big fat "meh" This shit is getting ridiculous now. Nobody wants to see this fight more than Pacman/Mayweather. Nobody wants to see any fight more than that one. That fucking fight would set records! Instead we get one of the most talented boxers of all time wasting his prime on 39 year old fighters. Mosley has a punchers chance. Nothing more nothing less. It will be another blowout by in my opinion the best boxer on the planet. I doubt now we will ever see Pacman vs Mayweather, and this is the exact reason MMA is growing more and more, and stealing some boxing fans away. The UFC gives us fights we want to see. There is no bullshit politics. These are two fighters who have no compelling matchups outside of eachother, and we keep getting reasons their not fighting eachother.

 

[Dark Horse]

Big fat "meh" This shit is getting ridiculous now. Nobody wants to see this fight more than Pacman/Mayweather. Nobody wants to see any fight more than that one. That fucking fight would set records!

For me it's not a big fat "meh", it's an event. Getting to see Manny Pacquiao do his thing, and also getting to see one of my other favorites of all time Shane Mosley fight him sounds fine and dandy. Sure, everyone wants to see Pacquiao-Mayweather and it would be a much bigger fight, but that's not on the table right now, this is. Mayweather has made it clear that he doesn't want any part of Pacquiao, at least not when he figures he's in is prime. When he thinks Pacquiao is at the end of his rope, that's when he'll want it. The only other situation I see is him taking the fight solely for the money because he did have 20 million taken from him by the IRS or something so he probably needs it. I think they are just holding it off as long as possible to get as much anticipation as possible, to get the biggest ppv and gate possible.

Instead we get one of the most talented boxers of all time wasting his prime on 39 year old fighters. Mosley has a punchers chance. Nothing more nothing less. It will be another blowout by in my opinion the best boxer on the planet.

I don't know what your boxing acumen reads like but you might be underestimating Shane Mosley. I'm not trying to overestimate him but he is a skilled smart fighter with loads of experience, he was more than a punchers chance. He can box and if he can manage to keep up the pace with Pacquiao he does have the skills to out-box him. He also does have the power to slug with Pacquiao a bit and the chin to take some heavy shots from Pacquiao. Even at 39 Shane Mosley is a top contender for a reason, and not because the other name on the card isn't Mayweather.

I doubt now we will ever see Pacman vs Mayweather, and this is the exact reason MMA is growing more and more, and stealing some boxing fans away. The UFC gives us fights we want to see. There is no bullshit politics. These are two fighters who have no compelling matchups outside of eachother, and we keep getting reasons their not fighting eachother.

As I stated earlier, I think we will see it and they are just waiting for the right moment. Word is Mayweather is going to have a fight in South Africa or something, shortly after Pacquiao fights Mosley. That might be a warm up fight for him to go on and face Pacquiao at the end of the year is my guess.

I'm not going to get into any kind of discussion about MMA. This thread isn't about MMA and that has no place here. This will be a good fight no matter what. The clash of styles almost guarantees it. These two are going to be trading a lot of leather and it's going to be exciting and you're going to see the best fighter pound for pound in the world show you why he is the best fighter pound for pound in the world. You're also going to see another man who will go down as a great of the ring in what could be his last big fight. This is Shane Mosley's chance to shock the world and cement himself on another level of greatness. If you aren't interested, I'm sure there will be a UFC ppv on around the same time to satisfy your needs.

 

[Super Hans]

Another fight that is just building to the showdown between pac/mayweather that is set to happen in November if the rumours are to be believed. This fight will be competitive early as styles make fights. Mosley has speed and power and this will trouble pac early but i think pac will totally take over after the 4th or 5th round and force a corner stoppage. Mosley has never been stopped but father time has surely caught up with the 2nd best sugar ever(yes better than Leonard, but thats for another debate), Lets just hope Floyds legal issues get dealt with as a poster with a proven track record on the boxing forum im on has stated that it will go down in November. On another note, Wlad Klitschko/David Haye is happening on July 2nd, you heard it here 1st .

 

[Fizzy]

Thing is I like boxing. I'll watch this fight just like I watched Pacs last fight. I just think it's getting repetitive. Pac dominates. Mosley hasn't looked great in his last two fights, and now he gets a shot at the title? Can some of you big boxing fans explain? I don't understand, and i'm not attempting to bash boxing what so ever. I'm not even pretending to know much about the sport, because besides Pac I find a majority of the fights, and fighters boring nowadays. I just don't get that. It's like their giving him the shot off of name value. I agree Mosley is a great boxer. Hes a borderline household name for fans of the fight game. I just don't see how this fight is going to be more than a one sided beating.

 

[Dark Horse]

Thing is I like boxing. I'll watch this fight just like I watched Pacs last fight. I just think it's getting repetitive. Pac dominates. Mosley hasn't looked great in his last two fights, and now he gets a shot at the title? Can some of you big boxing fans explain? I don't understand, and i'm not attempting to bash boxing what so ever. I'm not even pretending to know much about the sport, because besides Pac I find a majority of the fights, and fighters boring nowadays. I just don't get that. It's like their giving him the shot off of name value. I agree Mosley is a great boxer. Hes a borderline household name for fans of the fight game. I just don't see how this fight is going to be more than a one sided beating.

I agree it is repetitive, or in another word consistent. Pacquiao has consistently dominated as you said, but I would think that was a good thing in the eyes of the spectator. What better to watch than a dominant champion at his best? I think even the untrained eye can watch a Pacquiao fight and see that this guy is unreal and has the total package in what you look for in a boxer.

Your assumptions aren't off base at all either. Mosley is getting this shot on name value in some ways but that's not entirely all of it. They paired these two also because they felt it would make for the best fight for the viewers to see as well. The other options were Andre Berto who backed out of a Jan.30 fight with Mosley I might add(apparently because he had family that died in the earthquake in Haiti), and a rubber match with Juan Manuel Marquez. Neither of those fighters have the name value of Mosley, this is true. But, in terms of an exciting fight Berto is not an exciting fighter to watch, and isn't yet at the level to fight Pacquiao. Marquez wouldn't likely be as much of a challenge to Pacquiao anymore since he has evolved by leaps and bounds since they last fought, and Marquez isn't the same fighter he was when they last fought, his skills have diminished and he doesn't have the speed anymore to really compete with Pacquiao, Mosley does. Add to that, that neither of them could draw like Mosley and it makes more sense.

Now Mosley might not have looked like a world beater against Sergio Mora, but he did go the distance with him. Keep in mind now, Mora is only 30 years old and he couldn't wrangle the veteran Mosley at 39. Mosley was the aggressor the whole time as well. If that's not enough Sergio Mora is a full blown Middleweight who came down to fight Mosley, AAAANND his corner was telling his the whole fight that he was behind the getting dominated, and was going to have to do something spectacular to win. Mora's corner obviously felt Mosley was winning, so how bad could he have looked? It wasn't Mosley's most spectacular fight but he proved still that he can go with the younger bigger man even at his advanced age. In a post fight interview, Juan Manuel Marquez expressed his displeasure with the draw stating that he thought Mosley has clearly won the fight as well. That's something else to be noted.

In the Mayweather fight, don't forget that he almost knocked out Floyd in the second round, 30 more seconds in the round and it was about to be over. It forced Mayweather to completely change his strategy, and unfortunately for Mosley that was not the fight he trained for and he had trouble making the adjustments after that. Still, Mayweather couldn't knock him out, and Mosley went the distance there as well.

Don't let age fool you here or buffalo you into skepticism, Mosley is a formidable opponent in every sense. If he was even a year or two younger I don't think people would be questioning him so much. Bernard Hopkins has fought well into his 40's and still looks good. 39 isn't the age to quit, it's the age to stand up and fight, especially in Mosley's case.


I want you and everyone else to enjoy this fight. I want you all to be as excited about it as I am, because I know this is going to be a truly great fight. Don't count out Mosley here and let that ruin it for you. He does have a legitimate chance to win this thing. I don't know that he is going to dominate Pacquiao, but he does have the stuff to win. If Pacquiao takes Mosley as seriously as most of the critics who think he has no chance, that all works into Mosley's favor, and give him an even greater edge. Let Pacquiao take him lightly and thusly not train as well as he should, he'll get surprised by Mosley if he does because for Mosley this is the chance of a lifetime and he is coming to win, you can bet on that.

If you would, do me this favor. Follow the link I posted to watch Mosley-Margarito and tell me if THAT Shane Mosley shows up that this won't be a competitive fight. I think when you see that and take into consideration that Pacquiao couldn't close the deal on Margarito you might be more optimistic about Mosley's chances.

Another fight that is just building to the showdown between pac/mayweather that is set to happen in November if the rumours are to be believed. This fight will be competitive early as styles make fights. Mosley has speed and power and this will trouble pac early but i think pac will totally take over after the 4th or 5th round and force a corner stoppage. Mosley has never been stopped but father time has surely caught up with the 2nd best sugar ever(yes better than Leonard, but thats for another debate), Lets just hope Floyds legal issues get dealt with as a poster with a proven track record on the boxing forum im on has stated that it will go down in November. On another note, Wlad Klitschko/David Haye is happening on July 2nd, you heard it here 1st .

That's not an impossible prediction by any means. We all know Pacquiao CAN make that happen. From the sound of it, you're expecting this to basically be Pacquiao-De La Hoya II to draw an example. I really loved your "2nd Best Sugar" comment as well, I couldn't agree more. I was thinking that after this fight and Mayweathers upcoming bout that November sounded right too, that is when I would expect this to take place. I hope your source is right. Also, thank you for the update on Klitschko-Haye. There should be another thread for that fight, it's going to be the best Heavyweight bout we've had in a long time and is probably the most anticipated fight in that division.

 

[Fizzy]

I don't like the argument about Mosley knocking out Margarito, and Pac-Man not. it could easily be turned around, and say Mosley couldn't knock out Oscar De La Hoya, but Pac-man did, or Pac beat Cotto while Mosley didn't. I agree with you in the sense that this will be an exciting fight because Pac is so damn good, I just disagree with this argument because it can be proven otherwise as well.

Mosley most certainly does have the chin, and power to take out Pac, but I just don't see it. Just know that I will be watching this fight, and will give you major props if it turns out to be a fucking war.