Pacquiao's next opponent is announced

[Buffalo Dave]

Manny Pacquiao will fight "Sugar" Shane Mosley on May 7th at the MGM Grand in Vegas in a Welterweight bout at 147lbs. There were three possible opponents being tossed around for the Pac-man. Mosley, Andre Berto, and Juan Manuel Marquez, since Mayweather is all rapped up in his multiple legal troubles, so there was no attempt at negotiations for a third time.

In my eyes, the Mosley fight is being done because he will be a bigger draw than JMM and Berto, making Manny more money by going with Mosley. I personally wanted to see Berto get the fight, but going with him would be a lot like the Clottey, where it wouldn't draw as much. Of course it still would make money because it is Manny fighting, but not as much if it were JMM or Mosley. I think Berto needs to beat a big named opponent in order to secure a fight Manny. A third fight with JMM is what the fans seem to want the most for Manny, as this gets mentioned a lot also. But getting a third fight between these two is just as hard as getting a fight with Floyd.

The Mosley fight should be interesting. Even though he is older he still shows some good speed and still has power in his punches, Manny is still faster and I think he will grind out a decision like he has been doing. Manny doesn't seem to get tired in his fights, looking stronger as he's getting older. With Mosley he is gonna wanna stick and move a lot, standing toe two toe with Mosley wouldn't be to smart.

Thoughts on the fight?

 

[jmt225]

Such a freakin' joke.

I really don't care what kind of name value Shane Mosley has; he's well past his prime and everyone knows it. This fight won't even be close. I just hope Pacquiao is able to finish Mosley, which of course Mayweather wasn't able to when they fought last summer.

Speaking of Mayweather, fuck him. Not only is this guy not stepping up to the plate to fight Pacquiao, but the douche isn't fighting at all. Whether you think Pacman plays a part in why Pac/Money isn't going down, at least he is still fighting. Mayweather is just waiting, waiting, and waiting some more for Pacquiao to lose a step so he could take the fight then. Such cowardly, pussy bullshit.

So, yeah... fuck this fight. I have no interest in it whatsoever. If Pacquiao was fighting Marquez, I'd be excited since I thought their first two fights were spectacular and that Marquez won them both. And I would have even preferred seeing Pacquiao vs. Andre Berto over Mosley. I know Berto is super young and that it may have been too soon, but regardless of all that... there's enough hype around him that could have garnered a lot of interest.

 

[Super Hans]

Its a fucking joke, Mosley looked very faded against Mora and he got whooped by Mayweather, Bob Arum is the fucking devil, he wants everything inhouse and the rumour going around is that Shane is about to leave GBP. Arum has stated that JMM has priced himself out of a fight, i call bullshit on this matter as JMM has been desperate for a 3rd bout with Manny after 2 very controversial fights with 1 draw(i felt pac took this fight) and a pac win by split decision(i felt JMM eeked out the win in that 1).

Pac will most likely TKO Shane in the middle rounds as he is faster, stronger and all around, better than this version of Mosley. Berto is not ready for Pac and he has not had the breakout fight to really make him a box office draw, many casual fans will most likely buy it in name recognition only in hopes of seeing a great fight, but in all likeliehood it will be a 1 sided beating much like Mayweather did to Mosley but with Manny finishing him inside the distance.

Im dissapointed, but when Bob Arum is involved im never surprised in all honesty.

 

[Super Hans]

Here is an article from Dan Rafael, whom i dont normally agree with, but he is spot on here with how much of a slimebag Bob Arum really is.


From day one, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum had an agenda when it came to making Manny Pacquiao's next fight. He wanted to match him with Shane Mosley, and that is what he did, and he doesn't give a damn what anyone thinks.

He knows Mosley is an aging fighter who doesn't have a great chance to win, but he has a big name that general sports fans recognize, even if they don't realize he is not the same Shane Mosley of just a few years ago.

Arum doesn't care. He only wants to do what is best for himself, certainly not for boxing. He is going to put Mosley in the ring with Pacquiao soley because of name. It's a move that will squeeze out the last gasps of Mosley's once-outstanding career so Arum can generate another big payday while doing a disservice to real boxing fans who actually care about the matchups and not just a famous but faded name.

Forget all the nonsense we've heard since Pacquiao beat down Antonio Margarito, about how Pacquiao's next opponent was going to come from a list of Mosley, Juan Manuel Marquez and Andre Berto.

The real list was more like Mosley, Mosley and Mosley. But Arum had to include a couple of other names so he could leverage Mosley into believing it was a competition and, therefore, drive down his price. Mosley is desperate for the fight after being beaten almost as badly in his recent divorce settlement as he will be by Pacquiao, who should have put his foot down and demanded a better fight. Make no mistake: Pacquiao is culpable here, too.

Arum knows this business as well as anyone and knows how to play people. He played this one to the hilt, talking about how he was going to solicit term sheets from each of the three potential opponents and then bring them with him to the Philippines for a meeting with Pacquiao to go over the offers.

Before leaving, Arum declared that it would be Pacquiao who would make the decision, not him. Arum, a master manipulator, collected the term sheets, went to the Philippines and did sit down with Pacquiao, but he had his own agenda the entire time. Arum wanted Mosley even though (or, rather, because) Mosley looked like an old man in his past two fights. He is 39 and couldn't pull the trigger at all against Floyd Mayweather Jr. in an embarrassingly one-sided decision loss in their May fight. He hurt Mayweather in the second round and never threw or landed another meaningful punch the rest of the fight. In September, Mosley fought to a putrid draw against Sergio Mora, an opponent a younger Mosley would have pummeled into submission with ease.

A one-sided loss and a draw in an awful fight is not supposed to be how you land a fight with the pound-for-pound king and the sport's most popular fighter.

Remember, in the immediate aftermath of the eyesore draw, Arum concurred. He said he wasn't interested in matching Mosley with Pacquiao because of how bad he looked against Mora and because he was almost 40. But that, of course, was when Mosley was still with Golden Boy Promotions, Top Rank's bitter rival.

Now that Mosley has declared himself free from Golden Boy and negotiated the deal directly with Arum, he's just perfect for the fight.

This should not shock anyone because apparently, as Arum once famously said, yesterday he was lying but today he is telling the truth, about whom he wanted Pacquiao to fight.

Arum even had the audacity to suggest that a way to sell the fight was based on the fact that Mosley is black, because some of boxing's lunatic fringe have been critical of Pacquiao for not facing any African-American opponents. Never mind, of course, that when Pacquiao was tearing it up from flyweight to junior welterweight, there weren't really any top contenders or name opponents who were black. And keep in mind that the No.1 black fighter, Mayweather, doesn't seem to want any part of Pacquiao. But why let a good storyline get in the way of reality, right?

I almost can see the way the conversation Arum had with Pacquiao went down in the Philippines last week when Arum presented Pacquiao with the three term sheets, knowing all along he wasn't going to take anyone but Mosley.

Pacquiao: I think I'd like to fight Marquez.
Arum: Did you say Mosley?
Pacquiao: No, Marquez. We have unfinished business and we had two great fights.
Arum: Did you say Mosley, or did I hear you say Miguel Cotto for a rematch?
Pacquiao: Well, maybe Berto. He's a good, young fighter. He's very fast.
Arum: Mosley, that's what I thought you said.
Pacquiao: Bob, I think I definitely want the third fight with Marquez. That's what my coach, Freddie Roach, wants. That's what the fans want. That's what I want.
Arum: So if it's the fight with Mosley you want, then the fight with Mosley it shall be.
Pacquiao: Lock up Marquez, please. Let's get it done.
Arum: Fine, we'll get Mosley, whatever you say. You're the boss. Someone get me James Prince on the phone so we can lock this up.

While Arum was getting Mosley and his adviser, Prince, on the phone, boxing fans around the world were reaching for a barf bag.

 

[People's Champ]

Not a surprising pick, but definately a fight not worth paying for, hell, even watching. Its been said already but Mosley is waaaay past his prime. You saw it in the fight with Mayweather. This is a KO waiting to happen. A really bad fight. Marquez would have been a much much better opponent, hell even Berto. Instead, we get this crap.

 

[Miko]

I dont really know the ins and outs of boxing, so I was a bit surprised at this fight considering Mosley's recent record, and recent form in general.

That being said, I am not particularly interested in any fight not labelled "Haye vs Robot Brother 1" or "Floyd vs Manny". Might sound a bit ungratefull but I cant think of anything else that wouldnt, like this fight, be an unentertaining foregone conclusion. Oh, my bad, wouldnt mind seeing Manny vs Marquez again to tell the truth. Still, this is another I wont be buying anyway.

 

[Toxs]

Unless Mosley can get some of that magic he used against Margarito a few years ago then this is gonna be an easy win Pac Man.

I would have rather seen Pacquiao vs Sergio Martinez but I guess he's too big, and/or not as known as Mosley.

 

[Super Hans]

Unless Mosley can get some of that magic he used against Margarito a few years ago then this is gonna be an easy win Pac Man.

I would have rather seen Pacquiao vs Sergio Martinez but I guess he's too big, and/or not as known as Mosley.

Magic? Mosley has not had a good performance since his loss to Cotto, he looked so good against Marg because of the unknown circumstances before the fight with the handwraps, Margs head was up his ass because he knew he was getting banned as a result of his cheating.

 

[Tech N9ne]

If anything at all, it is simply another big name for The Pac-Man to add to his list. Another notch on his belt. Also, even though Mosley is passed his prime, another name put down by IMO the best Pound For Pound Fighter in the world. Possibly the best Pound For Pound Fighter we have seen in a long time. I know a lot of people will argue for Mayweather and that's fine. I am not one of them.

I am calling a KO within 4 Rounds!