MANILA, Philippines – The world’s best pound-for-pound fighter made a prediction on the outcome of the May 1 fight between Americans Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Shane Mosley.
“I think Mosley will win,” Manny Pacquiao declared on the Krystal Hart Show as quoted by FightFan.com.
Even if he thinks that Mayweather is a "boring" fighter, Pacquiao said that the fight between "Pretty Boy Floyd" and "Sugar Shane" will still be a treat for fight fans.
“I think Mayweather vs. Mosley will be a good fight,” he said.
Pacquiao then went on to give another reason why his scheduled March 13 bout with Mayweather did not push through.
“I’m not concerned about the Money (that would have come in a fight vs. Mayweather). I’m concerned about what I can give in terms of my performance to the people who love boxing. My concern isn’t only with myself, but with the people who buy tickets looking for a good fight,” he said.
“I don’t want to disappoint people with a boring fight. I feel you need to entertain the people who watch your fights.”
Pacquiao, meanwhile, assured a very good fight against Ghana’s Joshua Clottey, whom he will face on March 13 at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
“It’s going to be a good fight because he has a good style. It’s a different kind of style and I want to fight. He’s bigger and he’s taller than Miguel Cotto.”
Pacquiao won the World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight title last November by beating Cotto via technical knockout in Round 12.
Clean fighter
After Pacquiao’s victory over Cotto, talks on the Mayweather-Pacquiao match-up swirled immediately. They were supposed to face off on March 13 fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Talks to seal the deal collapsed when the fighters’ camps disagreed on the drug testing protocol.
Mayweather, his father Floyd Sr. and other members of his team even alleged that Pacquiao was taking performance-enhancing drugs. The Filipino boxing icon already filed a defamation complaint against them.
“I’m not against blood testing. Just not the day of the fight. I’ve had that happen in the (first) [Erik] Morales fight. I lost that fight and my body felt very weak. I don’t feel I recovered. That is why I don’t want blood testing close to the fight,” explained Pacquiao.
He also mentioned that he is a “very honest person” who prays and believes in God. He said his success in the ring only reflects the hard training he undergoes before every fight.
“I’m a clean fighter who trains very hard. People don’t know how hard I train and the sacrifices I make.”
He even hit back on Mayweather, saying that the American probably did not really want to face the 7-time world champ.
“I don’t think Mayweather wanted the fight. He had too many reasons (that lead) to cancel the fight. I’m not disappointed because I know I’m not the one who didn’t want the fight and I have to defend myself.”
Clottey’s disappointment
Pacquiao, who is training in the United States for his title defense, said he is not underestimating his opponent.
“I didn’t expect I would end up fighting Clottey but I will prepare myself and train hard,” he said.
“Clottey is a strong guy and a good fighter. He’s a former world champion. I am sure we will have a good fight and create a lot of excitement in the ring.”
The Ghanian, on the other hand, is still encountering problems in his fight preparations because his trainer, Godwin Dzanie Kotey better known as Alloway, has not yet secured a US visa.
“I am fine but tell Ghana that they’ve disappointed me by not giving my trainer visa to come here with me,” Clottey said in a GhanaWeb.com article.
“The only thing I can tell you is everything is fine with me and I’m ready to fight [even] if the government can’t help because it’s my life on the line,” added Clottey. – With reports from GhanaWeb.com and FightFan.com
Source: abs-cbnnews.com
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Mayweather-Mosley and Pacquiao-Clottey analysis
By By Benjamin Dover: I have been thinking hard about the two bouts coming up and i’m going to start with the main one. On May 1st you have Mayweather-Mosley, a fight boxing fans have been waiting and waiting for and now it’s finally happening. You have Floyd Mayweather 40-0 (25 KO’s) and Shane Mosley 46-5 (39 KO’s.)
I see this fight being a close one for the first 4-5 rounds with Mosley looking to pressure Floyd and trying to make him fight. I see Shane throwing a lot but not landing many along the way, similar to the De La Hoya-Mayweather fight.
I see Mayweather using the shoulder roll and the defensive genius when Mosley has him on the ropes and when Mosley gets him too the centre of the ring, Mayweather will be using that whiplash like jab and printing it on Mosley’s already very flat nose. Shane has a lot of power and can trouble Floyd if he can connect but how can you hit a guy who is so technically smart and has the skills and IQ that Mayweather has. It’ll be a great fight between two of the greatest fighters of their era’s but in the end I see Mayweather winning around an 8 rounds to 4 decision. Mosley has a lot of power and speed but he does throw wild at times and he does have trouble with boxers and there isn’t no better boxer than Floyd Mayweather.
On March 13th we have Pacquiao-Cottey, a completely different fight compared to Mayweather-Mosley. I see Pacquiao-Clottey being more of a brawl in a sense that Pacquiao will be using his speed and angles to hit Clottey. I think Clottey is a tough welterweight and a good fighter but he is tailor made for Pacquiao. He doesn’t move and has the tendency to stop throwing in the last few rounds and just stand there taking shots, against a fighter who throws and pressures like Pacquiao, this isn’t a smart move. I see Pacquiao winning a clear decision or maybe being the first person to stop Clottey in the later rounds. It all depends on Clottey, he needs to cover up well and use his boxing skills and power, because he does have that in his locker. He just has the tendency to take his foot off the gas I think it’s a stamina and weight issue because he does struggle to make weight limits.
After both of these bouts I see Mayweather and Pacquiao both coming out on top and again everyone will be talking about who’s better than who and debating the two fighters. Hopefully after May 1st were talking about Mayweather-Pacquiao once again.
Source: boxingnews24.com
I see this fight being a close one for the first 4-5 rounds with Mosley looking to pressure Floyd and trying to make him fight. I see Shane throwing a lot but not landing many along the way, similar to the De La Hoya-Mayweather fight.
I see Mayweather using the shoulder roll and the defensive genius when Mosley has him on the ropes and when Mosley gets him too the centre of the ring, Mayweather will be using that whiplash like jab and printing it on Mosley’s already very flat nose. Shane has a lot of power and can trouble Floyd if he can connect but how can you hit a guy who is so technically smart and has the skills and IQ that Mayweather has. It’ll be a great fight between two of the greatest fighters of their era’s but in the end I see Mayweather winning around an 8 rounds to 4 decision. Mosley has a lot of power and speed but he does throw wild at times and he does have trouble with boxers and there isn’t no better boxer than Floyd Mayweather.
On March 13th we have Pacquiao-Cottey, a completely different fight compared to Mayweather-Mosley. I see Pacquiao-Clottey being more of a brawl in a sense that Pacquiao will be using his speed and angles to hit Clottey. I think Clottey is a tough welterweight and a good fighter but he is tailor made for Pacquiao. He doesn’t move and has the tendency to stop throwing in the last few rounds and just stand there taking shots, against a fighter who throws and pressures like Pacquiao, this isn’t a smart move. I see Pacquiao winning a clear decision or maybe being the first person to stop Clottey in the later rounds. It all depends on Clottey, he needs to cover up well and use his boxing skills and power, because he does have that in his locker. He just has the tendency to take his foot off the gas I think it’s a stamina and weight issue because he does struggle to make weight limits.
After both of these bouts I see Mayweather and Pacquiao both coming out on top and again everyone will be talking about who’s better than who and debating the two fighters. Hopefully after May 1st were talking about Mayweather-Pacquiao once again.
Source: boxingnews24.com
Friday, February 12, 2010
Mosley thrilled to finally have signed fight
Two of the best 147-pounders in the world will meet May 1 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, in what is easily the biggest fight in boxing that doesn't involve a Filipino fighter named Manny.
Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs) is a five-division champion whose flamboyance has made him a crossover star, with interests as diverse as WWE's "Wrestlemania" and "Dancing With the Stars." He's been involved in some of the richest fights in boxing, but is still hounded by critics who claim he's never fought a true welterweight in their prime.
Mosley (46-5, 39 KOs) is a three-division champion who has pursued Mayweather since the late 1990s, when they were both in lighter divisions. He's faced just about every big name available, from De La Hoya to Antonio Margarito, but has dealt with his own critics after admitting to unknowingly using performance-enhancing drugs.
"It won't be the fight of my life, but I just want to make a point that I'm the best fighter," Mosley said. "There's not a welterweight out there who can beat me. I don't just want to talk about, I want to do it."
After years or negotiations and the fight repeatedly falling through, Mosley and Mayweather wound up together in a sort of fortunate accident.
Mayweather was left looking for an opponent after acrimonious negotiations to fight Manny Pacquiao fell through and the pound-for-pound king signed to fight Josh Clottey instead. Mosley was supposed to face Andre Berto in a unification bout on Jan. 30, but Berto withdrew after the earthquake in Haiti killed several family members.
Even though Mayweather took his time signing the contract -- leaving Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy Promotions on edge -- everything officially came together last week.
"He was waiting for that opportunity for so long and finally it's here. He couldn't be happier," Schaefer said. "Sometimes with those big fights, when you don't try too hard they happen, and when you try too hard they don't. You just have to let things fall into place."
Another issue that needed to be overcome was the protocol for drug testing, which scuttled the proposed fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao. Mayweather insisted on Olympic-style testing and refused to budge off blood tests two weeks before the fight, while Pacquiao claimed he feels weak when he gives blood and refused to do so less than 24 days out.
Mosley readily agreed to blood testing, which is far more extensive than the normal urine tests that are required by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
"The people have in their mind that it's Manny Pacquiao, it's Mayweather, and everybody's focusing on that," Mosley said. "I'm coming through the backdoor and I'm going to make sure they know I'm here. This is my era, and I'm not going to let nobody take that from me."
Sure, Pacquiao is considered by many the best fighter in the world regardless of weight. And others believe Mayweather is even better than him. But there is little disputing the resume that Mosley has put together, especially over the past few years.
After dropping a pair of close decisions to Winky Wright, Mosley rattled off five straight wins, beating Fernando Vargas twice and Luis Collazo for an interim belt. After losing another close decision, this time to Miguel Cotto, Mosley stopped Ricardo Mayorga to set up a showdown with feared puncher Antonio Margarito.
Mosley looked nothing like a 39-year-old fighter at Staples Center that night, battering Margarito from post to post before ending the fight in the ninth round.
"Put the guys I fought against the guys he fought and what happens?" Mayweather said, joining in the criticism of Mayweather's opposition. "I fought guys that come into the ring at 172 (pounds), he fought guys that don't even reach the 147-pound limit. I'm fighting guys that are taller and bigger than me in every way, and knocking them out."
Considered one of the most affable fighters in the game, it's little surprise that Mosley has trouble wiping that smile from his face. He stops mid-sentence to sign autographs and take photographs with fans, then gets right back to answer whatever question he was asked.
All the while, he wears a giant grin on his face.
And it's never been bigger.
"He was down there for two days meeting with the media," said HBO Sports vice president Mark Taffett, referring to the Super Bowl festivities in Miami. "He was simply phenomenal. He has the energy of a 20-year-old."
Source: usatoday.com
Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs) is a five-division champion whose flamboyance has made him a crossover star, with interests as diverse as WWE's "Wrestlemania" and "Dancing With the Stars." He's been involved in some of the richest fights in boxing, but is still hounded by critics who claim he's never fought a true welterweight in their prime.
Mosley (46-5, 39 KOs) is a three-division champion who has pursued Mayweather since the late 1990s, when they were both in lighter divisions. He's faced just about every big name available, from De La Hoya to Antonio Margarito, but has dealt with his own critics after admitting to unknowingly using performance-enhancing drugs.
"It won't be the fight of my life, but I just want to make a point that I'm the best fighter," Mosley said. "There's not a welterweight out there who can beat me. I don't just want to talk about, I want to do it."
After years or negotiations and the fight repeatedly falling through, Mosley and Mayweather wound up together in a sort of fortunate accident.
Mayweather was left looking for an opponent after acrimonious negotiations to fight Manny Pacquiao fell through and the pound-for-pound king signed to fight Josh Clottey instead. Mosley was supposed to face Andre Berto in a unification bout on Jan. 30, but Berto withdrew after the earthquake in Haiti killed several family members.
Even though Mayweather took his time signing the contract -- leaving Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy Promotions on edge -- everything officially came together last week.
"He was waiting for that opportunity for so long and finally it's here. He couldn't be happier," Schaefer said. "Sometimes with those big fights, when you don't try too hard they happen, and when you try too hard they don't. You just have to let things fall into place."
Another issue that needed to be overcome was the protocol for drug testing, which scuttled the proposed fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao. Mayweather insisted on Olympic-style testing and refused to budge off blood tests two weeks before the fight, while Pacquiao claimed he feels weak when he gives blood and refused to do so less than 24 days out.
Mosley readily agreed to blood testing, which is far more extensive than the normal urine tests that are required by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
"The people have in their mind that it's Manny Pacquiao, it's Mayweather, and everybody's focusing on that," Mosley said. "I'm coming through the backdoor and I'm going to make sure they know I'm here. This is my era, and I'm not going to let nobody take that from me."
Sure, Pacquiao is considered by many the best fighter in the world regardless of weight. And others believe Mayweather is even better than him. But there is little disputing the resume that Mosley has put together, especially over the past few years.
After dropping a pair of close decisions to Winky Wright, Mosley rattled off five straight wins, beating Fernando Vargas twice and Luis Collazo for an interim belt. After losing another close decision, this time to Miguel Cotto, Mosley stopped Ricardo Mayorga to set up a showdown with feared puncher Antonio Margarito.
Mosley looked nothing like a 39-year-old fighter at Staples Center that night, battering Margarito from post to post before ending the fight in the ninth round.
"Put the guys I fought against the guys he fought and what happens?" Mayweather said, joining in the criticism of Mayweather's opposition. "I fought guys that come into the ring at 172 (pounds), he fought guys that don't even reach the 147-pound limit. I'm fighting guys that are taller and bigger than me in every way, and knocking them out."
Considered one of the most affable fighters in the game, it's little surprise that Mosley has trouble wiping that smile from his face. He stops mid-sentence to sign autographs and take photographs with fans, then gets right back to answer whatever question he was asked.
All the while, he wears a giant grin on his face.
And it's never been bigger.
"He was down there for two days meeting with the media," said HBO Sports vice president Mark Taffett, referring to the Super Bowl festivities in Miami. "He was simply phenomenal. He has the energy of a 20-year-old."
Source: usatoday.com
No drugs turns a chin to granite
MENTION drug-taking in sport and most people's eyes glaze over.
The subject is about as sexy as a nun's habit. But, thanks to Manny Pacquiao, boxing has had the finger of suspicion levelled against it.
Allegations have been flying that boxing has a major drug problem that it is sweeping under the canvas. This has come about because Pacquiao refused Floyd Mayweather Jnr's demand that he must undergo Olympic-style testing before any showdown between them.
The damaging inference from the Mayweather camp could not be made any clearer.
They claim Pacquiao's success in winning world titles from flyweight to welterweight has been possible only because he has been taking performance-enhancing substances - and that is the main reason he's been able to remain so strong as he travelled up through the weights from eight to 10½st.
Pacquiao, understandably, is incensed by such a derogatory accusation aimed at ruining his reputation.
He should have been fighting Mayweather in the ring next month. Instead, the pair will be battling it out in court.
The Filipino is suing Mayweather for defamation and he said this week: "I feel hurt and disappointed because I don't even know what a steroid is."
Victor Conte does. He is the Californian who went to jail a few years ago for supplying sprinter Marion Jones and many other sport stars with steroids.
Conte has attacked boxing authorities for being less than vigilant in pursuit of drug cheats. The World Anti-Doping Agency agree.
He said: "I don't believe professional boxing wants to know how rampant the use of drugs really is.
"It's time for positive change. There should be random blood and urine tests leading up to fights. Taking samples just before and after fights is not effective."
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Conte's remarks were aimed at the US where Roy Jones Jnr, Shane Mosley and James Toney are the only high-profile fighters who have tested positive for steroid use.
For legal reasons I can't name names but in my time covering major fights in the States there were a number of household names under suspicion.
Even Muhammad Ali was found guilty of taking diuretics to lose excess weight before he fought Larry Holmes.
The British Boxing Board of Control carry out approximately 70 random tests a year.
In the past seven years only seven of our boxers have been found to have taken illegal drugs - none of them champions.
Board secretary Robert Smith told me: "We are certainly not complacent but I honestly don't think we have anything to worry about in this country."
James DeGale, who fights Matthew Barr at Wembley tomorrow, is surprised he hasn't been tested since he started life as pro a year ago.
He said: "In Olympic year I had three random tests before I even got to Beijing."
The chemists who supply the drugs and masking agents are clever scientists.
But I defy them to produce a pill that will put steel in a fighter's heart or granite in his chin.
Source: thesun.co.uk
The subject is about as sexy as a nun's habit. But, thanks to Manny Pacquiao, boxing has had the finger of suspicion levelled against it.
Allegations have been flying that boxing has a major drug problem that it is sweeping under the canvas. This has come about because Pacquiao refused Floyd Mayweather Jnr's demand that he must undergo Olympic-style testing before any showdown between them.
The damaging inference from the Mayweather camp could not be made any clearer.
They claim Pacquiao's success in winning world titles from flyweight to welterweight has been possible only because he has been taking performance-enhancing substances - and that is the main reason he's been able to remain so strong as he travelled up through the weights from eight to 10½st.
Pacquiao, understandably, is incensed by such a derogatory accusation aimed at ruining his reputation.
He should have been fighting Mayweather in the ring next month. Instead, the pair will be battling it out in court.
The Filipino is suing Mayweather for defamation and he said this week: "I feel hurt and disappointed because I don't even know what a steroid is."
Victor Conte does. He is the Californian who went to jail a few years ago for supplying sprinter Marion Jones and many other sport stars with steroids.
Conte has attacked boxing authorities for being less than vigilant in pursuit of drug cheats. The World Anti-Doping Agency agree.
He said: "I don't believe professional boxing wants to know how rampant the use of drugs really is.
"It's time for positive change. There should be random blood and urine tests leading up to fights. Taking samples just before and after fights is not effective."
Advertisement
Conte's remarks were aimed at the US where Roy Jones Jnr, Shane Mosley and James Toney are the only high-profile fighters who have tested positive for steroid use.
For legal reasons I can't name names but in my time covering major fights in the States there were a number of household names under suspicion.
Even Muhammad Ali was found guilty of taking diuretics to lose excess weight before he fought Larry Holmes.
The British Boxing Board of Control carry out approximately 70 random tests a year.
In the past seven years only seven of our boxers have been found to have taken illegal drugs - none of them champions.
Board secretary Robert Smith told me: "We are certainly not complacent but I honestly don't think we have anything to worry about in this country."
James DeGale, who fights Matthew Barr at Wembley tomorrow, is surprised he hasn't been tested since he started life as pro a year ago.
He said: "In Olympic year I had three random tests before I even got to Beijing."
The chemists who supply the drugs and masking agents are clever scientists.
But I defy them to produce a pill that will put steel in a fighter's heart or granite in his chin.
Source: thesun.co.uk
Mosley Makes It "Clear:" He Doesn't Need PEDs To Beat Mayweather
Despite his own shadowy past, Shane Mosley is unafraid.
He’s unafraid of Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and just as importantly he’s unafraid of being asked to prove he’s no longer using performance enhancing drugs, which is why he’s in a position to prove he’s unafraid of Mayweather and anything else to do with boxing.
The two of them will square off May 1 in Las Vegas in the biggest fight of the year to date, a bout between the two best welterweights in the world. Just as significantly, it will be the first fight where the participants are willingly submitting to random blood testing for PEDs, the Mayweather demand that proved to be the undoing of a potential $40 million per man mega-fight this year between Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.
Pacquiao’s refusal to submit to random blood testing up to within a few days of their fight was, for reasons only he can know for sure, not something he was willing to do. His reasons included a fear of needles, a fear of being weakened by blood loss, a fear of this and a fear of that.
Mosley heard such excuses recently during a lengthy interview with TSS and laughed. He didn’t say he thought Pacquiao was lying. He didn’t say anything about Pacquiao. What he said instead was about himself but it seemed to make all things clear on the matter.
“I’m not afraid of needles,’’ Mosley said, grinning. “I’m not afraid of blood tests. They can show up at my doorstep in Big Bear (the mountain retreat east of L.A. where he will train) at 3 a.m. I have no problem being tested.
“I think it’s a good thing, to tell you the truth. There are track people and baseball players (using). These (strength and conditioning) trainers come in and act like they’re doing something for the athletes. We don’t need them. Boxing needs to stay with the old (training) style. The worst part of my career was when I had a sports trainer. I lost five times.’’
He also beat Oscar De La Hoya and in his preparation for their second fight later learned he’d used EPO (blood doping) as well as “the clear’’ and “the cream,’’ two nearly undetectable forms of steroids provided to him by his former strength and conditioning trainer Darryl Hudson and Victor Conte, who ran the notorious BALCO lab that was the center of the Barry Bonds and Marion Jones steroid controversies.
Mosley admitted under oath to a Federal grand jury that he’d injected himself with EPO and used both the clear and the cream but claimed he had no knowledge these were illegal PEDs. Conte and Hudson have disputed that and the story has lingered for six years, never seeming to go away.
Hudson and Mosley have an ongoing legal battle over the issue and Conte has served time for his part in the distribution of the illegal drugs to a number of professional athletes including Mosley. But now, in the weeks and months leading up to one of the biggest fights of his career, the 38-year-old WBA champion seems eager to not only face Mayweather but also to prove all he needs to win are the performance enhancers given to him at birth and developed over nearly 30 years in boxing.
“I feel insulted I’m still talking about BALCO stuff,’’ Mosley (46-5, 39 KO) said. “I never tested positive in 2003. If I was a juicer I would have been caught in 2003, 2004, 2006. It should have been erased.
“It’s been put out there for media purposes. That’s fine with me. I’m in a sport that is not really about strength any way. It’s speed, timing and the mental side. You can be the strongest man but if you can’t hit the guy nothing is going to happen. Floyd is a great fighter. He’s smart. Being strong doesn’t win Floyd fights.’’
The undefeated (40-0, 25 KO) Mayweather is still considered by many to be the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world despite having ceded that position to Pacquiao when he left the sport for a 21-month self-imposed exile. He came back in September and dominated one of the most skilled boxers in the world (and a long-time nemesis of Pacquiao’s), Juan Manuel Marquez, in a fight that impressed many people in boxing, but Mosley was not among them.
It’s not that Mosley doesn’t respect Marquez, who is one of his stablemates at Golden Boy Promotions. It’s simply that he and Mayweather are welterweights and Marquez is, well, a dozen pounds short of that.
“I’m the best welterweight in the world but taking myself out of the equation it’s Pacquiao,’’ Mosley said. “At least Manny fought (former WBO champion Miguel) Cotto. Cotto wasn’t the best welterweight in the world but at least he fought a real welterweight.
“You can’t come back and fight lightweights and junior welterweights (like Ricky Hatton). The last welterweight Floyd fought was Oscar and he’d been off for how long? You can’t come back for two months and say you’re a serious fighter.’’
Despite the fact Mosley hasn’t fought in over a year he has been training for fights that never happened. The latest was with WBC champion Andre Berto, who was forced to pull out of their match after the destruction suffered in his native Haiti left him unable to mentally prepare for a boxing match when he had friends and relatives left homeless and abandoned.
Mosley understood and is thankful the fight did not come off not solely because it allowed him to open negotiations with Mayweather after the Pacquiao fight collapsed but because he saw in Berto something Berto didn’t see in himself – a void.
“He’s not ready for it (such a big fight) mentally,’’ Mosley said. “I like Berto. I would have understood if he didn’t want to fight me in the first place. He wasn’t ready to fight me but he was willing to test himself.
“That’s what you like to see in a young fighter. He wanted to fight me but I don’t want to ruin a good young fighter. It’s not a skill factor. Mentally he’s not ready.’’
Mosley, on the other hand, is always ready. Or so it seems. At least he has been since ridding himself of Hudson and going back to the old ways in boxing – hitting bags, running, exercise, diet, sparring. Returning boxing to what it has always been – a sport of speed, wiliness and courage.
“I was always ready,’’ Mosley said of his own career. “I wasn’t ever intimidated. My first fight with Oscar people asked if I was intimidated. Why would I be afraid of something I wanted?
“If they told me in my first professional fight to fight the champion, Phillip Holliday, I would have done it. And I would have won.’’
That confidence, competitive spirit and willingness to be tested (now in more ways than one) is what has kept Mosley at or near the top for so long. It is the same thing, he believes, that will return him there on May 1 in Las Vegas when he and Mayweather offer to the world what boxing needs – a big night at the fights.
“It’s been very frustrating to sit there and watch different guys fight, but I was in the gym getting better and better,’’ Mosley said assuredly. “I was fighting, just not in front of people."
The last time Mosley was in front of people it was at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Jan. 24, 2009, the night Antonio Margarito was found wearing tampered hand wraps that the California Athletic Commission said were laced with a hardening agent similar to plaster of paris.
The wraps were removed and the fight went on, with Mosley dominating Margarito six months after Margarito beat Cotto half to death and less than a year since he’d done the same to Kermit Cintron. But on this night Margarito had no answers for the chin questions Mosley kept asking, questions that finally left Margarito totally beaten down after nine one-sided rounds.
Although Margarito was suspended for a year (and returns March 13 on the Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey card in Dallas) after the fight, Mosley insisted he had no hard feelings about his opponent’s hardened handwraps and would willingly fight him again after he beats Mayweather and then grants Mayweather a contractually-obligated rematch that Mosley believes his opponent is going to need.
“So what?’’ Mosley said when asked his reaction to Margarito’s effort to load his gloves. “He hit Cotto with them. A lot. How many times did he hit me?’’
Told “None,’’ Mosley beamed.
“Exactly,’’ he said. “That would have made no difference. I would have murdered him the same way, loaded gloves or not.’’
Mosley feels the same about Mayweather. While he concedes Mayweather is a vastly talented fighter who is quick and a master of defense, he looks at him, then looks at himself and concludes what he always has felt and what he believes is unchanged today. In a boxing ring, or anywhere else within the sport, he rules.
“I think the match with me and Floyd is a mega-match,’’ Mosley said quite rightly. “The real megafights are between the three or us (including Pacquiao), not with Clottey.
“I love to beat anyone out there. I love to challenge myself. That’s my competitive nature. I’ve always been that way. I love to win.’’
Shane Mosley made evident how much when it was suggested that Mayweather had won the negotiation with Pacquiao because he ended up in a mega-fight in Vegas with him while Pacquiao ended up with a far less high profile opponent in Texas.
“I wouldn’t say he won it,’’ Mosley said, smiling. “I won it.’’
So did boxing, which won because two of the finest fighters in the world agreed to fight but not to fight the idea of coming in clean of anything but what God and training will give them. In Shane Mosley's opinion, that’ll be quite enough, thanks.
Source: thesweetscience.com
He’s unafraid of Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and just as importantly he’s unafraid of being asked to prove he’s no longer using performance enhancing drugs, which is why he’s in a position to prove he’s unafraid of Mayweather and anything else to do with boxing.
The two of them will square off May 1 in Las Vegas in the biggest fight of the year to date, a bout between the two best welterweights in the world. Just as significantly, it will be the first fight where the participants are willingly submitting to random blood testing for PEDs, the Mayweather demand that proved to be the undoing of a potential $40 million per man mega-fight this year between Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.
Pacquiao’s refusal to submit to random blood testing up to within a few days of their fight was, for reasons only he can know for sure, not something he was willing to do. His reasons included a fear of needles, a fear of being weakened by blood loss, a fear of this and a fear of that.
Mosley heard such excuses recently during a lengthy interview with TSS and laughed. He didn’t say he thought Pacquiao was lying. He didn’t say anything about Pacquiao. What he said instead was about himself but it seemed to make all things clear on the matter.
“I’m not afraid of needles,’’ Mosley said, grinning. “I’m not afraid of blood tests. They can show up at my doorstep in Big Bear (the mountain retreat east of L.A. where he will train) at 3 a.m. I have no problem being tested.
“I think it’s a good thing, to tell you the truth. There are track people and baseball players (using). These (strength and conditioning) trainers come in and act like they’re doing something for the athletes. We don’t need them. Boxing needs to stay with the old (training) style. The worst part of my career was when I had a sports trainer. I lost five times.’’
He also beat Oscar De La Hoya and in his preparation for their second fight later learned he’d used EPO (blood doping) as well as “the clear’’ and “the cream,’’ two nearly undetectable forms of steroids provided to him by his former strength and conditioning trainer Darryl Hudson and Victor Conte, who ran the notorious BALCO lab that was the center of the Barry Bonds and Marion Jones steroid controversies.
Mosley admitted under oath to a Federal grand jury that he’d injected himself with EPO and used both the clear and the cream but claimed he had no knowledge these were illegal PEDs. Conte and Hudson have disputed that and the story has lingered for six years, never seeming to go away.
Hudson and Mosley have an ongoing legal battle over the issue and Conte has served time for his part in the distribution of the illegal drugs to a number of professional athletes including Mosley. But now, in the weeks and months leading up to one of the biggest fights of his career, the 38-year-old WBA champion seems eager to not only face Mayweather but also to prove all he needs to win are the performance enhancers given to him at birth and developed over nearly 30 years in boxing.
“I feel insulted I’m still talking about BALCO stuff,’’ Mosley (46-5, 39 KO) said. “I never tested positive in 2003. If I was a juicer I would have been caught in 2003, 2004, 2006. It should have been erased.
“It’s been put out there for media purposes. That’s fine with me. I’m in a sport that is not really about strength any way. It’s speed, timing and the mental side. You can be the strongest man but if you can’t hit the guy nothing is going to happen. Floyd is a great fighter. He’s smart. Being strong doesn’t win Floyd fights.’’
The undefeated (40-0, 25 KO) Mayweather is still considered by many to be the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world despite having ceded that position to Pacquiao when he left the sport for a 21-month self-imposed exile. He came back in September and dominated one of the most skilled boxers in the world (and a long-time nemesis of Pacquiao’s), Juan Manuel Marquez, in a fight that impressed many people in boxing, but Mosley was not among them.
It’s not that Mosley doesn’t respect Marquez, who is one of his stablemates at Golden Boy Promotions. It’s simply that he and Mayweather are welterweights and Marquez is, well, a dozen pounds short of that.
“I’m the best welterweight in the world but taking myself out of the equation it’s Pacquiao,’’ Mosley said. “At least Manny fought (former WBO champion Miguel) Cotto. Cotto wasn’t the best welterweight in the world but at least he fought a real welterweight.
“You can’t come back and fight lightweights and junior welterweights (like Ricky Hatton). The last welterweight Floyd fought was Oscar and he’d been off for how long? You can’t come back for two months and say you’re a serious fighter.’’
Despite the fact Mosley hasn’t fought in over a year he has been training for fights that never happened. The latest was with WBC champion Andre Berto, who was forced to pull out of their match after the destruction suffered in his native Haiti left him unable to mentally prepare for a boxing match when he had friends and relatives left homeless and abandoned.
Mosley understood and is thankful the fight did not come off not solely because it allowed him to open negotiations with Mayweather after the Pacquiao fight collapsed but because he saw in Berto something Berto didn’t see in himself – a void.
“He’s not ready for it (such a big fight) mentally,’’ Mosley said. “I like Berto. I would have understood if he didn’t want to fight me in the first place. He wasn’t ready to fight me but he was willing to test himself.
“That’s what you like to see in a young fighter. He wanted to fight me but I don’t want to ruin a good young fighter. It’s not a skill factor. Mentally he’s not ready.’’
Mosley, on the other hand, is always ready. Or so it seems. At least he has been since ridding himself of Hudson and going back to the old ways in boxing – hitting bags, running, exercise, diet, sparring. Returning boxing to what it has always been – a sport of speed, wiliness and courage.
“I was always ready,’’ Mosley said of his own career. “I wasn’t ever intimidated. My first fight with Oscar people asked if I was intimidated. Why would I be afraid of something I wanted?
“If they told me in my first professional fight to fight the champion, Phillip Holliday, I would have done it. And I would have won.’’
That confidence, competitive spirit and willingness to be tested (now in more ways than one) is what has kept Mosley at or near the top for so long. It is the same thing, he believes, that will return him there on May 1 in Las Vegas when he and Mayweather offer to the world what boxing needs – a big night at the fights.
“It’s been very frustrating to sit there and watch different guys fight, but I was in the gym getting better and better,’’ Mosley said assuredly. “I was fighting, just not in front of people."
The last time Mosley was in front of people it was at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Jan. 24, 2009, the night Antonio Margarito was found wearing tampered hand wraps that the California Athletic Commission said were laced with a hardening agent similar to plaster of paris.
The wraps were removed and the fight went on, with Mosley dominating Margarito six months after Margarito beat Cotto half to death and less than a year since he’d done the same to Kermit Cintron. But on this night Margarito had no answers for the chin questions Mosley kept asking, questions that finally left Margarito totally beaten down after nine one-sided rounds.
Although Margarito was suspended for a year (and returns March 13 on the Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey card in Dallas) after the fight, Mosley insisted he had no hard feelings about his opponent’s hardened handwraps and would willingly fight him again after he beats Mayweather and then grants Mayweather a contractually-obligated rematch that Mosley believes his opponent is going to need.
“So what?’’ Mosley said when asked his reaction to Margarito’s effort to load his gloves. “He hit Cotto with them. A lot. How many times did he hit me?’’
Told “None,’’ Mosley beamed.
“Exactly,’’ he said. “That would have made no difference. I would have murdered him the same way, loaded gloves or not.’’
Mosley feels the same about Mayweather. While he concedes Mayweather is a vastly talented fighter who is quick and a master of defense, he looks at him, then looks at himself and concludes what he always has felt and what he believes is unchanged today. In a boxing ring, or anywhere else within the sport, he rules.
“I think the match with me and Floyd is a mega-match,’’ Mosley said quite rightly. “The real megafights are between the three or us (including Pacquiao), not with Clottey.
“I love to beat anyone out there. I love to challenge myself. That’s my competitive nature. I’ve always been that way. I love to win.’’
Shane Mosley made evident how much when it was suggested that Mayweather had won the negotiation with Pacquiao because he ended up in a mega-fight in Vegas with him while Pacquiao ended up with a far less high profile opponent in Texas.
“I wouldn’t say he won it,’’ Mosley said, smiling. “I won it.’’
So did boxing, which won because two of the finest fighters in the world agreed to fight but not to fight the idea of coming in clean of anything but what God and training will give them. In Shane Mosley's opinion, that’ll be quite enough, thanks.
Source: thesweetscience.com
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Sugar Shane is not the Manny to beat Floyd Mayweather
There are plenty of things that frustrate me about Floyd Mayweather - but that does not alter my opinion of him as the best fighter in the world.
Bouts are made on his terms, he can be too safety first in the ring and risk averse when choosing opponents.
That said, his May 1 bout with Sugar Shane Mosley is fantastic news for boxing. It will be a great fight but ultimately it has come too late for 38-year-old Mosley.
Mayweather has built a career on avoiding hungry fighters at the top of their careers. He wouldn't even spar with James DeGale last year as he said he was too big.
He is facing Mosley at the right time. He looked shot a couple of years ago. I mean gone. He was beaten comprehensively by Miguel Cotto and then came back to fashion wins against Ricardo Mayorga and Antonio Margarito.
He looked reborn. You ask yourself how he did it. It is an obvious question given that Mosley's past is blighted by steroid association.
He claims he inadvertently used drugs supplied by the infamous BALCO lab before the Oscar De La Hoya bout in 2003, which he won.
Since Mosley has agreed to a meet the demands of Mayweather for a more rigorous Olympic-style drug-testing schedule, the sting is taken out of the issue.
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Though how much confidence anyone can have in testing programmes is questionable, given the history of success enjoyed by drug cheats.
Screening agents are so powerful these days that catching offenders in any sport is not straightforward.
The point is the boxers have a scheme that both agree on, though it will be interesting to see if the drug issue is brought up by Mayweather as the talk turns trashy near the fight.
The undefeated 33-year-old is in for a tough night, but ultimately is too quick, young and fresh. Sugar Shane is tremendously brave and will go for it like he did against Mayorga. He is quick and restless and does not give a hoot about anybody. And he can punch.
But we shouldn't forget that Mayorga, a crude slugger compared to Mayweather, was boxing the ears off Mosley until the old equaliser landed in the final seconds. If Mayweather could have avoided Mosley he probably would have done - but he is chasing the money.
His lifestyle and his love of gambling on American football have left him with huge bills to pay.
That is why I believe a Mayweather v Manny Pacquiao fight just has to happen. There is too much money at stake for a truce between the pair's respective camps not to be reached.
It is the best fight out there by a country mile. So much so that you wonder if there is not some strategy at play to inflate the numbers when they do get together? I suspect we'll find out later in the year. In the meantime, Mayweather v Mosley will have the cash tills ringing. I'll be buying, that's for sure. CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE: www.barrymcguigan.com
Source: mirror.co.uk
Bouts are made on his terms, he can be too safety first in the ring and risk averse when choosing opponents.
That said, his May 1 bout with Sugar Shane Mosley is fantastic news for boxing. It will be a great fight but ultimately it has come too late for 38-year-old Mosley.
Mayweather has built a career on avoiding hungry fighters at the top of their careers. He wouldn't even spar with James DeGale last year as he said he was too big.
He is facing Mosley at the right time. He looked shot a couple of years ago. I mean gone. He was beaten comprehensively by Miguel Cotto and then came back to fashion wins against Ricardo Mayorga and Antonio Margarito.
He looked reborn. You ask yourself how he did it. It is an obvious question given that Mosley's past is blighted by steroid association.
He claims he inadvertently used drugs supplied by the infamous BALCO lab before the Oscar De La Hoya bout in 2003, which he won.
Since Mosley has agreed to a meet the demands of Mayweather for a more rigorous Olympic-style drug-testing schedule, the sting is taken out of the issue.
Advertisement - article continues below »
Click Here!
Though how much confidence anyone can have in testing programmes is questionable, given the history of success enjoyed by drug cheats.
Screening agents are so powerful these days that catching offenders in any sport is not straightforward.
The point is the boxers have a scheme that both agree on, though it will be interesting to see if the drug issue is brought up by Mayweather as the talk turns trashy near the fight.
The undefeated 33-year-old is in for a tough night, but ultimately is too quick, young and fresh. Sugar Shane is tremendously brave and will go for it like he did against Mayorga. He is quick and restless and does not give a hoot about anybody. And he can punch.
But we shouldn't forget that Mayorga, a crude slugger compared to Mayweather, was boxing the ears off Mosley until the old equaliser landed in the final seconds. If Mayweather could have avoided Mosley he probably would have done - but he is chasing the money.
His lifestyle and his love of gambling on American football have left him with huge bills to pay.
That is why I believe a Mayweather v Manny Pacquiao fight just has to happen. There is too much money at stake for a truce between the pair's respective camps not to be reached.
It is the best fight out there by a country mile. So much so that you wonder if there is not some strategy at play to inflate the numbers when they do get together? I suspect we'll find out later in the year. In the meantime, Mayweather v Mosley will have the cash tills ringing. I'll be buying, that's for sure. CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE: www.barrymcguigan.com
Source: mirror.co.uk
Mayweather signs Mosley deal
Floyd Mayweather's bout with Shane Mosley is set to go ahead on May 1 in Las Vegas after the six-time world champion signed the contract on Wednesday.
In a statement released by Swanson Communications, Mayweather confirmed he would take on Mosley at Las Vegas' MGM Grand.
With Mosley already having signed the papers, Mayweather's signature was the final piece in the jigsaw.
The 32-year-old welterweight said: "This one is definitely for the fans as I wasn't going to waste anyone's time with a meaningless tune-up bout and asked to fight Shane immediately.
"I have said ever since I came back to the sport that I only wanted to fight the best. I think Shane is one of the best, but come May 1, he still won't be great enough to beat me."
Mosley was delighted to have the final details confirmed and predicted he would have little trouble inflicting the first defeat of Mayweather's career.
"I have always wanted to fight Floyd and now it is finally coming true," he said.
"I am already in great shape and ready to show everyone on May 1 that I am stronger, faster and better than he is. I will have no problem beating him."
Source: google.com
In a statement released by Swanson Communications, Mayweather confirmed he would take on Mosley at Las Vegas' MGM Grand.
With Mosley already having signed the papers, Mayweather's signature was the final piece in the jigsaw.
The 32-year-old welterweight said: "This one is definitely for the fans as I wasn't going to waste anyone's time with a meaningless tune-up bout and asked to fight Shane immediately.
"I have said ever since I came back to the sport that I only wanted to fight the best. I think Shane is one of the best, but come May 1, he still won't be great enough to beat me."
Mosley was delighted to have the final details confirmed and predicted he would have little trouble inflicting the first defeat of Mayweather's career.
"I have always wanted to fight Floyd and now it is finally coming true," he said.
"I am already in great shape and ready to show everyone on May 1 that I am stronger, faster and better than he is. I will have no problem beating him."
Source: google.com
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Mayweather still hasn't signed contract to fight Mosley
Sitting on desk in Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer's office in Los Angeles is Shane Mosley's signed contract to face Floyd Mayweather on May 1st in Las Vegas. Conspicuously missing, however, is Mayweather's.
Though both sides have agreed to the terms of the fight -- which will include random blood testing done by the USADA -- Mayweather has still not signed the deal. And Schaefer doesn't understand why.
"I have no idea what's going on," Schaefer told SI.com. "Every time I talk to [Mayweather's advisors] they tell me it's coming the next day. Every day it's the next day."
Schaefer had initially planned to bring both fighters to the Super Bowl in Miami to begin promoting the fight. That plan, however, has been scrapped.
"The Super Bowl was going to kick off the promotion," said Schaefer. "It would have been a great platform for promoting a fight this big. But I'm not going down there until I have a signed contract from Mayweather."
While Schaefer said he is willing to wait longer for Mayweather, he said Mosley was "getting close" to reaching the point where he will start looking for other opponents.
"Shane just wants to be in great fights," said Schaefer.
Source: cnn.com
Mosley vs Mayweather set for May 1
Shane Mosley has signed his contract to face Floyd Mayweather Jr in a welterweight megafight on May 1 at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas, Mosley’s attorney Judd Burstein said last Friday.
Earlier in the day, Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe said that a deal had been agreed upon, as reported by Yahoo! Sports and that contracts were being drawn up.
Ellerbe said Mayweather would sign the deal as soon as it was ready. Promoters turned to a Mayweather-Mosley match after attempts to make a fight between Mayweather and top-ranked Manny Pacquiao failed in a dispute over drug testing.
Mosley, who said he unknowingly used two anabolic steroids and EPO prior to a 2003 fight with Oscar De La Hoya in Las Vegas, has agreed to the testing Mayweather requested. Both fighters will be subject to random blood and urine testing which will be administered by the US Anti-Doping Agency.
Mosley flew to Las Vegas last Friday to meet with Burstein and sign the contract.
Ellerbe on Friday vehemently denied that Mayweather ever considered fighting Paulie Malignaggi or Nate Campbell, both of whom are super lightweights. A news conference to formally announce the fight is expected to be held in New York within the week.
’Floyd tried to fight the guy everyone thought was the best guy available and we couldn’t get that fight done, so we went to the next guy on the list,’ Ellerbe said. ’As I’ve said many times, when Floyd decided to come back to boxing, he did it to be in major events. He’s going to face all of the top welterweights and one by one, knock them all off.’
Source: trinidadexpress.com
Earlier in the day, Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe said that a deal had been agreed upon, as reported by Yahoo! Sports and that contracts were being drawn up.
Ellerbe said Mayweather would sign the deal as soon as it was ready. Promoters turned to a Mayweather-Mosley match after attempts to make a fight between Mayweather and top-ranked Manny Pacquiao failed in a dispute over drug testing.
Mosley, who said he unknowingly used two anabolic steroids and EPO prior to a 2003 fight with Oscar De La Hoya in Las Vegas, has agreed to the testing Mayweather requested. Both fighters will be subject to random blood and urine testing which will be administered by the US Anti-Doping Agency.
Mosley flew to Las Vegas last Friday to meet with Burstein and sign the contract.
Ellerbe on Friday vehemently denied that Mayweather ever considered fighting Paulie Malignaggi or Nate Campbell, both of whom are super lightweights. A news conference to formally announce the fight is expected to be held in New York within the week.
’Floyd tried to fight the guy everyone thought was the best guy available and we couldn’t get that fight done, so we went to the next guy on the list,’ Ellerbe said. ’As I’ve said many times, when Floyd decided to come back to boxing, he did it to be in major events. He’s going to face all of the top welterweights and one by one, knock them all off.’
Source: trinidadexpress.com
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