Manny Pacquiao Vs. Shane Mosley – 5 Predictions For The Fight
After many early reports indicated that Pacquiao vs. Manuel Marquez III was on the horizon, the actual opponent for Manny Pacquiao on May 7th at the MGM Grand area is Shane Mosley.
Andre Berto’s name was also in the preliminary mix, although he was viewed as a pretty long shot since he is yet to have a high profile fight against a household name like Pacquiao.
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum did not make it much of a secret that Mosley was his favorite choice, seemingly intrigued by the draw the fight will get because of Mosley’s name value.
Many fans were turned off when they heard the latest news, since Mosley has the look of a guy who is past his prime.
Out of 11,238 voters, as of noon on December 22nd, 53% were “not interested” according to an ESPN Sports Nation poll that asked “How interested are you in the Manny Pacquiao-Shane Mosley fight?”
A mere 13% responded “very interested”, while 34% responded with “somewhat interested.”
Mosley hung tough, and one could even argue that he was beating Mayweather, in the first two rounds of their fight in May. However, he completely fizzled out from there and got owned by the Pretty Boy from their on out.
His subsequent fight with Sergio Mora did little to restore his credibility, as the winner of NBC’s first season of “The Contender” battled Mosley to a draw in September.
While a good portion of fans and analysts alike felt that Mosley deserved the W in this one, many also agreed that Mosley in his prime would have easily picked Mora apart.
Mosley remains confident that he has not lost a step, stating that "I still have power and speed. They thought I was done before I knocked out [Antonio] Margarito, too” and went on to say he would knock Pacquiao out.
Should we believe the powerful puncher, who will be 40 years old when this main event fight takes place?
Probably not, but let us take a look at five realistic predictions for this MGM showdown in May.
1. Mosley Will Come Out Swinging
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Say what you will about Mosley at this point in his career, but he is still a true competitor who has no interest in quitting early.
Mosley has implied that he actually prefers Pacquiao as an opponent to Mayweather, noting that he likes the strength and size advantage he has over Pacquiao, and also that he thinks Pacquiao leaves himself more susceptible to big hits than Mayweather does.
Furthermore, Mosley wants to prove he is not washed up and can still hang with the big boys, so expect him to come out aggressively, looking for an early upset off of a home run shot.
2. This Fight Will Go The Distance
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This is a probably the safest prediction about the fight. Between these two fighters, they have 96 professional wins and just nine losses.
Mosley has never been knocked out in his six career losses, and although Pacquiao has been knocked out twice, the last time that happened was in 1999 against Medgoen Singsurat.
Expect a physical fight where each fighter incurs some damage, but don’t expect anyone to stay down for a 10 count at any point.
3. Pacquiao Will Be Ready
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In Pacquiao’s past five fights, he has rolled through quality opponents: Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto, Joshua Clottey, and Antonio Margarito.
He won each of these fights by either knockout or unanimous decision. Although Pacquiao has been rolling for a good five years, he continues not to take anyone lightly.
The Fighting Pride of the Philippines continues to show up in condition, looking as fast and dangerous as ever.
Do not expect the showdown with Mosley to be an exception.
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4. This Fight Is Not Bad For Boxing: From a Financial Stand Point
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Bob Arum has already made it public that the promotion for the fight will begin in early February and will hit four major cities.
The first spot will be Los Angeles, followed by New York, Washington, and finally San Francisco.
Not that this would be a problem for Pacquiao at this stage in his career, but this should attract a sizeable Filipino audience to the fight, if nothing else.
The aforementioned cities all have a noteworthy Filipino population, at least according to Arum.
Furthermore, Mosley said he is guaranteed to make $5 from the fight, win or lose. He is also eligible to make millions more, depending on what the final figures for the pay-per-view profits are.
Obviously, both sides are expected a lot of revenue to come in from this one. Pacquiao vs. Margarito boasted 1.15 million PPV buys, with a whopping $64 million in domestic revenue.
Although this will probably be another one sided battle, expect the final dollars and cents to be about the same as they were in November of 2010.
5. Bob Arum Will Regret Pushing For This Fight
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Of course on the other side of the coin, just about every fan hates this fight since Pacquiao has nothing to gain in another dominant victory, which seems to be what all signs are pointing to.
While Juan Manual Marquez may also be a little past his prime, given his past two fights against the Pacman, fans would have been content to see a trilogy to the series.
Furthermore, many Andre Berto supporters continue to say that the young rising star would give the Mexicutioner a run for his money.
Given the lack of true competition for Pacquiao at this point, why not roll the dice and see how Berto does against the sports best pound for pound fighter?
Berto is 27-0 as a pro with 21 knockouts, so one would hope he could at least hang around with Pacquiao for a few rounds.
The problem with Mosley-Pacquiao is that the fight has no meaning unless Mosley pulls off the ridiculous upset. Based on Mosley’s past couple outings, this could easily turn into another Pacquiao vs. Clottey type of affair.
If this turns out to be the case, Arum will be kicking himself for not signing Pacquiao up for a more competitive fight.
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