Shane Mosley "Is Capable of Hurting Manny" Pacquiao

Legendary prizefighter Manny “Pac-Man” Pacquiao will pointlessly fight former three-division champion “Sugar” Shane Mosley May 7 at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas.

Strictly due to his name recognition, Mosley (46-6-1-1, 39 KOs) was selected as the opponent for Pacquiao (52-3-2, 38 KOs) over more qualified boxers like lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez (52-5-1, 38 KOs) and welterweight titlist Andre Berto (27-0, 21 KOs).

“Berto is the young guy coming up, and his last, one-punch knockout win was impressive,” said Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach, 50, a native of Dedham who has been honored on four occasions as the Trainer of the Year by the Boxing Writers Association of America.

According to Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum, undefeated clown pocket Floyd Mayweather (41-0, 25 KOs), as usual, cowered and hid from a potentially lucrative bout versus “Pac-Man.”

“We put it off as long as we could,” said Arum, himself a corruptible weasel who acknowledged during a 2000 federal trial that he bribed the International Boxing Federation (IBF) to attain a higher ranking for one of his scrappers.

“He has been totally incommunicado. All he had to do was pick up a phone and say, ‘Hey Bob, wait a week, two weeks’ and we would have waited. He could have given us a signal. No one knows how to get a hold of him. The only ones who know how to get a hold of him are the police.”

Mayweather, an enormous talent who has captured nine world titles in five different boxing weight classes, is due in court next month to face four felony charges stemming from a domestic incident in September where he allegedly struck his sweetheart and the mother of his children.

Pacquiao, 32, the first pugilist in history to win ten world crowns in eight separate weight divisions, is clearly the greatest fighter of this generation.

Conversely, the once formidable Mosley, now 39, is more spent than an 80-year-old lady of pleasure walking in a red light district.

Mosley was lambasted by Mayweather last May and he suffered through a pathetically uninspired draw against “The Latin Snake” Sergio Mora (22-1-2, 6 KOs) in September.

More importantly, Mosley, an admitted abuser of steroids, is now likely off the dope that probably stimulated many of his triumphs in the squared circle.

Roach was initially vocal in his opposition of a contest versus Mosley.

“I don’t see much of a point,” said Roach.

Roach said he would prefer to “shut Marquez up.”

Apparently, Roach’s sentiments were altered after he hung with Arum and Pacquiao for a week in the Philippines.

“He turned around,” Arum said of Roach. “He was an advocate [for the fight].”

Arum continued his inane rambling.

"The old fights at the lower weights, where Manny knocked Marquez down four times, are not relevant because that was before he really learned how to fight, and before his body developed into that of a welterweight," said Arum.

"Can you imagine what he would do to Marquez now if he knocked him down the same way?" said Arum. "Manny would wipe the floor with him in one or two rounds. And then what the [expletive] do I do? How would I sell Manny's next fight?"

Arum should choose his words more cautiously, because his flippant statement wrongly, and unintentionally, correlates the words Pacquiao and synthetic testosterone.  

Nevertheless, Arum firmly contends that Mosley can trump Pacquiao.

“Mosley fought Mayweather, and he's the only guy in Mayweather's whole career to really hurt Mayweather and to really have him in trouble. So Mosley is capable of hurting Manny," said Arum.

Granted, for about one minute in the second round last spring, Mosley staggered Mayweather.

However, that was 60 seconds of glory for Mosley over the course of a brutal 35 minute beating.

Mayweather simply outclassed, and overwhelmed, Mosley with utter ease.

On a given evening, yes, “Mosley is capable of hurting Manny.”

In the same regard, on a chosen day after school, Jerry Mitchell knocked out Buddy Revell in the 80s classic Three O’ Clock High.

It is an absolute disservice that boxing fans will be subjected to a Pacquiao versus Mosley mismatch approximately four months from today.