“It will come in the first round that I catch him squarely on the chin in”…”you can’t teach what beats in the chest”…all recent comments made by some of the biggest names in the sport. Looking back at this week’s key quotes of note, Boxing Scribe Vivek Wallace offers his own unique perspective, giving fight fans “a little something to think about”. Check it out!
“I think that I’m going to knock him out. I don’t know what round it’s going to be in, but it will come in the first round that I catch him squarely on the chin in.” – Shane Mosley speaking to Boxingscene.com about his prediction for his fight with Pacquiao
Perspective: Some fighters around the sport make a name for themselves by seemingly doing the impossible. By making his statement, in many respects, some will view Shane Mosley to be amongst the group in the sport who instead simply speak the impossible. Mosley remains a thunderous puncher in every sense of the word, but there’s little to no chance of him knocking Pacquiao out by landing one flush shot.
There’s always that one wildcard where he can potentially land something nasty in that one paralyzing spot along the rib section, but even then, logic and history tells us it won’t be anywhere near the beginning of the fight.
The overwhelming majority of those asked consider Mosley’s only shot of winning to be an early KO, but that logic to me seems very intriguing when you consider how durable Pacquiao truly is. I’d venture to say that no man south of the light heavyweight division would possess enough sheer pop in his punch to KO Pacquiao in one shot early in a fight. Bar none! This reality is where I feel the true argument for Mosley’s chances lie. Shocking the world in one early punch is highly unlikely, but having an extremely durable chin himself, I do see Mosley being able to land a few wicked body shots early in the fight to soften Pacquiao up enough to potentially face a late fight KO.
Many like to say that Mosley won’t look too good late in the fight because he didn’t against Mayweather or Mora, but there are two things you have to remember about that. For starters, after those two encounters, Mosley will enter this fight knowing full well what adjustments he needs to make so that he doesn’t repeat those performances; and neither of those men kept themselves available to be hit like Pacquiao does. That’s where the plot thickens. Simply put, you don’t have to look very far to find Manny!
Margarito did his greatest damage to Pacquaio late in the fight after he had already been softened up, and Margarito is much slower, and has far less one-punch power in comparison. I’m not a betting man, but mark my words and remember where you heard this first: If Mosley lands to the body early and often between the first 5 rounds, you can label the remaining portion of the fight “7th Heaven,” because somewhere within those final 7 rounds, Mosley will potentially create a blissful ending to the fight, solidifying his effort to shock the world. Similar to the betting game, as many of you know, the beginning odds may be the “opening line,” but the late developments are typically the “bottom line!” One makes the story, the other dictates the story! That’s why they call it “smart money.” Just something to think about as we get closer to May 7th.
“It’s always different going in against a southpaw. (But) there’s no question about my heart. I have to question his on everything from one situation. When he had to endure controversy, he didn’t like to crack back. At the end of the day, you can’t teach what beats in the chest. You either have it, (heart), or you don’t.” – Andre Berto on Victor Ortiz
Perspective: In this one caption lies all one needs to know about the two men involved as we prepare to see this showdown in another two weeks. Berto spoke of his previous challenges with facing a southpaw, and for those who question whether or not he still has those challenges, perhaps victories over Quintana and Urango answered them. Now, granted, Ortiz does pack a little more speed than those two, but the latter part of Berto’s statement addressed precisely why that may not matter.
No question, when you view the past history of the two men, Berto, despite all the questions, has shown the ability to go to war when necessary; wherein Ortiz hasn’t quite shown that level of fire in times of the past where he’s come under fire. As Berto also pointed out, legend has it that “you can’t teach heart,” and that’s where things get interesting here as Ortiz will be tested more than any time in the past. Against a youthful fighter with a ton of speed, power, and upside, one has to wonder how he’ll respond.
One thing going for Ortiz is that despite coming up in weight to Berto’s division to make the fight, Ortiz will actually enter the ring as the bigger man, evidenced in the mid 150’s he has fought at on recent fight nights in the past. Many probably remember another Latin fighter, Miguel Cotto, who appeared chinny at 140, but went up to welterweight and jr. middleweight and appeared far more durable. Can Ortiz demonstrate a similar level of durability? For his sake, I hope so because in practically every other facet, he’s at a deficit this time around.
They always said “size matters.” Perhaps in the mind of many, it does, but on the morning of April 17th when those headlines print around the world, we may all finally agree that the outcome in this case had very little to do with size and everything to do with the very thing Berto mentioned in his quote: “HEART!” To appease all parties, we’ll just say it’s the “size” of Ortiz’s heart that will mean the most in the end. Just something to think about.
