Predictions for the Manny Pacquiao vs. Shane Mosley fight aren’t so unpredictable. The general consensus among fans, fighters, boxing scribes is that Pacquiao will dominate the soon-to-be forty year old Mosley. Rumor has it that Bob Arum is so confident that Pacquiao will easily beat Mosley , that he went ahead and offered Juan Manuel Marquez a third shot at the P4P king sometime in October.
Judging by Mosley’s last two performances against Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Sergio Mora, Pacquiao will likely win. It’s hard to think of a reason why Pacquiao shouldn?t beat Mosley on May 7. It’s difficult going against the consensus prediction after betting against Pacquiao when he clobbered David Diaz and again after he rearranged De La Hoya’s pretty face and then sent Ricky Hatton to the hospital. Most recently Pacquiao took Miguel Cotto’s best shots and gracefully finished him in the 12th round and dealt an even more severe beating to Antonio Margarito.
Lesson learned. Never bet against Pacquiao.
But with all the adoration and recognition, there’s still a minority waiting for the day an underdog will come along and beat Pacquiao. Maybe Shane Mosley is that guy.
Not everyone is on board the Pacquiao bandwagon. We admire hard working athletes like Tiger Woods, who before the collapse of his marriage would hit golf balls from the break of dawn until sunset. Kobe Bryant, who watches videotapes of opponents in between gym time. But with Pacquiao, it seems like he?s toying with the rest of us when he shows up on TV singing on the Jimmy Kimmel show rather than watching fight tapes. Or instead of going over strategy in the gym, he hits the studio and cuts a record album. Boxing seems so easy for him. You almost feel that he does just enough to beat you.
According to Roach and Alex Ariza, Pacquiao works hard to be the very best, however, is he consumed with boxing, just as much as Kobe Bryant is with basketball? Does he spend time in between sparring to look at videotapes of Mosley’s past bouts? Or does he just rely on his team to relay him information on his opponents?? The busy Pac Man stays busy gobbling up opportunities outside the ring. He?s a congressman, singer, actor, and all around icon. Outside of the gym he doesn’t think about boxing too much. There’s just too much for him to do.
Distractions outside the ring will most likely catch up eventually. It usually does and it tends to seemingly age most boxers overnight. Who knows, maybe that night might come against Mosley.
