Like nearly everyone else in boxing, the often bombastic Bob Arum likes effervescent Sugar Shane Mosley.
Mosley is a hail fellow well met, a veteran fighter with plenty of talent and a usually sunny disposition.
But, Arum contends, Mosley?s recent conduct underlines the fact that he is not the brightest lamp in the boxing library.
Just as some of his colleagues at Golden Boy Promotions are trying to comprehend Mosley?s public gymnastics?bending himself into knots like the Indian Rubber Man?so is the top dog at Top Rank.
While Mosley seems to be on the Internet, the airwaves and in newspapers 24/7, telling anyone who will listen that he will give Manny Pacquiao a 60/40 purse split, slim down to 142 pounds and even grant Pacman an immediate rematch if he beats the Pinoy Idol, Arum is among those shaking their head.
?Who is Shane negotiating with? It is bizarre, just bizarre,? Arum said by telephone from his Las Vegas office Friday. ?I like Shane as a person, I really do. But, let?s face it, he?s no rocket scientist.?
While Mosley conducts a massive p.r. campaign to lobby for himself as the next Pacquiao foe, Arum said all he hears about the Golden VP from his boss, CEO Richard Schaefer, are the sounds of silence.
?I mean is Schaefer Shane?s promoter or is he not? What Shane is doing is bizarre because he is going about it the wrong way. He talks about neogotiations but there aren?t any. Schaefer talks to me about Mayweather, about Marquez, about the winner of their July 18 bout fighting Manny.
?This crazy, bizarre campaign of Shane?s is working against him, really. Look at the options Manny has or will have. Among Mayweather, Marquez and Miguel Cotto, it is clear as to who helps bring in the most money. Mosley comes in dead last as a draw compared to those guys. You can?t do the same numbers Manny would do with those three if you fight Mosley.
?Of the four of them, Shane would be the worst draw at the live gate and on television. That much is clear.
?Mayweather has a big mouth which is good for publicity. Marquez brings in the Mexican market. And Cotto is big in the Latino market also. What does Mosley bring to the table really? The other guys produce better numbers.?
As further proof that Mosley?s home address is Bizarro World, a few neighborhoods away from reality, Arum points to the continuation in New York of Mosley?s defamation suit against BALCO Laboratory drug connection and one-time Tower Of Power horn player Victor Conte.
That case, in which Mosley is represented by Judd Burstein, is moving towards depositions and a judge?s decision on whether he has proper jurisdiction.
Arum believes Mosley, whose under oath contention was that he used illegal drugs supplied by Conte but did not know they were verboten, should have dropped the distasteful matter.
?What?s the sense of keeping his name in headlines and stories about steroids and BALCO?? Arum said. ?Who benefits from that other than his lawyers? Everyone knows he used steroids, he admitted it. Why the hell would you want to keep that going??
Arum?s third called ?strike? against Mosley is the fighter?s sarcastic remark that the fighter and not the promoter should select opponents.
?Here?s what will happen for a Pacman fight either Oct. 17 or Nov. 14,? Arum said. ?We will sit down with Manny and discuss those four plus Edwin Valero. Obviously, we will drop the loser of the July 18 fight if Manny wants to wait until then.
?Bruce (Trampler, TR matchmaker) and Freddie (Roach) will discuss the technical side of the opponents. Then I will go over the business aspects as to each one. We will lay out everything for Manny and then Manny will make his own decision.?
Finally, Arum tooted his own horn by saying that he sees next Saturday?s Joshua Clottey-Cotto show at Madison Square Garden as possibly outdrawing the Zab Judah-Cotto bout there which sold 18,300 tickets.
?Carl (Moretti) is giving us strong reports. The Garden people are happy. Carl saw two guys on his train from Jersey today scalping tickets a week before the show. Come Monday, we will only have some $100 and $50 seats left. The ringside seats are completely gone.?
Reading the tea leaves also gone may be Mosley?s chances of being the next Manny foe. They were slim to start with.
