Despite the fact that he is a sizable underdog, welterweight challenger Shane Mosley has predicted an early end to his upcoming WBO title fight against champion Manny Pacquiao, and seems confident that he won’t be on the losing end.
Speaking to the gathered press at Thursday’s Los Angeles presser, Mosley said:
?I don?t know what the odds are for this fight. I?m not a betting man. I definitely won?t be on the losing end. I think it should be even. We are two similar types of fighters. We both like to battle. He throws punches more rapidly than I do but my punches are heavier. I don?t know what the over-under is. It won?t go the distance. This is the type of fight that would never go the distance.”
Mosley is no doubt aiming to replicate the early rounds of his ultimately losing effort against against Floyd Mayweather, in which he clearly buckled Mayweather’s legs at one point and was seemingly only a clean blow or two away from ending the fight.
The bookmakers though aren’t so sure about Mosley’s prediction and in fact the odds are rapidly shifting from a knockout win for Pacquiao to both fighters seeing out the final bell.
No doubt a reaction to the fact that Pacquiao has finished less opponents since reaching the welterweight division, and that Mosley, while coming off of a couple of lackluster performances, has never been stopped and holds a couple of stylistic advantages over his smaller opponent.
Looking at Pacquiao’s most recent three opponents reveals that although he can still finish when given the opportunity, he no longer carries the same power that he did at the lower weights.
In Pacquiao’s welterweight debut, opponent Miguel Cotto was stopped in the final round after a fairly one sided fight, although it should be noted was not knocked down as the fight was stopped.
In a similarly one sided next fight, Joshua Clottey managed to go the distance largely by covering up and seemingly engaging as little as possible, something he later put down to a stomach bug on the day of the fight.
In Pacquiao’s successful bid for an 8th title in an 8th weight class, the always tough Antonio Margarito also managed to see the final bell, although absorbed such a beating that at times even Pacquiao himself seemed to be imploring the referee to stop the fight.
Of those opponents, both Cotto and Margarito had been stopped in the past, the latter against Mosley.
Mosley by contrast has never been stopped, and last year took a full ten rounds of punishment from a more aggressive than usual Floyd Mayweather, who landed clean, heavy blows almost at will throughout much of the fight.
In that same fight however he did show signs of faltering stamina, something an all offense fighter like Pacquiao will be more eager to pounce on than Mayweather was. The fast pace set by the Filipino will also be testing of Mosley’s resolve as the fight goes on, particularly if he can’t successfully negate some of Pacquiao’s speed and movement.
Knowing Mosley’s penchant for both durability and for clinching when he needs to catch his breath though, a knockout win for Pacquiao won’t be easy. Couple Mosley’s battle tested survival skills with a size advantage and an excellent chin and it might become a case of Mosley’s stamina vs. Pacquiao’s blistering pace rather than anything else deciding the outcome.
Cliff Thorne, Pitt: “Pac might stop Mosley if he gets tired out again but I can’t see him knocking him down cleanly otherwise and everyone talking about a 6 round or less knockout is crazy”
