LAS VEGAS – For Manny Pacquiao, the lead-up to his welterweight title match against Shane Mosley on Saturday night has been one of the best promotions that he has ever been involved in.
“That’s because there has been no trash-talking,” Pacquiao said at the final prefight press conference at the MGM Grand Wednesday. “Everybody has been friends. It’s a good example for the children who idolize the fighters.”
Imagine that. They held a boxing promotion and a final press conference and no one denigrated anyone. How refreshingly strange.
With all that extra time without anyone hurling insults, Pacquiao decided to use the platform to spread some good vibes and promote his efforts to end poverty in the Philippines, where he is a congressman.
“All of my life I’ve had to fight,” Pacquiao said. “As a child I had to fight to eat. Now when I fight the Filipinos call me a hero. But the biggest fight in my life is not boxing. The biggest fight in my life is how to end poverty in my country. I’m going to wear yellow gloves for the fight to end poverty.
“I’m asking you to join us and wear something yellow. It’s about hope. We can only win this fight together. Unity is the best weapon for us.”
The symbolism is a contradiction, of course. Pacquiao’s fists will be encased in those yellow gloves – the same fists that he is going to be using to try to render Mosley unconscious. He’ll be striking a blow against poverty and striking Mosley at the same time.
That’s what happens when a congressman also happens to be a world-class boxer and the reigning “pound-for-pound” best in the sport.
It should also be noted that Pacquiao was joined on the dais by Chavit Singson, the Governor of the Province that he represents in congress, and Pacquiao’s chief of staff, Jeng Gacal.
It looked as if Pacquiao was kicking off his re-election campaign and not there to talk about defending his WBO welterweight title against Mosley. There is no doubt that Pacquiao’s political side is beginning to take a more prominent place in his life.
Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, a five-time trainer of the year as voted by the Boxing Writers Association of America, is there to make sure that Pacquiao doesn’t lose track of why he has such an important voice in politics – because he has strung together 13 victories since his last loss in 2005. Roach has been drilling Pacquiao from the first day of camp that Mosley is dangerous.
And Pacquiao (52-3-2, 38 KOs) has absorbed the lessons.
“You can’t underestimate him,” Pacquiao said of the 39-year-old Mosley. “He throws a lot of punches. He’s very fast. He moves like he’s 31 years old. Mosley is not that easy an opponent.”
Pacquiao, 32, said the last opponent that he took as seriously as Mosley was Oscar De La Hoya, whom he forced to quit on his stool in the eighth round. But De La Hoya hadn’t fought at welterweight in seven years before moving down to face Pacquiao.
Mosley (46-6-1, 39 KOs) doesn’t think the fight will settle into a boxing match.
“I can’t see a way that it does,” Mosley said. “I believe I can outbox him, but I like to mix it up, too. I think it’s going to be a fight.”
Pacquiao’s last two opponents, Antonio Margarito and Joshua Clottey, were not nearly the caliber of boxer that Mosley is, despite his age. Mosley’s age will be a factor; how much so will be determined by how fast and furious Pacquiao comes at him.
Naazim Richardson, Mosley’s trainer, said a full-out assault in the first couple of rounds would be a major mistake for Pacquiao, because of Mosley’s power.
“When Shane is at 147 pounds anything that steps into the ring against Mosley is going to get knocked out. I don’t care if it’s a Shetland pony,” Richardson said.
The oddsmakers aren’t buying Richardson’s theory. The odds at the MGM Grand sports book posted on the fight Wednesday for a mid- to late-round KO by Mosley were 30-to-1.
If someone bet big on that and won, that would go a long way toward ending their personal poverty.
