The energy inside of the MGM Grand Garden Arena was pretty electric today as WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao and former five-time champion ‘Sugar’ Shane Mosley weighed in ahead of their bout later tonight. With an estimated 6,000 partisans filling up a portion of the arena, there was a special buzz in the air that only fight week can bring, and more specifically a feeling that only rare fighters like Pacquiao can summon from the masses.
The champion from General Santos City in the Philippines is a 6-1 betting favorite to end Mosley’s night on a sorrowful note and the predictions have been coming in hot and heavy all week as to exactly how the fight is going to play out. The consensus is that, for all of his proven greatness and grit, Mosley simply won’t be able to keep pace with Pacquiao’s speed and fluid attack.
But there is something about and old, seasoned pro that is always dangerous.
Just ask interim WBA junior welterweight champion Marcos Maidana, who himself is less than a month removed from a thrilling battle with grizzled veteran and former champion Erik Morales. Morales was thought to be a sacrificial lamb heading into that contest against the fierce-punching Argentinean but shocked us all with a practically heroic effort that saw him fall just short on the scorecards.
Reaching out from his bases in his native Buenos Aires, Maidana reflected on why you never want to look past guys like Morales or Mosley regardless of what the press is saying.
“Luckily, I never, ever underestimated Morales. You cannot do that with great champs like him or Mosley. Never write them off,” Maidana stated.
Maidana had told me in the past that he doesn’t follow the sport as closely as other fighters and that he wasn’t one to talk much about his fellow pugilists. But surely, I had to figure that there was at least some kind of impression left on him by Pacquiao over the years given his incredible run of success in recent times.
“Undoubtedly, the best pound for pound out there. A monster!” Maidana exclaimed when discussing the record-setting eight-division champion.
But that doesn’t mean that Maidana is counting out Shane. When delivering his prediction on the fight, the always-modest 27-year old seems to feel that the bout could play out in a number of scenarios.
It’s all up to how Pacquiao comes out in the early rounds.
“If Pacquiao can start destroying Mosley in the early rounds, I think he will stop him later. But if Mosley has a decent start, he is capable of lasting the twelve rounds. In either case, I have Pacquiao winning. But, once again, never count a champ like Mosley out.”
Chris Robinson is based out of Las Vegas, Nevada. He can be reached at [email protected]
