Ten days past this year?s version of the Superbowl of boxing, a much written and talked about showdown between Manny Pacquaio and Shane Mosley, I am still wondering why major events of sweet science turn out to be major disappointments as of late. What happened to Hagler versus Hearns? Even though it was a battle that lasted less than three rounds, no one ever complained or asked for their money back; every one present at the arena knew that they witnessed boxing history.
Fans booed last Saturday night?s action, if you could call it that. Few years ago, a much anticipated De La Hoya and Mayweather bout turned out to be nothing more than a sparring session. The blockbuster event between two undefeated stars in their prime, Oscar De Hoya and Felix Trinidad did not live up to the hype either. Is it that the expectations are to high? Or may be, by the time boxers become stars and make huge pay days, they are not that hungry any more? I have a hard time imagining that even if Pacquiao and Mayweather will take place that they would break the trend.
?I thought that only one guy really came to fight,? said ESPN analyst Teddy Atlas when I asked him about last weekend?s fight:?Mosley may be he got some desire of fighting taken away in the third round. May be he was thinking about competing more and then in the third when he got dropped he said:? Hey, forget about that. I ?m just going to look to survive now.?
With a wealth of amateur as well as professional experience, Mosley was able to do just that, survive for twelve uneventful rounds.Voicing the sentiments of many pundits and fans, former Mike Tyson trainer continued:? But the bottom line is that Mosley at close to forty years of age really didn?t fight to win. He fought to survive. Bob Arum and them did a good job of selling that promotion for the forty year old guy, who had a good name, but his last couple of fights he hasn?t shown much. And sure enough, that was consistent; he hasn?t shown much last week either.?
But it takes two to tango. ?What about Manny?? I asked.
?To be honest with you, there were boos in that arena,? replied Atlas:? I was there covering it for Sports Center and most of those boos were pointed towards Mosley. No doubt about it, because he didn?t put forth an effort you want to see guy put forth, especially when he is making that kind of money and he gets in the ring. And without the fans paying the money there is no fight. You do have a responsibility to put forth your best effort when you get in there and you sign a contract to do that. But some of those boos were a little bit for Manny too, because he had a guy in front of him who looked like he just wanted to survive. It looked like he didn?t want to compete at certain point and almost like he didn?t want to be there. It looked like Manny could have done more to get rid of him. He could have gone after him more. And it looked like Manny got into a mode where he was going to do enough to win the fight, but not really push it further than that.? Advertisement
They say fool me once; shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. Shane Mosley has done it three times in a row with Mayweather, Sergio Mora and Manny Pacquiao. Would this affect Shane?s legacy?
?Taking nothing away from Mosley, he has been a great champion, terrific in and out of the ring, ?continued Atlas:? But leading up to this fight, I think it was more about selling the fight than we were going to have a competitive fight, because at this point of his career, he wasn?t prepared mentally or physically, at close to forty years of age, to give a competitive effort.?
?Would Marquez give Manny a better fight?? I asked about tentatively scheduled for November Pacquiao Marquez lll grudge match.?You would give him a better fight,? replied Atlas with a smile:? Marquez, at the age, I think he is thirty seven now; he will give a much better effort. He always gives Pacquiao trouble. He has had two fights with him. One was a draw and one was a split decision loss. A lot of people would make an argument that he won both fights. Some guys suit up well with certain guys. They just do well with certain guys and Marquez seems to do really well with Pacquiao. He suits up really well with him.? Considering the fact that Juan Manuel Marquez has been thinking about nothing else but a rematch with Pacquaio since 2008, will the next major boxing event in November live up to the hype?
Contact Igor Frank at [email protected]
