No Offense Coach Roach, But Mosley's Got No Shot

Written by Michael Woods

Monday, 14 February 2011 12:37

No Offense Coach Roach, But Mosley's Got No Shot The Pacquiaos on Valentine's Day in NYC. (Chris Farina/Top Rank)

The Manny-Mosley press conference tour moved to NYC on Monday, and after stops in Beverly Hills, and Las Vegas, nothing has been said or shown to me that convinces me that Manny will not convincingly have his way with Mosley when they square off on May 7 in Las Vegas.

Mosley's trainer Naazim Richardson took to the dais at Chelsea Piers, at an event open to the public, and expressed surprise that the odds are 7 to 1 in Pacquiao's favor. He indicated he'd like a piece of the action. Maybe he does feel that way, or maybe he's saying what is expected of the trainer of the man many feel will be so past his prime, that he'll be in over his head against a top-of-his-game Pacman.

I think 7 to 1 is about right, since the 39 1/2 year old Mosley apart from a minute in the second round against Floyd Mayweather last May, and in brief spurts against Sergio Mora in September, shows signs that too much mileage has accrued on him.

And let's be upfront and explicit about this: there is no shame in that.

Great god, the man has been fighting since kindergarten, practically. He's been fighting for about as long as Pacquaio has been alive!

Let that marinate for awhile, will you? Manny is 32, he turns 33 in December.

Even if Mosley gets into the very best condition he can. Even if his head is screwed on as tight as it can be, and no woman woes or money woes blur his vision, even if he finds some new wonder nutrapharma wonder drink....age has simply sapped a goodly percentage of what he was in his prime. Nothing can restore the snap to the tendons that have been pulled and stretched for too damn long. On the offensive, he will be able to snap off a few combos, but nothing that Pacman can't dodge or block. His reflexes are simply not what they use to be, and he will not be able to slip the deadly accurate Pacquiao strikes which will rain down on his noggin with infuriating frequency and speed. He will want to counter punch, and his brain will send a command for him to do so, but his body will rebel. The return fire will not come. He will be stopped, for the first time as a pro. He will not hear the final bell. It might not be as ugly as Manny-Oscar, but there will be comparisons.

Now, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Freddie Roach maintains that of the three opponents on the table for this outing, Mosley, Andre Berto and Juan Manuel Marquez, he feels Mosley is the most difficult for Manny. I beg to differ, and believe me, feel queasy doing so. Who the heck am I to disagree with Roach? Well, I'm someone who doesn't have a dog in the hunt, for one thing. Marquez has already proven he simply has Manny's number, or is three quarters of the way there anyway. Could he be totally out of his element at 147 pounds, and might Pacquaio whack him around like a Golden Gloves newbie? Perhaps. But I'd still be more curious to see what unfolds in their clash, which will run on Showtime pay-per-view, than in Manny-Mosley. Anyway, that's sort of immaterial now. And it may continue to be immaterial as long as Marquez has a contract with Golden Boy, as Arum seems hellbent on not allowing any fruit from the Pacquiao tree to fall into the Golden Boy yard.

So...we have what we have in front of us. Arum tells us Shane is still dangerous. Freddie says so too. I encourage them both, and Shane too, after he takes his glove off, to flip me the bird if on May 7, he does turn back the clock, and give us more than a tiny taste of what we saw when he stunned Mayweather. The man is as willing as the come, but the body can't comply.

---"I want to greet you a happy Valentines Day especially to my wife Jinky," Pacquiao said, just after he presented her with a special cake from the "Cake Boss" crew. Part of me wanted Mosley to just snap, grab the cake, throw it at the Pacquiaos and ignite a furor. Tell me that heel turn wouldn't have been jaw dropping!

--Manny said he was pumped that he was facing off with someone who wasn't talking trash, but that in the ring, he would still be in it to win it. "I hope you will train hard and I will train hard too," he said to Mosley.

--Pacquiao will depart from NY to DC, for a meeting tomorrow with Senator Harry Reid, who is grateful to Pacquiao for campaigning for him during a rugged re-election battle in November. He and wife Jinky might then have a lunch with President Obama and his wife, Michelle.

--Memo to "haters," and crusty Caucasian sports editors who stopped paying attention after Ali, or maybe Tyson. Boxing ain't dead. Never will be. NEVER. The last three months, people have been leaving movie theaters after watching "The Fighter" shadow boxing, having been injected with the power, and will, and courage that the fighters we treasure display. The Congressman is no niche story. he's special, and he's ours ours ours. Hockey don't make em like this. Baseball don't make em like this. Football don't make em like this. Basketball don't make em like this. That is because the crucible that makes the special fighter is unlike any other.

Comment on this article

Radam G says:

Wow! Don't you just luv da great and powerful genie Naazim. He can really up with some lines. That is classic: "[Sugar Shane] was boxing before [Da Manny] was born." I shall return later. You know it is HARD hiding in plain sight. Holla!

FighterforJC says:

I just hope that Mosley doesn't turn around after the fight to say that he would've beaten Pacquiao had they fought a few years earlier. If you're gonna take the fight, there are no excuses whatsoever. Mosley's been asking for this fight as though he was in his prime. He's not short on confidence. I just hope he doesn't change his story if he gets knocked out.

brownsugar says:

Mosley said during the Nevada press conference that he doesn't fight in the African-American boxing style that the critics have been clamouring for. Mosley himself said ..."I don't consider myself a tradition African-American boxer....I use my own style,.. the Mosley style" which he believes will be sufficient to get the job done. The last person who used the "African-American" style (for those who feel that labels are necessary for everything) on Pacman was Eric Morales during their first encounter (to be fair we heard that Pac was not 100% in thier first meeting).... Morales kept Pac on the outside while straffing him with combinations, giving lots of lateral movement, and countering effectively(putting on a technical clinic is brief spots)..... Mosely has the physical dimentions to make this an easy fight... but he lacks the youth to make it happen..... Pac is agressive, but lately he doesn't slug toe to toe anymore... Pac gets his punches off and gets out of the way.. Don't think Mosely will be able to keep up... and could possibly get stopped .......unless he can get away with grappling Pac all night...Can't say I'm hyped about this event except for getting another opportunity to see Pac...hopefully afterwards Mosely can take his profits and start planning for a life after boxing. BTW,... Morales vs Maidana sounds like suicide for the legendary Mexican

FighterforJC says:

Actually, of Pacquiao's most difficult fights (JMM and 1st Morales bout), none of the fighters used a slick "african american" style (which BTW is way too subjective to accurately define). Did they counter? Absolutely. But nobody ever mentions that they FOUGHT Pacquiao as well. They kept Pacquiao's offense in check by trading with Pacquiao punch for punch when they had to. Those who attempted to strictly counter punch got demolished, like Miguel Cotto for the majority of the second half of their fight, Jorge Solis and that one guy Pac knocked out on the Tyson-Lewis undercard. Even Ledwaba (sp) could easily qualify as using this slick counterpunching style that everyone talks about.

brownsugar says:

That's why I used the term "African American Style" FigherforJC, to illustrate the absurdity of the term.. Good boxing is good boxing no matter where it comes from.

Isaiah says:

African American style? Man, some people will NEVER be satisified. There's no such thing. True, there have been many slick boxers from America that just happen to have a darker skin tone that makes the great Bernard Hopkins thrilled with joy, but man it goes a lot deeper than that. Guys like Erik Morales and Juan Manuel Marquez were the last men to give Manny any kind of sustained trouble and it's no mistake that they great boxing skill. Those are 2 big examples. Here's others. If "real" boxing skills are limited to the "African American," how do you explain guys like Azumah Nelson, (remember I said African AMERICAN), Willie Pep, Wladimir Klitschko and so on?....... Seems like those men can box a bit. Sorry to Mr. Bernard Hopkins who is an all time great in the ring. NO ONE can take that away from him, but he did lose fair and square to a man with a slick boxing style, who just happened to be neither African or American. I'm talking about Joe Calzaghe and say what you will, but Jeff Lacy, Mikkel Kessler, Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones Jr. couldn't hang a loss on the man. Earlier in Joe's career he could have fought a couple more names like, oh I don't know... GLEN JOHNSON, but all in all, not a bad year and a great last few years to go out with a bang on. I can't complain too much. Manny Pacquiao, say what you will, is going on an even bigger bang and we boxing fans are here for the ride. I just hope he doesn't end it on a loss like so many other greats. As being the only so called African American slick boxer around that could trouble Manny, Floyd Mayweather Jr. will have to settle for going out on a whimper and cry as the "what if" question will always be asked. "What if Floyd was good enough to whoop up on a prime Manny Pacquiao?" Guess we'll never know. Oh well. Kudos to Pacquiao and Mosley for giving us an exciting rumble to remember as long as it lasts.

teaser says:

gbp is feeding Morales to the wolves.....he can be seriously hurt....this will finish him in a bad way....i hope it is over quick.... shame on gbp !!

Radam G says:

B-Sug'd illustration of the absurdity of the term was spot on. @FJC, he was being facetious about Eric Morales [and even JMM]. First of all, B-Hop was just talkin' jive and being facetious about "a slick African-American style of fighting." It is no such thing. African-Americans were the last ones allowed into boxing on the American scene. Professional boxing in the U.S.A is mostly a seedy sports that drew the bottom of society to compete. When the Irish immigrants were considered at the bottom, they dominated the game with a rough, tough style known as stand-up fighting with their hands held high. This style is popularly known as the conventional stand-up fighting style. [The most popular modern-day users of it was black American Ernie Terrell, Jerry Quarry, Gerry Gooney and Joe Mesi, to name a few.]

Then the Polish started dominating the game with their lead hands held at the waist, while moving in and out with their feet. This style is popularly known as stick and move.[Popular users of it would be Sandy Saddler, Tommy Hearns, John Stracy, Larry Holmes -- with the added side-to-side move -- Pinklon Thomas and Harry Greb.] Then the shorter Jews stared dominating the game with their bending at the waist and jabbing and hooking with the lead hand. A popular user of this was Benny Leonard. and even Smokin' Joe Frazier] When the German started dominating the game, they did it with foot movement, hand parrying and countering off the opponents' punches. [Popular users are Jack Dempsey, Max Schmeling, Hank Armstong and superslick Wilfred Benitez.] Then come the shortest of boxers, who were Italians. They brought to the game, slipping, sliding and half turning, while bobbing and weaving and countering off opponents' punches. Nowadays, this style is better know as shoulder rolling. [Popular users are Jake LaMotta, Paul Malignaggi and Money May.] When the Pinoys came -- brought here on Spanish ships as servants -- they brought side-to-side movement and feints to the game, while making the bolo punch and the uppercut popular. [Popular users are Sugar Ray Leonard, Willie Pep, Willie Pastrano, Kid Gavalan and GOAT Ali.] The Mexican brought the bobbing and weaving of the Aztec Indian mixing it with/and/or the shake-and-bake style. [Popular doers of this style of gettin' down are Eric Morales, Juan Manuel Marquez, Ricardo "Finito Lopez, Sugar Shane Mosley, Donald Curry, Antonio Barrera, the late, great Salvador Sanchez and Battling Shaw.] When any group of people move up in social status and finance, they also move up in society and out of the game. All the styling and profiling and noise talking of the game is not of any one group. Maybe it appears to some fans and fanfaronades that smack talkin,' rhymin,' and slick fightin' are African American because African Americans were not allowed fair treatment and fights with other ethnicites and so-called races for a lonnngggggg TIME. Those times are gone forever. And Da Manny is gonna kayo Da Sugarman. Holla!

amayseng says:

shane knocks out jmm, badly, probably ends his career. berto is green and fights C+ fighters. collazo beat him. berto is limited, shane beats him easy. shane does have a chance, but only depending on how he fights. if shane tries to counter and react and out react pacman he will get killed. if he fights like an aged fighter by saving his legs, shooting short sharp punches and not chasing around the ring he has a chance. if i was shane i would stand in the center of the ring and not move. then when pac comes forward i would only take 2-4 steps setting up distances and shooting short sharp punches down and up. one thing shane has is good power, he almost killed margacheato and almost knocked floyd clean out. floyd takes a good shot. shane needs to conserve energy and stay disciplined, he cant fight all out like he is 20 anymore and he needs to know this. shane needs bernard in his training camp.

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