Shane Mosley Swallowed Pride: Will It Really Pay Off?

Elections in the Philippines are set for May 2010, and current Jr. Welterweight champion and P4P king Manny Pacquiao has shown every intention in running for a congressional seat to further serve his "kababayans".

Pacquiao, at the most, is planning on having two more fights before campaigning full time for his political ambitions. Or depending on how his next fight will turn out, his set October bout may very well be his last.

Just recently, welterweight Champion Sugar Shane Mosley agreed to the catch weight set up by elite trainer Freddie Roach for a possible fight with Pacquiao.

Along with it, he agreed to take the lesser of the 60-40 revenue split.

Pacquiao responded yesterday in an interview with Philippines' GMA News network that now that Mosley had reconsidered his initial stance, he is seriously considering pushing through with the negotiations to lock-in the fight.

Personally, I believe Mosley-Pacquiao negotiations will not push through until after the Miguel Cotto-Joshua Clottey and Floyd Mayweather-Juan Manuel Marquez fights.

Mayweather, in all aspects, is considered to be advantageous over Marquez and is expected to win their bout.

The recent turn of events, however, is sure to be an added leverage for Bob Arum against the former P4P No. 1, Mayweather Jr.

In full consideration of every factor involved, Pacquiao wants to have his next bout as the biggest PPV attraction fight he can have, and one that will generate more for him—money-wise.

Though a lot of people are clamoring for a fight between the two speedsters—Pacquiao and Mosley, despite having stirred hot debates all over the web, it cannot be denied that a showdown between Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Pacquiao promises to be more lucrative. Recently, Mayweather, declared that should a bout between him and Pacquiao occur, it will be a 60-40 split in his favor.

Arum blasted Mayweather with a verbal jab right after, calling Mayweather "disillusioned" and isn't worth even a 50-50 split against Pacquiao.

Should Mosley's fight-luring offer does not deter Mayweather from his stance and reconfigure his chosen ratio. The Pacquiao camp will still have the outcome of Cotto-Clottey to await.

Cotto is seriously being considered as a possible big fight for Pacquiao as well, but the Cotto camp wouldn't in any way look past Clottey and issue an offer to Pacquiao.

Presumably, the Pacquiao camp is expecting Cotto to win against Clottey and is expecting the same offer as that of Mosley.

The only thing left to straighten out is whether Cotto will agree to the catch weight or not.

Between Cotto and Mosley, Arum is leaning more towards Cotto against Pacquiao as both fighters are under his promotion.

Should Cotto and Pacquiao come into terms, Mosley will be nothing more than leverage, a wrench in an attempt to twist Mayweather.

Pacquiao will surely have a hard time against Cotto, but is expected to come out victorious nonetheless.

A Pacquiao victory against Cotto will surely mean another ace under Arum's sleeve on his own tactical poker match of a posturing against Mayweather.

In an interview on a British Sports Television broadcast, Mayweather stated that he's not so interested in regaining his position as king of the Pound for Pound Rankings.

Those statements, and his posturing on the possible revenue split may not really interest Mayweather in a fight against Pacquiao.

Should that be the real case, I can see Mayweather attempting to negotiate with Cotto right after their matches, or with Mosley.

But, if I am Mayweather, who would I rather fight—A fast paced bomber such as I, or a sturdy bomber but not as fast as I am?

Pacquiao's fast-paced...so is Mosley. That leaves Cotto out of the speed issue.

Only then do I think that Mosley's stance reconsideration will pay off, and he will have his much anticipated showdown with the Pound-4-Pound king, Manny Pacquiao.

Two great fighters if that should happen, Mosley vs Pac Man, and not to mention two great guys, both stand up and admirable, who would you cheer to win? I'll like to hear your opinion? I think I would bet my money on Pac-Man but deep down inside cheer Sugar Man! Your Opinions?

Would a Floyd Mayweather Jr. Loss Be Best for Boxing?

In boxing, there are three types of champions.

The first type of champion is the guy that wants to fight the best. He isn't interested in titles or rankings as much as he is challenging himself.

An example of this type of champion is Shane Mosley.

Not only is Mosley actively calling out Manny Pacquiao, he is willing to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr., and has even mentioned boxing's boogieman, Paul Williams.

The second type of champion is the guy who fights whoever his promoter puts in front of him.

He trains hard to put on a good show for the fans. He leaves the matchmaking to his manager and promoter.

An example of this type of fighter is Vic Darchinyan. Now Darchinyan has been known to call out a guy or two, but for the most part he fights whoever Gary Shaw puts in front of him.

The third type of champion is the guy that follows the path of least risk/highest reward.

This type of fighter is concerned with making the most money against the fighter that poses him the least threat. Floyd Mayweather Jr. falls into this category. While a successful strategy for the fighter's wallet, it leaves many fans disappointed in both the choice of opponents and in ring performance.

The first and second type of champion I have described are the type of guys that have given us this revival of sorts that boxing has experienced in the last year or so. Thanks in large part to the success of MMA and the UFC, boxing's superstars have been forced to give up being the type of guy that follows the path of least resistance.

Guys like Winky Wright, Vernon Forrest, Roy Jones, and others are learning this lesson. The days of fighting anybody and making millions are to a large extent, gone. Name recognition no longer guarantees a guy a million dollar payday everytime out.

While this shift in the boxing paradigm has hurt aging fighters, it has helped the sport and its fans by creating compelling matchups.

Winky Wright was forced to comeback and face a young lion in Paul Williams. Paul Williams wasn't Wright's first choice, but Wright wanted a big payday. Vernon Forrest is on the verge of no longer being relevant, having recently being stripped of his title for refusing to fight Sergio Martinez.

Roy Jones in recent years has shown heart and a willingness to take on guys he should have fought in his prime.

With Mayweather's return to boxing, the low risk/high reward strategy is back in full effect. Mayweather and his advisers chose the guy they believed poses the smallest threat to beating Mayweather while creating the type of payday Mayweather is accustomed to.

This is not to discount Juan Manuel Marquez as an opponent, but there were actual welterweight opponents available. Shane Mosley is the champion at welterweight, yet Mayweather looked past him.

Mosley doesn't fit into Mayweather's formula yet, because he poses a great deal of threat to Mayweather. While Marquez can certainly beat Mayweather, odds are he would have to do so on points. Mosley not only could outpoint Mayweather, he has the power to place him flat on his back as well.

Since stepping up to welterweight, Mayweather has yet to face an opponent he didn't feel 100 percent he was going to beat. Now every fighter should believe they are going to win every fight, but Mayweather doesn't even consider fights he could possibly lose.

So in my opinion, now reading what you have read in this article, wouldn't you like to see Mayweather lose? So he can not dictate his next fights? Your opinion?

IBF Convention concludes!

The IBF/USBA 26th annual convention closed out Friday evening May 29th in brilliant fashion. President Marian Muhammad along with her staff, once again provided members with first class seminars for both referees and judges in addition to a fun filled evening banquet. IBF Chairman of Officials, Larry Hazzard Sr. oversaw and participated in both the morning referees seminar and the afternoon judges session.

The judges seminar discussed the different applications of the ten point must system.

Viewpoints on judging were given by Adalaide Byrd of Nevada and Jerome Jakubco from Illinois.

The referees seminar was outstanding, opening with Benny Esteves Jr. New Jersey (duties and responsibilities), Pete Podgorski Illinois (dressing room instructions) along with Jack Reiss and Pat Russell from California (stopping bouts, fouls and point deductions). Assisting with demonstrations were Sparkle Lee, New York and Ray Corona of California.

On Saturday morning the convention closed with a final meeting discussing a possible host for next year’s convention. The most popular appeared to be Hawaii, China and Las Vegas.

Pavlik to re-ink with Top Rank!

WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik has agreed to a multiyear contract extension with Top Rank. According to Pavlik’s hometown newspaper the Youngstown Vindicator, many details haven’t been ironed out, but the new pact will extend at least until 2011. Promoter Bob Arum is planning to try to reschedule a bout between Pavlik and former champ Sergio Mora for September, and a showdown with IBF middleweight champion Arthur Abraham or WBA middleweight champion Felix Sturm could be in the cards for December or January.

Cotto workout in NYC!

Three-time world champion Miguel Cotto (33-1, 27 KOs) will be holding a free public workout in the Bronx this Saturday (June 6) beginning at 2:30 P.M. ET, in an outdoor ring at 152nd Street and Tinton. Cotto, who is in his final week of training, will be defending his WBO welterweight title against Joshua Clottey (35-2, 21 KOs) on June 13 at Madison Square Garden. This marks the fourth time in the past five years that Cotto, a two-division world titleist, will headline at the “Mecca of Boxing” on the eve of the National Puerto Rican Day Parade. Clottey returns to the ring after defeating Brooklyn brawler Zab Judah and winning the IBF welterweight title. The card will also feature undefeated WBO junior flyweight champion Ivan Calderon (32-0, 6 KOs) defending his title against No. 1 contender and mandatory challenger Rodel Mayol (25-3, 19 KOs). Remaining tickets to Cotto vs. Clottey, priced at $500, $300, $200, $100 and $50, can be purchased at the Garden Box Office, all Ticketmaster outlets or online at www.thegarden.com.