Sugar is Sour

June 19, 2:22 PMIndianapolis Fight Sports ExaminerDennis "dSource" Guillermo

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"Sugar" Shane Mosley (AP Photo)

Does “Sugar” Shane Mosley deserve a fight with Manny Pacquiao? Yes. Does that mean his statements regarding Pacquiao and Cotto are accurate? He can make a case for it, but I don’t think so.

Mosley and his Golden crew have been on a Pacquiao campaign for a few weeks now that started with Mosley’s media people publishing a press release insinuating that a Pacquiao-Mosley fight was about to go down.

Not too fast, said Bob Arum and Pacquiao as they revealed that there were no contracts signed yet nor was the fight anywhere close to being done. Mosley was already talking about how he was chomping at the bit and ready to jump into the ring against The Pacman.

“Jumping the gun” is the first thing that comes to mind.

“Shameful” is a close second.

I’m not naïve to say that credibility and boxing go side-by-side like Oreo and milk but credibility is still credibility. How can you publish a press release like that and expect people to believe anything you have to say again in the future?

When that didn’t work, Mosley’s business associates at the Golden camp came out and gave their two cents in an attempt to try and lure Pacquiao. Golden Boy Oscar De la Hoya himself came out swinging like it was round nine of his fight against Pacquiao and told Mike Rosenthal of The Ring Online,

“Mosley would crush Pacquiao in a heartbeat. That’s why I think it would never happen.”

Oscar may still be feeling a buzz from the Pacquiao punches he took last December because only a fool at this point would instantly dismiss Pacquiao and believe he’s afraid to fight anybody inside the ring. After all, Cotto beat Mosley. Either that or Oscar has completely transformed into a savvy promoter.

Bernard Hopkins who plays the Notorious B.I.G. version of Golden Boy Promotions to “2Pac” De la Hoya (Hopkins is the president of Golden Boy Promotions’ east coast chapter) and Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer also came out as reported by writer Ben Thompson of Fighthype.com claiming Pacquiao is avoiding Mosley.

Somebody needs to tell these guys that Pacquiao is a grizzled veteran when it comes to all this media stuff as cutthroat as it is over where he's from. Well, I guess I'll just take it upon myself.

REMINDER: Pacquiao ran for politics in the Philippines and is in show business there as well. All this media taunting, rumors and controversy are what he eats for breakfast. 

I guess Mosley and the Goldens are really bent on getting it on with Pacquiao and why would they not? Pacquiao is not only the best fighter in the world right now, he is also the biggest draw and money fight there is. Pacquiao made the same amount of dough last year compared to LeBron James for crying out loud.

Shane Mosley is a legend. I give respect where it’s due, Shane has defeated the best of the best and the man is a gentleman too. A fight with Pacquiao would definitely be explosive, but is it necessarily what fight fans rather than a Cotto fight as he claimed? Maybe, maybe not. A poll on the boxing website Badlefthook.com has fans voting in favor of Cotto by a 3-1 ratio.  

I guess it just comes with the territory with Mosley hearing the curtain calls on his illustrious career. I have to admit though, I haven’t really seen, heard or read “Sugar” Shane act so sour before…or salty… or bitter. (its amazing how many flavors can describe a persons emotions)

Mosley further told Eastsideboxing.com’s Julius Stecker,  

The fight (Pac-Cotto) does not make any sense to me. A fight with me will make more money. I know there have been numbers going on out there like Cotto making 5 or 6 million and Manny making 10,11 or 12. But a fight with me he will make more money. Bob Arum is being the puppet master putting this together, but Manny will make more money fighting me.

And why fight Cotto? He almost lost to Joshua Clottey. It was fight that he easily could have lost. Cotto ran around the ring in the last few rounds. The fight with Cotto is not the best fight for boxing or fight fight fans, or Manny Pacquiao fans. It is the best fight for Bob Arum. Even if you look at Cotto's gash, do you think it will heal in time. It might just open up again if he fights Pacquiao. The fans need to know that the best and biggest fight in boxing right now is with me.

In his final attempt to convince Pacquiao that he truly is the man the Pacman needed to fight next, Shane added,

Do the right thing Manny. Fight the best fight for the fans, and the best fight for your legacy. You have nothing to lose by fighting me. There will be more prestige in fighting me then Cotto. I will enhance your legacy. Whatever money Bob Arum can offer you, I can offer more and then some.

Manny and me are the same. We will fight anybody. If he were to lose to me, I would give him a rematch. That is what I do, I am a fighter. I fought guys nobody would fight, Vernon Forrest, and Winky Wright. That is the same with Manny. You have every thing to gain by fighting me. It is a no lose situation.

And as a final note, Mosley even went as far as consider a fight in Manila if Pacquiao would agree to face him.

I would probably do something crazy like that. I would train in Big Bear though before I went. I don't think I could train out there. The Phillipines fans are great and they love boxing.

Honestly, I really don't mind seeing Pacquiao fight anybody because a Pacquiao fight is always exciting anyway. It's hard to go wrong with Cotto, Mosley, Mayweather or Marquez in the ring with the Pacman. In this case though, Cotto just had the luck in the draw. And I think it's about time some people got over it and moved on.

My best advice for Shane, instead of being sour and salty about the possibility of missing the Pacquiao bus, that if he truly wanted an epic fight to end his career, I'd love to see him in the ring with Paul Williams at the Staples Center. That would make money and should not be hard to arrange plus it will have the boxing world buzzing as well. Or he can wait for Fight Night Round 4 to come out and he can fight Pacquiao all day.

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