Love for the sweet science keeps ‘Sugar’ Shane Mosley in the ring

APTOPIX Mosley Pacquiao Boxing

“Sugar” Shane Mosley takes a punch from Manny Pacquiao during their May 2011 welterweight title fight in Las Vegas won by Pacquiao/AP file photo by Mark J. Terrill

 

“Sugar” Shane Mosley was laughing, getting a big kick out of how antsy his trainer – all-time great fighter Roberto Duran – is for Saturday. That’s when Mosley will take on David Avanesyan of Russia in the welterweight main event from Gila River Arena in Glendale, Ariz. (on CBS Sports Network).

“Yeah, it’s almost like we’re both fighting,” Mosley said. “He’s getting so excited and, not that he’s nervous, but he’s like, ‘Oh, my God,’ you know, like he’s getting ready to fight.”
Mosley said he tells Duran, “You gotta calm down a little bit, Roberto.”

Guys like this don’t calm down. That’s why Duran is one of the best ever. That’s why Mosley, who has won titles in three weight classes, is one of the best of his era and will join Duran in the International Boxing Hall of Fame five years or so after he finally hangs up the gloves.

It seemed Mosley was done when he had to quit after seven rounds against Anthony Mundine in November 2013, no thanks to severe back spasms. But he came back after 21 months off, won two fights against so-so opponents – a washed-up Ricardo Mayorga and journeyman Patrick Lopez – and now he’ll be challenging Avanesyan for his interim world title. Did we mention that Mosley, of Pomoma, is 44?

Yup. Mosley knew he’d fight a long time. Maybe not to 44, but …

“I kind of did,” he said Thursday via telephone. “I wanted to be a great fighter and I loved boxing so much, so I wanted to fight for as long as I could.”

Ego is involved. Mosley admits that.

“For respect,” he said, when asked why he’s still fighting. “I get a lot of respect and I am legendary and all that stuff. It’s because I love the game, I love to fight and I could still do it. I can still beat these guys. And I want to prove that, you know what I mean?”

Avanesyan is just 27, and Mosley believes a win over him would demonstrate he can still beat a young world-class fighter. Interestingly, if Mosley wins Saturday and takes the interim title from Avanesyan, Mosley (49-9-1, 41 KOs) would then be in line to fight the winner of the title fight between champion Keith Thurman and Shawn Porter on June 25 in Brooklyn.

If Porter were to emerge victorious, Mosley said he would not want to fight Porter because Porter “is like a little brother to me.” He would, however, take on Thurman should Thurman retain his belt.

“Yeah, of course I’ll take the fight with Thurman,” Mosley said, in confident tones.
That sounds scary because Thurman (26-0, 22 KOs) is very good and hits hard. And he’s just 27.

Mosley would be better off taking on guys his own age, or at least close. He would prefer that. Rematches with Miguel Cotto, Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. would be fine. A fight with Juan Manuel Marquez would be cool, too.

“I would take Juan Manuel Marquez, Floyd Mayweather and Manny (Pacquiao),” Mosley said; those three are 42, 39 and 37, respectively; Cotto is the baby at 35. “At the time, I think Manny and Floyd are kind of retired, so I would go over to cotto and Marquez if they would like to fight. And, you know, just a few more and then I’ll probably be done.”

Well, maybe. Duran fought until he was 50.

“We both have that same desire,” Mosley said, “that desire to get in there and win.”

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Bob Arum takes shot at Donald Trump at Pacquiao-Bradley event

Bob Arum speaks to a reporter at Wild Card Gym in Hollywood during media day for Manny Pacquiao’s fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. in May/Photo by Harry How, Getty Images

 

Promoter Bob Arum took a shot at Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at Tuesday’s news conference in Beverly Hills promoting the third fight between Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley on April 9 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas (on HBO pay-per-view).

Arum vowed to put on an all-Hispanic undercard and call it the “Donald Trump undercard.” This is obvious response to Trump wanting to deport the millions of illegal immigrants in this country, as well as wanting to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Arum said the fighters can take care of their business in the ring before Trump deports them. Arum was being sarcastically funny, but he was serious about the subject. He referred to those Trump wants to rid the country of as people “who live, by and large, exemplary lives and want to know that there are a lot of people who have their back and are not going to allow them to be deported.”

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Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley to tangle a third time at MGM Grand

Manny Pacquiao

Manny Pacquiao/Photo courtesy of Top Rank Inc.

 

It may not be the most popular move Manny Pacquiao could have made, but it was announced Wednesday that the next – and, supposedly, final – fight of his fine
career will be a third go-round with Timothy Bradley.

Promoter Bob Arum told this newspaper and several others that the fight was done for April 9 at MGM in Las Vegas (on HBO pay-per-view). The contracts still have to be signed.

Bradley, of Palm Springs, holds one of the welterweight world-title belts.

The two first fought in June 2012 at MGM Grand. Bradley was scored a split-decision winner, but virtually every reporter covering the fight saw that as a terrible decision as Pacquiao seemed the clear winner.

They tangled again in April 2014, at MGM Grand, with ,Pacquiao emerging with a deserved unanimous decision.

Neither fight was electrifying. But Bradley (33-1-1, 13 KOs) did not have Teddy Atlas training him then. He does now, and Arum figures that will make this the most exciting bout of the trilogy.

“I don’t think there’s any question, but that it will be,” Arum said. “And I don’t think there’s any question that as good as Bradley has been, that he’s a much better fighter now with Teddy Atlas than he was before. Without any question, he’s a different fighter and his style is different.

“So people say, ‘My god, you’re doing a third fight with Pacquiao and Bradley.’ I say, ‘But this Bradley is different from the other Bradley.’ It’s really like a new opponent.”

Bradley, 32, fought for the first time under Atlas in November, and he stopped Brandon Rios in the ninth round at Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38 KOs) is coming off a unanimous-decision loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in May at MGM Grand. Pacquiao revealed after the bout he fought with a torn right rotator cuff, which has since been surgically repaired.

The other two opponents Pacquiao had been considering were junior welterweight champion Terence Crawford and former junior welterweight champion Amir Khan.

As for this possibly being the last fight Pacquiao, 37, Arum is not so sure.

“He told me that this would be his last fight, but I’ve heard that from fighters for the 50 years I’ve been promoting boxing,” said Arum, who began promoting in 1966. “So I take that with a grain of salt. So I’m not going to put myself in a position where im promoting this fight as Manny’s last fight when six months from now there’s a change of heart and he wants to fight again.”

The first two fights did approximately 900,000 and 800,000 pay-per-view buys, respectively, according to industry sources.

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After what Terence Crawford did, Manny Pacquiao may look elsewhere

Terence Crawford/Photo courtesy of Top Rank Inc.

 

Terence Crawford was in a sense auditioning for a fight with Manny Pacquiao when he squared off with Canada’s Dierry Jean on Saturday at CenturyLink Center in Crawford’s hometown of Omaha, Neb.

Pacquiao is currently trying to decide who will be his final opponent. Crawford is one of the possibilities. Perhaps Pacquiao won’t want anything to do with Crawford after Crawford decked Jean in rounds 1, 9 and 10 on his way to a 10th-round technical knockout victory.

That gives Crawford a record of 27-0 with 19 knockouts. Saturday’s victory was the first defense of his junior welterweight world title. He is a former lightweight champion as well.

Crawford is 28. Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38 KOs) is 36 and will turn 37 on Dec.

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Floyd Mayweather Jr.: ‘I did not commit any violations’ by taking IV

Floyd Mayweather Jr./Photo by Gene Blevins, Hogan Photos

 

A story published Thursday by the Associated Press has Floyd Mayweather Jr. claiming he did nothing wrong by taking an IV solution to re-hydrate following the weigh-in for this past May’s welterweight title fight with Manny Pacquiao, won by Mayweather via unanimous decision at MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Mayweather reportedly did not receive a formal exemption from the United States Anti-Doping Agency for the IV until weeks after the fight, but USADA admits it knew of the IV before Mayweather took it and that it contained no illegal substances.

“As already confirmed by the USADA statement, I did not commit any violations of the Nevada or USADA drug testing guidelines,” Mayweather said in a statement. “I follow and have always followed the rules of Nevada and USADA, the gold standard of drug testing.
“Let’s not forget that I was the one six years ago who insisted on elevating the level of drug testing for all my fights.  As a result, there is more drug testing and awareness of its importance in the sport of boxing today than ever before. I am very proud to be a clean athlete and will continue to champion the cause.”
The response by Mayweather and USADA came as a result of this story by Thomas Hauser on SB Nation.
Mayweather will take on Andre Berto at MGM Grand on Saturday night in what Mayweather says will be his final fight.
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Leo Santa Cruz wins decision over Jose Cayetano in Saturday’s semi-main

The semi-main event Saturday underneath Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Manny Pacquiao featured super bantamweight champion Leo Santa Cruz of Lincoln Heights taking on Jose Cayetano of Tijuana in a non-title fight in the featherweight division.

Even though Santa Cruz was moving up in weight, he figured to have an easy time of it as Cayetano (17-4) is not in his class. Santa Cruz (30-0-1) did in the sense that he won big on the scorecards – he won by three scores of 100-90. But fans seemed a bit restless that he could not stop Cayetano inside the distance.

There were a few boos.

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PHOTOS: Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao media workouts

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Photos by Gene Blevins/LA Daily News

Floyd Mayweather Jr., in Las Vegas, and Manny Pacquiao, in Hollywood, worked out in front of the media Wednesday ahead of their mega clash on May 2.

Mayweather’s workout included a guest appearance from David Hasselhoff.

Pacquiao’s workout also drew a big crowd in Hollywood, where Bob Arum had some interesting things to say.

Below is a sample of our photos from the workout, but click the links to get the check out all of the photos (all 140 of them).
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May Crowd

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Manny Pacquiao hopeful Floyd Mayweather Jr. tries to knock him out

Manny Pacquiao/Photo courtesy of Top Rank Inc.

 

Manny Pacquiao on Wednesday played host to a media workout at the Wild Card gym in Hollywood, where he is trained by Freddie Roach. A couple of hundred reporters and photographers were on hand, and that’s not including the 50 or so who were turned away because there wasn’t enough room for them.

During a question-and-answer period, Pacquiao was asked if it would be to his advantage if Floyd Mayweather Jr. opens up and tries to knock him out when they tangle May 2 in a welterweight title-unification fight at MGM Grand in Las Vegas (on HBO and Showtime pay-per-view). Pacquiao responded with a slight smile on his face.

“Well, if he does that, that’s good for me,” Pacquiao said. “I mean, I like that. That’s what I want and that’s definitely what the fans want, you know, action.”

 

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Floyd Mayweather Jr. suggests he has emotional edge over Manny Pacquiao

Floyd Mayweather Jr., left, will square off with Manny Pacquiao on May 2 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas/Photos by Associated Press

 

Floyd Mayweather Jr. at Wednesday’s news conference touched on the psychological element of his May 2 fight against Manny Pacquiao at MGM Grand in Las Vegas (on HBO pay-per-view, Showtime pay-per-view). He intimated he has the edge in this department.

“One thing I do know about any sport, when you lose, it’s in your mind,” Mayweather said at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. “If you lost once, it’s in your mind. If you lost twice, it’s in your mind. From day one, I was always taught to be a winner. No matter what, be a winner, push yourself to the limit, stay focused and be the best that you can be.”

It was Mayweather’s way of reminding the more than 600 reporters in attendance that while Pacquiao (57-5-2, 38 KOs) has lost more than once, he is undefeated at 47-0 with 26 knockouts.

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