Juan Manuel Marquez expected at weigh-in, and as Pacquiao's next foe?

Fight promoter Top Rank is expecting a visit from world lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez at its 3 p.m. weigh-in Friday for the Manny Pacquiao-Shane Mosley fight.

It's significant because it will be Marquez's first public step away from Top Rank's rival promoter, Golden Boy in Los Angeles, and because of the Mexican fighter's strong position to be Pacquiao's next opponent in November. [Updated 2:29 p.m. May 6: The date of the potential fight would be Nov. 12.]

Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum said Thursday night he believes Marquez is the front-runner to next fight Pacquiao, as long as the Filipino star does as expected Saturday and defeats 8-to-1 underdog Mosley at MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas.

Arum said a third Pacquiao-Marquez bout could be fought either in Las Vegas, or back at Cowboys Stadium in Texas, where Pacquiao fought twice in 2010.

Marquez (52-5-1, 38 KOs) fought Pacquiao to a 2004 draw as featherweights, and then dropped a narrow split decision in a 2008 super-featherweight meeting.

As Pacquiao has proceeded to overwhelming triumphs against the likes of Oscar De La Hoya, Miguel Cotto, Ricky Hatton and Antonio Margarito since, a nagging question has been his inability to return to the man who has given him such difficult tests.

Arum said Thursday he's willing to have a 144-pound weight limit for the welterweight title fight. As the 135-pound lightweight champ, Marquez, who turns 38 in August, previously was overwhelmed when he tried moving up in weight to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Golden Boy Chief Executive Richard Schaefer has said his company still has the right to attempt to match any offer Marquez receives for a fight through next year, but matching Pacquiao money will be quite a challenge, so Top Rank officials say they are confident Marquez can jump ship.

Schaefer said Friday perhaps "a fight against [Saul] 'Canelo' Alvarez," could generate the money Marquez will be offered by Top Rank.
Source: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/

Manny Pacquiao weighs in lighter than Shane Mosley

Manny Pacquiao weighed in just two pounds lighter than American Shane Mosley after the Filipino was welcomed by deafening cheers from his supporters on the eve of Saturday's WBO welterweight title fight.

Pacquiao, 52-3-2 (38 knockouts), tipped the scales at 145 pounds in front of a boisterous crowd of about 6,500 at the MGM Grand Hotel's Garden Arena.

Mosley, 46-6-1 (39 KOs), was weighed first and was right on the 147-pound limit for the scheduled 12-round bout.

The two fighters were all smiles as they posed for the photographers for their pre-fight pictures and they embraced one another once that task was done.

"I am just so excited to be in this fight," Mosley, a 39-year-old veteran who is a three-division world champion, said on the stage. "The whole world is watching. It should be great."

Pacquiao, a 10-times world champion in a record eight weight divisions, is a 6-1 favorite to win but he has taken great pains not to underestimate his American challenger.

"I believe that Shane Mosley is a strong fighter, a good fighter," the 32-year-old Filipino said. "He has trained hard for this fight so I have to train hard and focus on this fight."

Pacquiao and Mosley are renowned for being ideal boxing ambassadors and have refused to indulge in any of the pre-bout trash-talking so common in the sport.

NO TRASH TALKING

"This is a good example for the boxing fans and for all the fighters," Pacquiao told reporters earlier this week.

"The fight will be happy and a good example for the children who are idolizing the fighters, especially Mosley and me."

The atmosphere was electric as the two fighters made their way on to a raised stage for Friday's televised weigh-in where former boxing great Roberto Duran and Britain's WBA world light welterweight champion Amir Khan were among those attending.

Shouts of "Manny, Manny" rang out before the tracksuit-clad boxers finally emerged, Pacquiao and Mosley each smiling and waving to the fans before stepping on to the scales.

There were also friendly boos for Mosley who, despite being born in nearby Pomona, California, had a much smaller number of supporters in the arena.

Pacquiao is fighting for the first time since he recorded a ruthless points victory over Mexican Antonio Margarito in November for his eighth world title in an unprecedented eight weight class.

Mosley has not competed in the ring since his draw with Sergio Mora in September.

Pacquiao, already acknowledged as one of the best offensive fighters of all time, is guaranteed $20 million from Saturday's bout while Mosley will earn a minimum $5 million.

Source: http://ca.reuters.com/

Pacquiao wants Mosley seeing yellow stars

LAS VEGAS, Nevada — If Filipino pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao gets his way on Saturday, Shane Mosley will be seeing a blur of yellow at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino.

The eight-division world champion and Filipino congressman plans to wear yellow boxing gloves in the ring for his world title fight Saturday as a symbol of his struggle to end poverty in his native Philippines.

"All my life I have had to fight. At first as a child I had to fight just to get something to eat," said Pacquiao. "I believe this world needs new heroes. The biggest fight in my life is not in boxing but it is now to end poverty in my country.

"So this Saturday I will wear yellow gloves as a symbol of unity."

Pacquiao marks his return to Las Vegas for the first time since November 2009 by fighting America Mosley for the World Boxing Organization welterweight title.

Tickets for the scheduled 12-round fight at the Garden Arena sold out five weeks in advance. Millions more are expected to watch the fight from the Philippines and around the world on pay-per-view television.

Pacquiao and the four-time world champion Mosley stood side-by-side and posed for pictures at a news conference in the Hollywood Theater inside the MGM hotel on Wednesday.

They spoke briefly from the podium which also featured trainers, managers and support staff from both camps. Promoter Bob Arum said they are pleased bring Pacquiao back to Las Vegas after staging both of Pacquiao's fights last year at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, Texas.

"We had two fights in the stadium in Dallas we are happy to be back here in Las Vegas," Arum said. "Las Vegas needs to have these kinds of fights."

The outgoing mayor of Las Vegas Oscar Goodman and Canadian singer-songwriter Dan Hill were also in attendance. Goodman presented both fighters with "good luck mayor gambling chips". The Grammy-award winning Hill has teammed up with aspiring singer Pacquiao who regularly covers Hill's classic 1970's ballad "Sometimes When We Touch".

No doubt Hill will get an invite to Pacquiao's post-fight "Beach Party" at the nearby Mandalay Bay Hotel where 'Pac-Man' plans to perform with his band.

Pacquiao warmed up for the occasion by singing a line from the song at Wednesday's news conference.

The announcement of the Beach Party and Pacquiao's planned singing engagement immediately after the title fight drew chuckles from the Mosley camp. But there was no trash talking as the camps kept their distance.

The 39-year-old Mosley, of Los Angeles, may have a 3 1/2 inch height advantage and 7 1/2 inch reach advantage but he gives away seven years in age to the younger and heavily favoured Pacquiao.

Mosley said he doesn't mind being the underdog.

"That's fine. My goal is to get the victory and the win. We can talk about me being the underdog after the fight.

"I can do all the things I used to do five years ago. Don't ask me about 10 years ago because I can't remember back that far," Mosley joked.

Pacquiao said he had enjoyed one of his best training camps ever and is hoping to validate that by do something no other boxer has been able to achieve before: prevent Mosley from going the distance.

Mosley has gone 53 fights in his 18-year career without being knocked out.

The Filipino southpaw said the last time he trained this hard for a fight was 2008 when he fought Oscar de la Hoya and beat him in eight rounds.

"I am 100 percent and I would never underestimate Mosley," Pacquiao said. "He is not old. He moves like a 31-year old and he still has a lot of speed."

Pacquiao has won 13 fights in a row and has not lost in nearly six years. In that span he has dispatched such stars as de la Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto and Juan Manuel Marquez.

Pacquiao has also claimed world titles in eight weight classes. He typically divides his time training for a fight between the Philippines and the USA but for this fight they decided to make a change.

So they spent five weeks, instead of three, training in Los Angeles.

"We are ready for this fight," trainer Freddie Roach said. "This has been our best training camp ever and Manny is in the best shape. He has to be because we are fighting one of the most crafty fighters ever in Shane Mosley."

Source: www.google.com

Pacquiao ready for Mosley's best

Great athletes need challenges. And in 1996, Roy Jones felt he was running out of them. So that June, the then-No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world decided to create one. On the afternoon of his super middleweight title fight against Eric Lucas, Jones suited up for the USBL's Jacksonville Barracudas. He played 14 minutes that day. Seven hours later, he made Lucas quit in 33.

"What would really be great would be to fight a true double-header -- two championship fights in the same night," Jones told The New York Times. "People would think I couldn't do it."

Manny Pacquiao doesn't need any new challenges. The No. 1 fighter in the world has plenty right in front of him. A day in the life of Pacquiao includes managing countless media obligations (which he rarely turns down), promoting his burgeoning singing career (his first U.S. single was released last week) and posing for pictures with the scores of fans that seem to follow him everywhere. Then there are his Congressional duties in the Philippines -- he met with President Obama in February -- and, oh yeah, training for the biggest fight of the year, Saturday's welterweight showdown with Shane Mosley (9 p.m. ET, Showtime PPV).

"That's my life, to keep busy," Pacquiao said. "I like to do a lot of things in my life. This is how I motivate myself [for] this upcoming fight."

Indeed, Pacquiao could probably use an extra dose of motivation. The selection of the 39-year-old Mosley has been roundly criticized, from the casual fans who continue to clamor for a deal with Floyd Mayweather to the diehards who insist Juan Manuel Marquez was more deserving. In his heyday Mosley was a feared fighter, but his recent resume -- a 12-round thumping at the hands of Mayweather and an uninspired draw with Sergio Mora -- suggests his competitive days are behind him.

Pacquiao, however, believes Mosley has something left in the tank.

"Shane Mosley is still very strong and he moves more like he's 30 years old," Pacquiao said. "I'm excited for this fight because Mosley can throw a lot of punches and he wants to fight toe-to-toe. He's a former pound-for-pound champion and he's a good fighter."

Pacquiao's trainer, Freddie Roach, agrees.

"Mosley brings speed, power and he has a good team behind him," Roach said. "I think we have a big challenge ahead of us. The way we go about attacking Shane is going to have a lot of thought behind it. If you just walk into Shane and attack him you just walk into the fire. He'll counterpunch the hell out of you and he has knockout power."

Ah, the knockout. That's more fuel for the fire. Pacquiao has leveled nearly every opponent put in front of him the last two years. Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto didn't make it to the final bell. (Antonio Margarito did, but only because Pacquiao took it easy when referee Laurence Cole ignored the Filipino's repeated appeals to stop the fight.)

Margarito had to table negotiations for a July fight with Cotto because his post-Pacquiao face had not healed enough for sparring.

Joshua Clottey went the distance with Pacquiao but only because he spent the entire fight using his arms as a shield.

Mosley won't do that. Power is the last thing to go in a fighter and Mosley has still got some pop. He knocked out the steel-jawed Margarito in 2009. He buckled the elusive Mayweather in the second round. Mosley is a come-forward, press-the-action fighter who isn't in many dull scraps.

There's another thing about Mosley: He has never been knocked out. It's a fact Pacquiao's team is keenly aware of and is using as a tool to further motivate their man for this fight.

"It would be incredible for Manny to be the first one to stop him and just prove to the world how much better he is than that guy [Mayweather] that couldn't stop him," Roach said. "I think Manny will fight at a fast pace. I don't know if (Mosley) will be prepared to fight at that pace but we're going to force the action and we're going to go for it this time. If it comes, it comes. I think Manny is definitely the guy to do it."

Pacquiao insists that the myriad potential distractions aren't an issue. He took a lengthy break from training after the Margarito fight to commit to his political career, a hiatus Pacquiao says has made him hungrier. Roach claims this has been Pacquiao's best training camp ("From Day 1 he has been on fire") and says they are "100 percent ready" with a game plan to beat Mosley. To avoid overconfidence, Roach has spent most of his time reviewing Mosley's best fights (specifically the one against Margarito) and not his most recent body of work.

"If Mosley brings his best we're ready for his best," Roach said. "I don't think there is any room for an upset. We've done everything we can to get ready for the fight."

Gone through everything, too. As Jones would probably agree, when it comes to challenges outside the ring, Pacquiao has more than enough.

Source: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/