By Dennis Gasgonia
American trainer Freddie Roach said Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao needs to engage world welterweight champion Miguel Cotto in an intelligent fight in order to win.
“Cotto’s very strong, we have to fight a very intelligent fight,” said Roach in an interview over dzSR’s Sports Chat with Dennis Principe.
If Top …

By Associated Press
Floyd Mayweather’s return to boxing is back on, although the new date won’t make things any easier for him against hard-hitting Juan Manuel Marquez.
The former pound-for-pound king, who was slated to fight Marquez next month at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, issued a statement Friday that said …

By Al Bernstein
While we all wait for the apparently inevitable announcement that Manny Pacquiao will fight Miguel Cotto, I think it’s wise to really sit back and try and put the Pacquiao story in perspective. Our goal here is to come up with some historical perspective that is reasoned. …

bernstein.ibnsports.com

I have taken some time to let the events of May 2 gestate a little. I have rolled them around in my mind and come up with some historical perspective. I now believe this basic fact, IF Manny Pacquiao can beat any one of Floyd Mayweather Jr., Shane Mosley, or Miguel Cotto, he will have stamped himself the best fighter EVER at 135 pounds or below. Here is my reasoning. The quartet of Pacquiao, Marco Antonio Barerra, Juan Manuel Marquez and Erik Morales produced the greatest series of fights seen at any time in boxing. They occured during a decade’s span in a few weight divisions. This series of fights exceeded even the Hagler, Leonard, Duran, and Hearns combinations of matches. I know, many of you are gasping at that last statement, but it’s true. Pacman and his little crew overall had more classic battles than Hagler and his legendary bunch. And, even though Marquez has a legitimate argument to the contrary because of his two close fights with Pacquiao, Manny narrowly emerged from that pack with the best results and biggest name. And then Manny did something that really seperated him from that group–he moved up in weight and dominated. Now, I fully understand that David Diaz at i35 was only a so-so lightweight champ, and Oscar De La Hoya ended up being a shell of his former self when he fought Pacquiao (although he was a big favorite before the fight). And, I also conceed that Ricky hatton had slipped in recent fights–and many thought he was never a great fighter. But, still, the WAY Pacquiao won over Ricky was impressive.
All of that is why I am not quite ready to totally make Manny a deity–but I am close. If he beats one of the aforementioned fighters he will have proved that no one in history has been able to dominate the smaller weight divisions like him. From 112 all the way to 147 he has performed well. That’s astonishing.

It seems like Shane Mosley is going about trying to get a fight with Manny Pacquiao in the wrong way. First of all, it doesn’t matter how interested Mosley is in fighting Pacquiao or how willing Shane is to come down to whatever handicapping catch weight that Freddie Roach and Pacquiao dream up. The fight won’t be made unless Pacquiao, his trainer Roach and perhaps most of all Manny’s promoter Bob Arum want it to be made.

And by the way things are looking, I don’t see Mosley having a chance in hell of getting a fight with Pacquiao, even if Mosley were to agree to come down to an energy draining 130 to fight Manny. Why is that? Well, probably cause Mosley is way too dangerous for Pacquiao at any weight because of Mosley’s combination of speed, power and excellent chin. This wouldn’t the case of Pacquiao beating up on a shot and weight-drained Oscar De La Hoya or a fragile-chinned Ricky Hatton. Mosley wouldn’t fold easily like those two and Pacquiao would find himself in for the fight of his life.

Since Pacquiao couldn’t really beat Juan Manuel Marquez without a controversial 12 round decision last time out, the chances of Pacquiao beating Mosley would seem about impossible. Pacquiao for obvious reasons hasn’t been eager to get back in the ring with Marquez for a rematch, and has gone after easier pickings with De La Hoya and Hatton. The same holds true now. Miguel Cotto looks to be the man of the hour for Pacquiao and his team.

Why that be? It doesn’t take a genius to see that Cotto looked perfectly awful in his fight with Joshua Clottey, getting beaten up, running a lot of the time and appearing to lose the fight by a close margin. Before the fight with Clottey, Pacquiao and his team were reluctant to fight Cotto, but afterwards their attitude seemed to change overnight.

Cotto is vulnerable, hence the perfect opponent for Pacquiao. Now, it really is sad that Pacquiao would rather go after a fighter like Cotto who is only two fights away from being beaten almost senseless by Antonio Margarito rather than Mosley. But that’s the way things go. It looks like Pacquiao and his team are going after the easy money rather than choosing a much more dangerous opponent like Mosley, who would in all likelihood beat Pacquiao and thus remove any chance of Pacquiao fighting Floyd Mayweather Jr. in the future.

MANILA, Philippines – Shane Mosley said he wants to fight Manny Pacquiao so whoever wins will get to face the winner of the Floyd Mayweather-Juan Manuel Marquez showdown which was recently postponed and tentatively rescheduled to September.

“Yeah, that is the perfect scenario. That’s the way it is supposed to happen in real boxing,” Mosley, the 38-year-old WBA welterweight champion from California, told fighthype.com as he continued to beg for a fight with Pacquiao.

“Malapit na lumuhod (Soon he’ll be on his knees),” said one of Pacquiao’s advisers, Wakee Salud, of Mosley. The matchmaker from Cebu said everybody is going after the Filipino champion because of the “ton of money” involved.

Mosley has practically swallowed everything in seeking the fight with Pacquiao, announcing that he’s agreeable to a catchweight under 147 lb (the welterweight limit), put his belt on the line, and settle for 40 percent of the earnings.

On the other hand, WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto, the choice of Top Rank president Bob Arum as Pacquiao’s next opponent on Nov. 14, is still keeping his cards close to his chest, saying he can only fight Pacquiao at 145 lb.

Arum said Pacquiao has agreed to fight the pride of Puerto Rico at 144 lb, although his trainer, Freddie Roach, said the 28-year-old Cotto should go down to 143 lb because he’s a “dangerous” fighter as compared to what others think.

A fight with Manny Pacquiao has become Boxing’s version of the golden ticket. A guaranteed big payday, HBO 24/7, and ppv are in store for whoever Pacquiao chooses to fight next. Floyd Mayweather Jr, Shane Mosley, and Miguel Cotto have all been rumored as Pacquaio’s next opponent.

Mayweather would seem to be the best option of the three. A former pound for pound champion until he retired, “Money” Mayweather has unretired to face familiar Pacquiao foe Juan Manuel Marquez. A Mayweather rib injury has postponed that bout until September, effectively putting him out of the running for Pacquiao.

Shane Mosley is the next likely option, as he is a former pound for pound champion himself. He is also the current welterweight champion, after his one sided knockout of Antonio Margarito in January. A formidable foe for Pacquaio, he has taken to calling Pacquiao out. Mosley has stated he is willing to come down to 144 lbs. to make the fight happen. He has also personally spoken to Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s trainer, about the fight. Although Pacquaio would no doubt be willing to fight Mosley, it seems Bob Arum is not warm to the idea.

This leaves Miguel Cotto, the least likely option, as the frontrunner. Pacquiao was ringside as Cotto won a close split decision over Joshua Clottey. Cotto was cut early in the fight, and looked to survive in the later rounds. Clottey outfoxed Cotto during the middle rounds, but seemed to take his foot off the gas in the final frames. A first round knockdown and late rounds comeback propelled Cotto to victory.

Back in July 2006, I wrote an ESB piece to the effect that Sugar Shane Mosley’s brutal KO of Fernando Vargas in their second outing was evidence that like a perfect storm, everything was coming together……just the right things in the mix and with just the right timing for him to fight Floyd Mayweather. Team Mosley was running on all cylinders and it seemed unlikely for anyone to slow it down. But that was then.

In May 2007, I wrote in a second piece that asserted Mosley-Mayweather was no longer the perfect storm. I said “…While Team Mosley may be aiming in the direction of the man with the heavyweight ego, the effort does not seem as energized as it was a year ago.. For his part, Floyd said, ‘First, I’ll beat Shane and then I’ll beat his boss [De La Hoya].’ Now, it looks like he will have to reverse the order, assuming he does not retire (which is a sound assumption).” I was right in that he beat De La Hoya, but instead of then fighting Mosley, he chilled Ricky Hatton in impressive fashion in December 2008.

While Mosley’s many assets are jeopardized as he gets older, his speed, quickness, hand-eye coordination, movement, and putting punches together were manifest in his demolition job of Antonio Margorito earlier this year when he came in as a 4-1 underdog. It was a super win for Sugar Shane in every sense of the word and propelled him back to the top of the welterweight division.

By P.H. Burbridge
Success for a boxer is measured by the number of options he has. When other high profile fighters and their handlers drop your name almost every time a microphone is shoved in their face then you know you’ve arrived. Well, Manny Pacquiao has arrived! Everyone with in a …

By Ronan Keenan
Three Mercedes and three SUVs, each heaving with burly, steely-eyed personnel make their way through the streets of London. This is not the cavalcade of a president, but a king.
Floyd Mayweather Jr., the returning pound-for-pound monarch of the fight game, adhered to the adage of safety …

By Reylan Loberternos
Tungod, Inabanga, Bohol – In light of recent events involving future matchup prospects for the reigning pound for pound king Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao of the Philippines, a noteworthy topic has noticeably surfaced. Here, we are going to discuss the issue on “catchweight”, a scorching hot issue that has …

Robert Cassidy
It’s the fight Bob Arum wanted, and now it looks like he’ll get it. Miguel Cotto and Manny Pacquiao are reportedly going to fight on Nov. 14. Arum said in an interview with Mike Marley that was, in part, published in the Philippine Star. Arum said that Pac Man …

By Michael David Smith
Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto have tentatively agreed to fight in Las Vegas on November 14, giving the world’s best pound-for-pound boxer a very challenging fight against a highly ranked opponent — and ensuring that we won’t see Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather any time soon.
The Los …

By Frank Lotierzo
This past Saturday two big events unfolded that will more than likely affect the boxing landscape in the junior welterweight and welterweight divisions for the remainder of 2009. The first being the Floyd Mayweather versus Juan Manuel Marquez bout to be fought at a catch-weight limit of 144 …

By FightFan.com Staff
Ivan Calderon: “I want Brian Viloria next. If I don’t get Viloria, we have no problem giving Mayol a rematch. He fought a good fight against me. He’s a worthy challenger and I have no problem getting it on again with him. I need about thirty days …

By Thomas Umstead
Two days after announcing the postponement of its big July 18 Floyd Mayweather-Juan Manuel Marquez fight, HBO along with boxing promotion company Top Rank Inc. is close to lacing up the gloves for a Nov. 14 PPV event featuring Manny Pacquiao.
Sources close to the situation said that …

By Steve Kim
news arrived in a press release on Sunday afternoon - Floyd Mayweather, scheduled to face Juan Manuel Marquez on July 18th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, would be forced out of that assignment due to a rib injury.
So now what?
“I really don’t have any updates, …

By Edri K. Aznar
CEBUANO Promoter Wakkee Salud said Rodel Mayol should have against Ivan Calderon last Sunday at the Madison Square Garden in New York.
Salud, who handles Mayol along with his friend and pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao, believes that Mayol should have been given the technical knockout win because he …

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By Robert Jackson
News broke this past Monday that the comebacking Pretty Boy Floyd Mayweather Jr. was injured during training making it necessary to cancel or postpone his July 18th fight against Mexican Warrior Juan Manuel Marquez.
Some boxing insiders have suggested that this is just a ruse or ploy for ‘Money …

The highly anticipated July 18 fight between Floyd Mayweather and Juan Manuel Marquez has been postponed due to a rib injury sustained by Mayweather while training. The mega-fight was scheduled to take place at MGM Grand in Las Vegas and be televised live on HBO Pay-Per-View. “I am extremely disappointed that this fight has to be postponed,” said Mayweather. “I was training very hard and looking forward to getting back in the ring on July 18th.”

“I was very disappointed to hear the news about the fight being postponed,” said Marquez from his training camp in Mexico. “I will remain focused, in shape and ready to fight whenever the fight is rescheduled for.” Information about rescheduling the fight will be made available as soon as possible.

By Gabriel Montoya
Before their knockdown, drag out twelve round battle Ghana’s Joshua Clottey (35-3 with 20 Kos) told the HBO crew he was prepared for this, his biggest fight to date against Puerto Rican welterweight Miguel Cotto (34-1 with 27 Kos). “If he runs, I will chase him down. If …

By RingTV.com editors
The July 18 fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Juan Manuel Marquez has been postponed because Mayweather injured his ribs in training.
Mayweather has been out of the ring since he knocked out Ricky Hatton in December of 2007.
“I am extremely disappointed that this fight has to be postponed,” …

By RingTV.com editors
Manny Pacquiao won the top prize – Fight of the Year for 2008 – at the Boxing Writers Association of America awards banquet Friday night in New York City.
Pacquiao fought three times last year, narrowly outpointing Juan Manuel Marquez in March, stopping David Diaz in the ninth round …