When I spoke with jr. middleweight prospect Shawn Porter on Halloween day, he had just gone 4 rounds with Manny Pacquiao, the man who many consider to be the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. “Manny is the man,” stated Porter, who's grown accustomed to leaving the Wild Card Gym and seeing hundreds of people waiting in the parking lot for a chance to meet their hero.

Having witnessed firsthand the superstar status of Pacquiao, Porter considers it business as usual for the sparring partner of such an iconic figure. “It was like a scene from Coming To America when a row of limos were going down the one-way street with escorts,” Porter recalled of his time in the Philippines. Describing the experience as being surreal, Porter thoroughly enjoyed his time there. “My time in the Philippines was nice,” he commented.

After twelve solid rounds of sparring at the Wild Card Gym on Saturday, pound-for-pound phenomenon Manny Pacquiao looked at conditioning expert Alex Ariza, smiled and said “easy.”

That’s how Pacquiao, chasing a world title in a record-breaking seventh weight division against WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto felt after taking on undefeated Shawn Porter (10-0, 8 KO’s) over five rounds, four rounds with tough welterweight Rashad Holloway (11-1-1, 5 KO’s) and three rounds with super featherweight Raymund Beltran (22-4, 14 KO’s).

Conditioning expert Alex Ariza told us “I stake my reputation on this. Manny is going to be bigger and stronger than even Cotto.”

He said Pacquiao weighed in at 148 ¾ pounds prior to sparring and should have no problems at all in making the catch-weight of 145 pounds.

Usually in boxing, common sense comes to the fore in the end, when all parties concerned realise that the fight has to happen due to the sheer size of the event and of the money to be made from it. Let’s hope this turns out to be the case with Pacquiao-Mayweather just as it was with Hatton-Pacquiao - another fight that looked to be off for a while due to disagreements over the monetary share the two fighters were to be paid. In the end, both sides came to their senses, but in an interview today with The Philippine Star, Arum made it clear Mayweather and his team will have to make a big concession if the fight we all want to see is actually made.

“You can tell Floyd Mayweather that Bob Arum says he’s delusional,” Arum said. “Floyd is not the attraction. Manny is the attraction. Floyd’s got no idea what he’s talking about. Floyd must be hallucinating when he said he wants the bigger purse and wouldn’t agree to a 50/50 split. Even a 50/50 split with Floyd Mayweather is nonsense.”

Manny Pacquiao is planning to be ringside in London on June 27 to cheer o his training partner Amir Khan when he challenges for the WBA light-welterweight title. Khan is presently training with Freddie Roach in Hollywood, but says Pacquiao, who knocked out Ricky Hatton last month, has said that he want to see Khan take on Andreas Kotelnik.

“Manny is back in the Philippines at the moment, but he’s said that he would like to come to the fight, and we’ll look after him,” Khan said. “It will be good to have him there.”

By Robert Cassidy
To this corner, Manny Pacquiao is in the driver’s seat. He’s on top, he should dictate terms. He is wildly popular at home and in the States. If he fights Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Sugar Shane Mosley or Miguel Cotto, it’s big business.
Let’s try to make some sense …

“I want it to be known that I want to fight Pacquiao and I want to fight him now,” Mosley said. “I’m willing to meet at a catch weight to make that happen. I know this is what [Pacquiao trainer] Freddie Roach wants as well, as he has previously stated this to press. I am the best fighter in boxing and I am ready to reclaim the title of No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter.”

Mosley didn’t make it clear how low he would be willing to drop, but you have to figure he would need to make at least 144 pounds. Mosley weighed 146 for a few welterweight fights, but hasn’t been lower than that since 1999, when he made his last lightweight title defense at 135 pounds.

If you ask me, I’d love to see Mosley get Mayweather. I’ve wanted to see that fight since back in the day, when Mosley was lightweight champion and Mayweather was junior lightweight champion in the late 1990s. But I also really want to see Pacquiao-Mayweather, which is easily the biggest fight boxing has to offer. It would match the pound-for-pound king (Pacquiao) against the guy who gave it up by retiring but never lost it in the ring (Mayweather). I hope that fight happens and that Mosley is waiting for the winner.

“I want it to be known that I want to fight Pacquiao and I want to fight him now,” Mosley told the AFP. “I’m willing to meet at a catch weight to make that happen.

“I know this is what Freddie Roach wants as well. I am the best fighter in boxing and I am ready to reclaim the title of No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter.”

Roach has said the weight could be 143 or 144 pounds. Mosley, 37, has not fought below 146 since 1999 and has fought as high as 154.

Mosley was dismissed as a future opponent because he has “five losses” and is “not a pay-per-view attraction,” according to Mayweather.

Mayweather’s disrespect was enough to make the normally affable and reserved Mosley fire back.

“Floyd’s delusional,” Mosley said from his home in La Verne, California on Friday. “He talks about his pay-per-view numbers but everyone knows that it was Ricky (Hatton) and Oscar (De La Hoya) who brought in the fans and sold those pay-per-view buys. Before he fought De La Hoya his numbers were so disappointing HBO didn’t want him to fight on pay-per-view anymore.

“The fights with Oscar and Ricky, and the 24/7’s he did on HBO before those fights, got his name out there but I don’t think it made him more popular with boxing fans. I don’t think he’ll ever be as popular as he thinks he is until he really fights the best.”

Early in his career, when he campaigned in the 130- and 135-pound divisions, Mayweather did fight the best. He beat the likes of Genaro Hernandez, Diego Corrales, Jesus Chavez, and Jose Luis Castillo displaying once-in-a-lifetime talent and athletic gifts that were on par with Mosley’s abilities at lightweight.

Somewhere during his transition from lightweight to junior welterweight and welterweight in the middle part of the decade, Mayweather’s focus shifted from proving his potential greatness to protecting his undefeated record and making as much money as possible.

It can be argued that it worked out for him, as he made a small fortune fighting Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton in 2007, but it’s a damn shame.

Imagine the welterweight round robin that could have taken place over the last four years if Mayweather shared Mosley’s mettle.

Muhammad Ali used to ask a rhetorical question about daring to be great. And what he meant was a boxer has to put everything at risk – his health, his title, and the chance to make the big money. In exchange, by taking on the best competition around, that fighter gains respect. When Ali came out of his three year exile, in his third fight he fought Joe Frazier, taking an enormous beating, almost being knocked out in the eleventh and fifteenth rounds, and losing a decision. But he was finally appreciated as a great fighter because even though he lost, he was game throughout the fight – soon after, Budd Schulberg entitled an Ali biography “Loser and Still Champion.” Ali arguably gained more from that loss than from any win.

And that’s how the pound-for- pound works. Everybody on that list, to a greater or lesser extent has dared to be great and has achieved or approached it – win or lose. That is something the heavyweights should keep in mind. But these days heavyweight champions and contenders both are manufactured by fighting retired ex-contenders and ex-champions and by the wishful thinking of a boxing media anxious for the next great American heavyweight.