Pacquiao Crushes Mosley
If Mayweather stops unraveling and resolves his legal issues, maybe a fight between him and Manny will materialize in the future…
Manny Pacquiao (53-3-2, 38 KOs) retained his WBO welterweight title Saturday night by crushing Shane Mosley (46-7-1, 39 KOs) in Las Vegas before a sellout crowd of 16,412 at the MGM Grand.
Mosley’s vaunted speed, his ability to move in and out of harm’s way, is now officially a thing of the past. He may still have power, the last thing to go, but Mosley’s legs, the first thing to go, are history. Mosley was a tentative, stationary target all night long and took shots that the young Sugar Shane would have danced away from like it was nothing.
No doubt Mosley looked great in the gym working the mitts, speed bag and heavy bag. But the good, or bad, thing about mitts, speed bags and heavy bags is that they don’t hit back, which left Mosley susceptible to Pacquiao’s onslaught. His arsenal of lefts and rights, hooks and jabs, left Mosley bruised and swollen, a beaten fighter gasping for air and looking to survive.
Pacquiao rained down punches on the hapless former champion unremittingly and without remorse. A Pacquiao left hook dropped Mosley with a minute left in round three. It was only the third time Shane’s been dropped in his 18-year career, but if he continues to fight that number will rise. Pacquiao couldn’t follow-up and end the bout then and there, so the match effectively became a lopsided display of one man’s skill and determination vs. another man’s deteriorated skill and determination.
For Mosley remains, if nothing else, a determined fighter. Boxing is what he knows. Boxing is in his blood. It’s just that his body can no longer execute his brain’s commands.
Mosley’s biggest moment, on a night of small moments, came in round ten when referee Kenny Bayless mistakenly ruled that Shane knocked down Manny. But what must have pleased Mosley infuriated Pacquiao, who seemed more determined than ever to put some hurt on his opponent. It was almost as if Pacman was hitting the ref and not Shane Mosley.
After the decision was announced, with the judges scoring it 120-108, 120-107, 119-108 for Pacquiao, the Filipino whirlwind admitted that “It wasn’t my best performance. I did my best. I did not expect this result.”
The result Pacquiao expected was an early stoppage, and only Mosley’s guts and fighting heart kept that from happening.
“I fought the best fighter in the world,” said Mosley. “He has exceptional power, power that I’ve never been hit like this before.”
Where Mosley goes from here is anyone’s guess. There are scores of fighters out there that Mosley can beat. But to what end? Maybe it’s time for Shane to think about getting out while the getting is good. Maybe he should hang ‘em up before he gets seriously hurt.
Pacquiao, by contrast, is still king of the world. If Mayweather stops unraveling and resolves his legal issues, maybe a fight between him and Pacquiao will materialize in the future. More likely is that Manny will move up in weight and go for a ninth division title. Because he’s looking, searching, for someone, somewhere, to challenge him, to give him the fight of his life that he desperately craves and believes he deserves.
