Manny Pacquiao Ready For Whatever Mosley Brings, Arum Contends Mosley Will Have Surprises

This May 7th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, fight fans will witness 2011’s first super fight as top pound for pound boxer Manny Pacquiao will take on former three time champion “Sugar” Shane Mosley. When the bout was first announced many fans cried foul, citing a horrible mismatch between the aging Mosley with the speedy southpaw. How can someone of Mosley’s age survive against a man who has beaten guys bigger and stronger than him? The was the first of many questions that came into mind when stacking the two athletes together. For his part Bob Arum and the matchmakers at Top Rank may know something a bit more than fans as recent “mismatches” between Cotto/Mayorga and Morales/Maidana have exceeded expectations with the underdogs being competitive and almost stealing victory on more than one occasion.

Arum contends that it will be a competitive fight, even though Pacquiao has the overall speed advantage. “Mosley has a lot of hand speed and power in his punches as well. Shane has a iron chin, no one has ever knocked him out,” commented Arum. Still many fans are hard pressed to believe Arum, citing that the aging Mosley looked less than stellar in his last two fights (Mayweather, Mora).

The upcoming May 7th bout also marks Pacquiao’s second camp as a congressman. It was well documented in the lead up to the Antonio Margarito bout that there was dissension and dissatisfaction among Team Pacquiao with head trainer Freddie Roach citing it as “The worst camp Manny has ever had.” Things appear to be going smoothly with all members involved working like a unit. “This one has been more smoother, a lot more focused and from day one he (Pacquiao) has been very motivated for this fight,” said Roach. Top Rank promoter Bob Arum sees the change as well, “He has a better handle of dealing with it (being congressman) now.”

In all our years of covering Manny Pacquiao, we have never heard him bad mouth a opponent though we have a hunch that if a Floyd Mayweather Jr. bout comes thru he might crack and quip a few smart remarks. True to his character, when asked what he thought about Mosley or if he even admired him, Pacquiao was quick to respond, “I admire that he is a nice guy, he knows how to respect people and no trash talk for this fight. That is why I respect him.” Come May 7th he may learn to respect Mosley’s punching power as the Pomona based fighter is the only man to have a knockout win over Antonio Margarito, something even Manny Pacquiao could not pull off.

Roach and Pacquiao are well aware of that and expect Mosley to be at his strongest and best in the early rounds, “He is going to start quick and come out after us and make a statement right away when he is fresh,” said Roach. Pacquiao for his part was not bothered with the prospect of Mosley coming at him guns blazing, “I am ready for that. Whatever his style is in the ring, I am ready for.”

See what else Freddie Roach, Manny Pacquiao and Bob Arum had to say about the upcoming May 7th bout between Manny Pacquiao and Shane Mosley by clicking on the embedded video above.