Mayweather-Mosley Outcome Has Pacquiao's Attention

Manny Pacquiao’s preoccupation with a battle outside the boxing ring makes Mayweather-Mosley only the second most important fight of this month for the Filipino icon.

Election day is May 10 in his homeland, where the incomparably popular Pacquaio is running for a seat in the Philippine Congress. Pacquiao expects electoral success this time around, despite that he lost a congressional race in 2007 by a pretty substantial margin.

Dominant victories over Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto and Joshua Clottey have propelled Pacquiao to superstardom since then, and he is intent to use his status to branch out beyond boxing and help people in his impoverished country. Skeptics wonder whether Pacquiao is equipped to truly help at the political level, but he has promised prompt change for poor Filipinos who remind Pacquiao of himself before boxing became his path to fame and fortune.

He’ll take a break from campaigning to watch undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr. (40-0, 25 KOs) and Shane Mosley (46-5, 39 KOs, 1 NC) square off in a 12-round welterweight fight tonight in Las Vegas that’ll completely shape Pacquiao’s career later this year.

“It’s going to be a good fight,” Pacquiao said, “but I think Mosley will win.”

Anyone who wants what’s best for Pacquiao’s boxing career should hope he goes 0-for-2 on these predictions.

A combination of a Mayweather loss to Mosley and a Pacquiao political win would halt Pacquiao’s momentum coming off an incredible stretch since December 2008 that completely changed his career and the sport itself.

Even if Mayweather wins, if the Filipino people elect Pacquiao all it can do is hurt his boxing career. Pacquiao has somehow managed to train through an enormous amount of distractions in recent years, seemingly thriving on the chaos that typically surrounds him.

But becoming an elected official obviously should require a full-time commitment, particularly if Pacquiao is to deliver on his campaign promises. Imagine the firestorm one would face if a United States congressman informed his constituents that he would take a two-month break to totally devote himself physically and mentally to some other occupation while he was in office.

That could only cause controversy for Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 KOs), who, to maintain his legitimacy as a politician, could succumb to public pressure and consider conducting entire training camps in the Philippines. That definitely wouldn’t sit well with trainer Freddie Roach, whose mind has always been placed at ease once Pacquiao arrives at his Wild Card Gym in Hollywood for at least the final portions of his training camps.

This is among many reasons promoter Bob Arum and others with financial interests in Pacquiao’s boxing career would’ve preferred Pacquiao waited until he retired to pursue his political aspirations.

Of course, Pacquiao’s booming boxing career could become one of the primary reasons Pacquiao loses the election. The Filipino people might just decide he doesn’t have the time to devote to properly serving them, his best intentions aside.

No matter what happens in the election May 10, Pacquiao should suppress his desire to see Mosley beat Mayweather tonight.

While it is understandable for Pacquiao to want to watch Mayweather get knocked out, a Mosley win would probably be even more detrimental to his boxing career than winning the election. There’s no conceivable reason to think Mayweather wouldn’t exercise his immediate rematch clause if he loses tonight at MGM Grand.

That would mean Mosley, who would become Pacquiao’s most attractive target, would be tied up through the end of this year because a Mayweather-Mosley rematch wouldn’t occur until September at the earliest, November at the latest. Unless Pacquiao opted to take the rest of the year off, he’d be forced to fight a welterweight other than Mayweather or Mosley sometime in the fall.

He has already soundly defeated two of the two other top seven welterweights in boxing (Cotto and Clottey), which would leave undefeated Andre Berto as perhaps his most attractive alternative. Berto would at least serve as a credible foe for Pacquiao, but Arum dismissed Berto as a potential option recently because Arum, along with most who’ve watched them both box over the past year-and-a-half, doesn’t think Berto (26-0, 20 KOs) is prepared for that type of challenge just yet.

And there’s a better chance of the 5-foot-6 Pacquiao fighting Wladimir Klitschko next than 6-1 southpaw Paul Williams (38-1, 27 KOs), so let’s forget that.

Arum mentions Antonio Margarito as a possible Pacquiao opponent, assuming the infamous former welterweight champion wins his comeback bout May 8 against fellow Mexican Roberto Garcia (28-2, 21 KOs, 1 NC) in Aguascalientes, Mexico. That would require Margarito (37-6, 27 KOs, 1 NC) to regain a boxing license in the United States, but even if an American commission concedes that his one-year suspension was enough punishment for his hand-wrapping scandal, Margarito might present more danger for Pacquiao than the fight is worth.

Pacquiao’s speed obviously would enable him to hit Margarito almost at will, but Margarito is a big, strong welterweight with a good enough chin to withstand Pacquiao’s firepower. Besides, there is much bigger business for Pacquiao’s promoters to pursue after his win against Clottey drew nearly 51,000 fans to Cowboys Stadium.

Mayweather-Pacquiao is the fight that virtually everyone who pays attention to boxing wants to see. It’s one of those rare showdowns that’ll transcend boxing, maybe enough to top that pay-per-view record Mayweather and De La Hoya established nearly three years ago (2.45 million buys).

The negotiations will be contentious again because their representatives will have to come to a compromise regarding drug testing. But it’s hard to believe that they won’t somehow find middle ground, if for no other reason than that there is entirely too much money at stake for them to walk away from the biggest fight in boxing again.

Pacquaio could make about twice as much to fight Mayweather as he could earn for facing anyone else.

And Pacquiao-Mayweather would only become bigger if Mayweather wins tonight. That’s all the more reason for those who want what’s best for Pacquiao’s boxing career — and for boxing, really — to hope Pacquiao is wrong about Mosley pulling off an upset tonight.

Author: Keith Idec

Source: Boxingscene.com