MANILA, Philippines - Manny Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach is predicting that Floyd Mayweather Jr. will beat WBA welterweight champion Sugar Shane Mosley by decision in their 12-round bout in Las Vegas on May 1. If Mayweather dethrones Mosley, it will only be logical for Pretty Boy to face Pacquiao, who holds the WBO title, in a unification showdown. Pacquiao is now recognized as the world’s No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter, an honor that was once Mayweather’s until he retired over two years ago. Mayweather is now back in active ring duty and itching to reclaim his throne. “Shane’s my friend and I hope he wins but he has trouble with speed and movement and likes guys to come to him so it’s going to be difficult,” said Roach in a guest column on London’s Boxing News. Roach, who has been involved in a word war with Mayweather’s foul-mouthed father Floyd Sr., seemed reconciliatory in remarking that “I like Floyd as a person ...out of the Mayweathers, he’s one of the better ones.” The celebrated Wild Card Gym of Los Angeles owner said Mayweather has never disrespected him and always calls him Mr. Roach. But in anticipation of a duel with Pacquiao, Roach said it’s likely that Mayweather will turn against him in the process of hyping what is being billed as the “Fight of the Decade.” “Floyd’s scared of my guy,” said Roach. “I let him use my gym when he was doing ‘Dancing With The Stars’ before the Ricky Hatton fight and I’ve known him since he was a little kid. He’s not a bad guy. But the only way the fight with Manny is going to happen is we go by the commission drug-testing rules.” Roach said just like every fan, he’s looking forward to a Pacquiao-Mayweather battle. Still, he expressed doubt that it will push through “if (Mayweather) tries to bring in his own company for Olympic-style testing or any of that rubbish, the fight’s not going to happen.” Roach, 50, said if the Mayweather-Mosley winner dodges Pacquiao, boxing will suffer a serious blow. “Let’s face it, people want to see Pacquiao-Mayweather,” said Roach, quoted by Bob Velin in USA Today. “If the Mayweather-Mosley winner doesn’t come around, where do we have to go? We’re going to do whatever it takes to make that fight. The only thing we won’t do is to let Floyd call the shots and make the rules because he’s not that big. Any commission test and sanctioning body test, we’ll do. But we will not do private testing with a company that Floyd hires.” The issue of blood-testing derailed plans to stage a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight last March. Mayweather insisted on Olympic-style random blood-testing even the day or hours before the fight while Pacquiao said he will agree to the examination only up to 14 days leading to the bout. “Floyd doesn’t realize that he’s killing his own sport,” said Roach. “I get upset that some people can’t accept that Manny’s just a great fighter. Manny is one of the hardest-working people I’ve ever seen. He has a lot of distractions around him but once he comes through the gym doors, all that goes away.” Mayweather has accused Pacquiao of taking performance enhancing drugs or steroids to maintain his speed and power while moving up and down different weight divisions. But what Mayweather failed to appreciate is the scientific conditioning program that Pacquiao undergoes in invading higher weight classes. Since Pacquiao contracted conditioning coach Alex Ariza for his assault on the WBC lightweight title held by David Diaz in 2008, he has been unstoppable. With Ariza in his team, Pacquiao has won three world titles in two years – lightweight, lightwelterweight and welterweight – to add to his collection that now lists seven championships in different divisions. So far in his career as a trainer, Roach has worked with 27 world champions. Pacquiao is No. 1 in his list of clients. “I think I have the best fighters in the world, that’s why I’m the best trainer,” he said. “When the bell rings, I sit down and they fight. My key to success is hanging out with good fighters. I’m probably having more fun than I ever had in my life.” Roach said there’s no short-cut to success and it’s all about working hard. “I know my job but when they get in the ring, I sit down so I give the credit to them,” he continued. “But I like getting the Trainer of the Year award which the Boxing Writers Association of America awarded me for the fourth time recently because it’s named after my trainer and mentor Eddie Futch so it’s a great honor. Training fighters is all I do. I don’t have time for anything else.” Boxing writer Bert Randolph Sugar said, “Freddie Roach is up there among the all-time greats. Like a jockey with a racehorse, a trainer is known by the productivity of his fighters. And Freddie’s done one hell of a job.” Pacquiao is Roach’s prized trophy. Together, the team is unbeatable in pro boxing today. Author: Joaquin Henson Source: philstar.com
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Roach picks Floyd over Mosley
Is heavyweight champ Haye a "Pacquiao Man" or a "Mayweather Man" on blood tests?
He's not the second coming of Cassius Marcellus Clay/Muhammad Ali. Talk to him, Manny. Author: Matt Stolow Source: examiner.com
But all in all, he's not that bad. He can fight more than a little bit. OK, nobody human or otherwise looks good against John Ruiz. That is the one thing Ruiz is good at.
David Haye has gotten his mandatory WBA heavyweight title defense out of the way and now he gets to make some serious jack and get some well-deserved publicity in America.
Let's hope he's not even thinking of a rematch with hulking 7'2, 320 lbs. Nikolai Valuev from whom he won the title.
Let's hope Ruiz doesn't file a stupid protest of Saturday's fight to get an immediate rematch with Haye.
I'm talking about either of those two white brothers of the Ukranian Klitchko family. The first closest to a pen and a fax machine wins. I don't care.
We (Americans) don't have time for "The Hayemaker" to pull a "Riddick Bowe" and go visit the Pope against the late Eddie Futch's wishes.
Decisions such as that are why Bowe is trying to get licensed to fight at Indian Reservations /casinos across America for chump change as we speak here.
Next to fighting, what Haye does best, maybe better, is promote himself.
But all we need is for him to sign to fight a Klitschko next and America, its fame, glory, charms and riches, are Haye's to be had.
No Big Ugly Bear like Sonny Liston to get past first. Just come and get the money against either old Klitschko.
Don't sign with Golden Boy Promotions! Oh, he already did that.
Don't get involved with these ridiculous blood/urine tests Golden Boy and Floyd Mayweather are using to hold up a Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight and embarrass everyone's new heavyweight friend, Jerry Jones.
I don't know where Haye stands right on the blood right now, but already being signed with Golden Boy frightens me.
Even though Haye has signed with Golden Boy, maybe he'll think like Manny Pacquiao or Freddie Roach and the crew at the Swingin' Wild Card and not try to save the world, boxing, the dolphins and just stick to his next fight.
Haye is the first breath of fresh air heavyweight boxing has seen in many years and he simply has to say he's a "Pacquiao Man" or a "Mayweather Man" so America will know if boxing has a chance for a comeback or if it's going to go even lower in public approval.
Mosley or Mayweather: Take Your Pick!
Tungod, Inabanga, Bohol – Barely a month to go before the welterweight clash between compatriots Sugar Shane Mosley (46-5-0, 39 KOs) and Pretty Boy Floyd Mayweather, Jr. (40-0-0, 25 KOs), boxing pundits still don’t have a clear consensus about who has the upper hand in this very intriguing bout. Here, we are going to examine closely the possibilities, as well as the positives and negatives of either fighter. Hopefully after reading this piece, you, my beloved readers could come up with an educated guess as to who will come out victorious. Let’s start our discussion with the tale of the tape. The undefeated Mayweather is listed at 5’8” with a 72-inch reach. Throughout his entire professional boxing career, the man they call “Pretty Boy”, “Money”, and at times “Chickenjoy” or “Gayweather” has enjoyed the effective reach advantage in all but one of his bouts. Six-division champ “Golden Boy” Oscar De La Hoya was his only opponent who had an effective reach advantage over him. (This topic is comprehensively discussed in one of my previous articles. If you want to dig deeper, you may want to go to this article Mayweather: Untried, Unproven, and Untested at Welterweight! before you continue reading.) “Sugar” Shane Mosley, on the other hand, stands 5’9”, with a 2-inch reach advantage over Mayweather. Judging from the tale of the tape alone, not to mention the fact that Mosley is a relatively far more established welterweight than Mayweather is, then common sense dictates that the 38-year-old fighter out of California should have his hands raised at the end of the bout. But before all you anti-Mayweather fans start rejoicing, take note that the key word there is “alone”. There are still several factors to consider, which we will tackle later on in this piece. Speed is another important parameter to reflect on. Mosley is known for his incredible hand speed, but his opponent is not bad in this area, either. Conversely, Mayweather is known for his vast foot speed, which is however not among Mosley’s strong points, especially at this point of his boxing career. Both pugs are accurate punchers, but Mayweather’s uncanny ability to elude his opponent, together with a knack for creating angles for his counterpunches, the flamboyant Grand Rapids, Michigan native should have an advantage in this department. Now, let’s move on to what could very well be the determining factors in this bout – power and durability. Mayweather was a beast at lightweight, knocking opponents out and imposing his will over them. The same, though, cannot be said of him north of the 135-lb weight limit. He has employed more caution rather than taking risks for an explosive finish. We can perhaps blame it on his fragile hand, which explains why he prefers to use gloves with more padding. His chin is rather untested, too. Zab Judah stopped him on his tracks when the former welterweight champ connected with clean shots to the jaw, which apparently hurt him. On the flipside, Mosley has carried his power and durability all the way to the heavier weight divisions. He has faced some of the hardest punching individuals in the sport and has taken a few solid punches as well. He toyed and beat Antonio “Loaded Hands” Margarito from pillar to post. Of course, there’s a very huge difference between fighting someone who is tad slow and constantly charging forward (Margarito) and someone who has cat-quick reflexes and likes to run (Mayweather). The line separating victory and defeat generally depends on Mosley’s ability to cut the ring and impose his will on his very elusive opponent. Mosley’s jab will also prove to be a crucial factor to keep Mayweather at bay and give him problems unloading his own offensive. Mosley has two choices. He can basically rely on his effective reach advantage and wait for Mayweather to come in, hoping that the judges will grant him the benefit of the doubt if exchanges should ensue… or he can bring the fight to Mayweather and perhaps go for a knockout, not leaving any chances for the judges to take the fight away from him, knowing fully well that these people would certainly want the much anticipated Pacquiao-Mayweather encounter to push through. The notion of a fixed fight still floats around boxing circles. Reasons cited include the fact that Mosley also has a stake with Golden Boy Promotions, and that a Mayweather victory could salvage the much anticipated battle for the sport’s top dog featuring the current and former pound for pound kings. Nevertheless, there is so much reason not to believe these rumors. If you were in Mosley’s shoes, would you rather lose and let someone else gather the moolah for you, believing that you have a more than decent chance at becoming the first person to get a 1 on Mayweather’s clean slate on May 1? Your guess is as good as mine. Now that practically all the essential factors have been laid out, who do you think will earn the chance at challenging the sport’s best fighter pound for pound? Author: Reylan Loberternos Source: socyberty.com
Top 10 reasons why fans 'don’t love' Floyd Mayweather Jr
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