Pacquiao V Mosley – No winner here

By Rob Moore: There have been a number of articles written about the forthcoming Pacquiao V Shane Mosley bout. The qualities of both fighters are well known with most informed commentators believing that Shane Mosley is past his best and will be no match for Pacquiao. There is a strong case that this match-up should not have been made at all. Sadly, the fight has been made because it is likely to make easy money.

I was not going to add to the debate, but changed my mind while listening to Hallelujah sung with chilling power and poignancy by the late great Jeff Buckley. I appreciate this appears to have absolutely no relevance to boxing, or the 147 pound wrecking machine that is Manny Pacquio. It is undeniable that in almost every way they have nothing in common.

For those not familiar with Buckley, he was immensely talented, with an amazing voice, who died aged ust 30. What he left behind was some music that will live forever. Jeff Buckley left a legacy.

Few of us are naïve enough to believe that boxing is not driven by business interests, but there comes a point when fighters, very special fighters like Manny Pacquiao, reach a point in their career when it should be about legacy. They have made enough money to buy everything they could reasonably want or need, but true greatness and legacies cannot be bought. Only Manny and possibly Freddie Roach know how many more fights Manny intends to have, but it is unlikely to be more than a handful at most.

I believe that Manny should be fighting only guys who represent the best challenges out there to truly cement his legacy as one of the all time greats. Fighting a 39 year old Shane Mosley is not going to add anything to MP’s CV. Infact, I believe this kind of fight is far more likely to detract from it. Handing a beating to a once great fighter that Sugar Shane, who is surely now past his best, is not something that I want to see or believe is worthy of Manny Pacquiao. I do not blame Manny – he is a warrior and will fight what is put in front of him. However, I feel this fight does the promoters no credit.

If the Mayweather fight can’t be made, then I would want to see Manny fighting the young hungry guys like Berto, Alexander/Bradley, or perhaps the older dangerous Martinez (although he may be one step too far). A fight against stable-mate Amir Khan fight would also be worthy of the man, but understand the guys are friends so that is unlikely to happen. Fighting lesser guys runs the risk of sullying what has been a great career and Manny’s legacy. I don’t want to see it, and hope the viewing figures for the Mosley fight let the promoters know that most boxing fans don’t want it either.