By Tommaso Nappo: The worst kept secret in boxing is that Shane Mosley will be Manny Pacquiao’s next opponent probably on May 7, 2011. As a result of him getting the fight it has caused a split between Mosley and Golden Boy Promotions (GBP), with both sides claiming a lack of loyalty.

Mosley claims to be stunned by the reaction from Golden Boy and in an LA times article stated ” I was trying to get the Pacquiao fight and I never knew Golden Boy was going to make this big campaign for Marquez. My intention wasn’t to leave Golden Boy, just to make the fight happen. When I got it done people started getting crazy showing me their true colors. It’s made me believe they didn’t want me to have the fight in the first place”. It is quite apparent by that statement Shane is firing a couple of shots at Oscar and Golden Boy C.E.O Richard Schaefer. If there were any doubts about that comment then the one attributed to Shane in the same article leaves no doubt. On doing business with Top Rank, It’s business I never had any problems with Bob Arum, matter of fact my best fights have been with Bob”. Now I am sure that last one caught Oscar like the liver punch Hopkins laid on him a couple of years ago.

Oscar De la Hoya has said on record that Shane leaving and doing a fight with Top Rank was a slap in the face. C.E.O Richard Schaefer in an article by Dan Rafael stated that regarding Pacquiao’s next opponent ” Marquez is the logical choice”. Not too long ago Bernard Hopkins was having a similar issue with Golden Boy who was basically attempting to retire him or so it appeared from the outside. An interesting question to ponder is Golden Boy is now screaming for an immediate rematch with Jean Pascal. If Chad Dawson were a Golden Boy client, would they be looking out for Bernard’s best interest, an immediate rematch or their own( siding with the younger fighter with more upside left pushing Dawson’s contractual right to a rematch.) Neither Mosley nor Hopkins have a contract with Golden Boy but rather they own a percentage of the company. In the past they have fought under the GBP banner , but by leaving Mosley has not breached any contract. In actuality he still owns a piece of the company, and alluded to it in the LA Times article stating he received a cheque from Golden Boy for $1000 to cover his shares in the company. Mosley advised the writer that he has no plans on cashing the cheque and predicts another legal battle on the horizon.

Oscar should know as well as anyone styles make fights, and Mosley looked bad against Mora ( how many guys actually look good against him), and against possibly one of the greatest defensive fighters of all time Floyd Mayweather. Early in the fight he was able to hurt Floyd like nobody else has been able to. So a Mosley Pacquiao fight will not be a mismatch it will be exciting for the first 5-6 rounds as anything can happen. Shane won’t have to go looking or chasing Manny down he will be right in front of him Shane still has a punch and the question will be whether he gets to Pacquiao by the middle of the fight or he will be in trouble. More importantly GBP should have given Mosley the respect he deserved by pushing equally as hard for him to face Manny, or at the very least let Shane fight Juan Manuel Marquez for the opportunity

It is hard to understand the thinking behind GBP’s motivation behind pushing one client significantly more for an opportunity that a second client is in the running for as well. Nobody wants to be treated second class, and by GBP pushing Marquez and stating he is the only logical choice for Manny that is exactly what they have done. If they had played their cards right and presented both fighters equally they could have ended up with a fighter taking on Manny and another waiting in the wings. For example if Marquez had gotten the fight then Mosley could have fought either Berto to try and get a belt or Sergio Martinez for the middleweight title to try and entice Manny into collecting one more belt. If Shane had gotten the fight Marquez should move up and take on a welterweight (Berto if he is feeling ambitious) , or Clottey, Cotto . as a victory would shoot down any argument that Marquez can’t be successful as a welterweight making a fight with Pacquiao at 147 a reality. It will also give himself more leverage in negotiations especially if he had fought and defeated Berto.

Unless B-Hop lets Shane drink from his fountain of youth Mosley is nearing the end of the line.Taking this into account as well as realizing that GBP wasn’t negotiating with his best interest at heart , he did what he had to do. If Shane is able to pull of the huge upset I am sure Oscar will be telling the media that he had faith in Shane all along and he knew he would beat Manny and that was why he wanted JMM to fight Manny first. This whole matter served as a reminder to Shane that a true measure of your friends or associates that are to be trusted, can only be uncovered at one’s lowest points, and times of struggle – not in the good times !