By Chris Williams: Naazim Richardson, the trainer for 39-year-old Shane Mosley (46-6-1, 39 KO’s), believes his fighter has a great chance of creating an upset by beating the younger 32-year-old WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao (52-3-2, 38 KO’s) on May 7th at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Mosley is a real long shot to win the fight because his skills looked badly eroded in the past year, and it’s pretty much a miracle that he’s even gotten the fight with Pacquiao. No, I take that back. Based on the kinds of fighters that Pacquiao has been fighting in the past two years, Mosley fits in quite nicely with that bunch. It’s perhaps Mosley’s poor performances in recent bouts what’s gotten him the fight with Pacquiao in the first place. When Mosley was fighting well, Pacquiao’s management wanted nothing to do with him. My, how things have changed.
In an article at the examiner.com, Richardson said “Shane’s got a chance to shock the world. You don’t get these opportunities. Very seldom do you get these opportunities. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Shane has to rise to the occasion.”
Too bad it’s come too late for Mosley. Had Pacquiao’s team picked Mosley two years ago or more, I would give Mosley an excellent chance of beating up and stopping Pacquiao, but not now. Sometimes when a fighter gets up to his late 30s and early 40s, they lose it really quickly. This appears to be what’s happened to Mosley. He still may have a chance against Pacquiao if he uses the punch and grab technique that he employed in the Antonio Margarito fight, but Mosley is going to have to get his punches off first and immediately grab Pacquiao to keep him from firing back. It won’t be pretty but that’s Mosley’s only chance.
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