by James Slater – Okay, Oscar De La Hoya may be guilty of being a touch biased for two reasons: number-one he is a business associate of Shane Mosley’s, and number-two Oscar was badly beaten up by Manny Pacquiao. But the recently retired future Hall of Famer has gone on record as saying Mosley – the man who twice out-pointed him in big fights – would definitely beat Pacquiao if the two pound-for-pound stars met. However, De La Hoya also says he is very doubtful the two talents will actually collide in the ring..
Speaking with The Ring on line, the owner of the magazine spoke about how Manny’s trainer Freddie Roach is too smart to allow his fighter into the ring with “Sugar” Shane.
“Mosley would crush Pacquiao in a heartbeat,” De La Hoya said to Michael Rosenthal of Ring. “That’s why I think it would never happen. Mosley is willing to come down in weight and take a smaller share of the pot, which shows you he wants to fight the best. Obviously that’s an admirable quality.
“I just don’t feel Freddie and Manny will do it – Mosley is too big a threat. Was I a risk when I came down to 147? Freddie Roach is smart. He saw something. Was Ricky Hatton a risk? Again, Freddie is a smart guy. That’s why he’s the best. And it’s why he’s not going to risk his fighter’s pound-for-pound status against a real champion like Mosley.”
These comments by Oscar are sure to get the fans craving a Pacquiao-Mosley fight all the more – perhaps even more than a Pacquiao-Mayweather showdown. Though he turns 38 in September, Mosley, as he showed by stopping the hitherto unstoppable Antonio Margarito in January, is one great, great fighter.
Oscar spoke of how the man who twice beat him would defeat “Pac-Man.”
“Mosley saw my fight against Pacquiao,” Oscar said. “He saw the Ricky Hatton fight. He wouldn’t commit the mistakes we both made. He won’t come down in weight too much like I did. He won’t leave his head up there like Ricky did. He’s smart.”
There is no doubt Mosley is indeed “smart,” but when Oscar says Shane won’t come down in weight too much, he may have to to get the fight. Mosley has already said he’d be willing to meet Pacquiao at a catch-weight, and it’s no secret that Freddie Roach has said he will not allow his fighter to box any higher than 143 or 144-pounds max. Will this poundage be low enough to have a very real effect on Mosley’s chances of winning?
How much Mosley wants this huge fight will dictate how low he really is willing to come down to. Let’s hope both sides can come to an agreement, though. This fight is too good not to happen.