With Pacquiao vs. Mosley set for T-minus 34 hours from now, there has been a constant swirl of changing opinion and public sentiment regarding the bout. Depending on who you ask, and when you might have asked them, the fight can be viewed as anything from farce to must-see television and big-time boxing PPV. That’s the power of Manny Pacquiao, the sport’s pound for pound king, and his allure, as well as the massive promotional push that has been behind this fight from the beginning.
When Manny Pacquiao vs. Shane Mosley was announced, way back in December of 2010, the fight was panned by critics, myself included. It’s certainly no dream match of Pacquiao facing Floyd Mayweather, and Mosley, at 39-years-old, was coming off two poor performances. There were many more intriguing match-ups to be made, and the Mosley fight was simply second-class.
Ask me today though, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t eagerly anticipating the event tomorrow evening. Maybe it’s been the Fight Camp 360 shows, the nonstop blabber by talking heads (again, myself included) on the fight, dissecting it from every possible again and again, or who knows what else.
Mosley is likable and easy to root for; Pacquiao is likable and easy to root for, and he also happens to be the best fighter in the world. Seeing an athlete, competitor and boxer at that level perform is something that you never want to miss. You don’t know how many chances you might have left to see it happen, after all.
Meanwhile, many fight fans and experts have been slowly coming around and giving Mosley more of a chance to win than they had previously. I’m not amongst those… I’m still certain that Mosley is facing steeper odds of winning than some of the long shot horses in the Kentucky Derby field, happening hours before the Pacquiao-Mosley fight, but I’ll be watching. Anything can happen in the boxing ring, and even when it’s the most predictable outcome (Pacquiao thrashing Mosley for 12 rounds to win via Unanimous Decision), it can still be worthwhile to watch. Factor in that Pacquiao and trainer Freddie Roach want to outdo Mayweather and score the KO, becoming the first to ever stop Mosley, and that Mosley is super-driven to prove the critics wrong, and well, there could be fireworks.
[Of course, fans that don’t want to pay to watch but that want to be kept in the loop of the entire event, can come back to ProBoxing-Fans.com Saturday night for our live round by round Pacquiao vs. Mosley results.]
So like a brainwashed consumer who finally goes to the store to buy a case of Miller Lite after seeing 47 commercials for it every day for a month, even though you might generally prefer to drink, let’s say, Stella Artois, and particularly if you’re paying the same price, I’ll be going to the television and buying the pay-per-view tomorrow night. I’ve heard enough, read enough and watched enough to be geared up for Pacquiao vs. Mosley. Even if it’s not a great fight, it’s a truly big event, and that creates a special aura that is hard to match and doesn’t come around very often, particularly in recent times in the sport of boxing.
