Pacquiao-Mosley press tour, still void of any trash talk, rolls on to New York

The May 7th Manny Pacquiao-Shane Mosley fight is somewhat of a tough sell on several fronts, especially considering the modest nature of the two prizefighters at hand. Pacquiao will defend his WBO welterweight crown against the former three-division champion from Pomona, California at the MGM Grand in a fight that is a little more intriguing than some are giving it credit for.

After stops in Los Angeles on Thursday and Las Vegas on Saturday, the press tour rolled on to New York today. The first two legs of the tour hadn't exactly been scintillating in terms of verbal warfare, something that Pacquiao seems to appreciate as he heads into his 58th bout as a professional.

"I really admire Team Mosley because this is my first time to encounter a fighter who is not talking trash," Pacquiao would state.

These days it seems that several people have taken barbs at Pacquiao, as recently Floyd Mayweather Jr. went onto his Twitter and Facebook accounts and posted Youtube videos of the fighter's three professional losses, to Rustico Torrecampo, Medgoen Singsurat, and Erik Morales, respectively. Mayweather also boasted of his 41-0 record on the two social networking sites, a sign that his unblemished record prevails over anything his rival has accomplished.

Juan Manuel Marquez has been another ardent Pacquiao critic, seeming to say anything and everything in hopes of landing a third fight with his Filipino rival. And of course there was Bernard Hopkins who recently claimed that Pacquiao had yet to fighter an Africa-American fighter with a 'slick' style. Add on to it the constant, unproven PED accusations against Pacquiao and it's obvious to see he has a nice little group of people with their fingers crossed, hoping for his ring demise.

So as we continue on with the Pacquiao-Mosley press tour, perhaps a lack of drama is good at this point. Mosley's trainer Naazim Richardson flew in for the contest from Germany, where he was leading his charge, IBF cruiserweight champion Steve Cunningham, to a victory over Enad Licina, and was completely realistic about the challenge that lies ahead.

Richardson hinted that anyone who says that Pacquiao is small is obviously delusional, as it is similar to comparing Mike Tyson to a small heavyweight. Richardson also noted that if anyone in his camp tries to dismiss the challenge of the fighting Congressman then they will be given a ticket home.

In a funny note, Richardson seemed to save much of his verbal venom for a late December conversation with me in regards to the Pacquiao-Mosley fight. During our talk Richardson opened up about Shane's chances, even stating that no excuses will be needed when his fighter brutally smashes Pacquiao. Click the link below to hear all of Richardson's thoughts.

Another side note to today's Valentines presser was the fact that Pacquiao's wife Jinkee received a special Valentine's Cake from TLC's world renown 'Cake Boss' Buddy Valastro. Manny helped give the cake to his lovely wife as the couple shared a special kiss as well.

Not much in terms of animosity but love is definitely in the air. The Pacquiao-Mosley express continues tomorrow with a stop in Washington, D.C.

Source: Examiner.com