MANILA, Philippines — Never at a loss for peppery quotes, trainer Naazim Richardson likens the upcoming world welterweight war between Manny Pacquiao and his guy Shane Mosley to a long-distance race.
“This is a marathon, its’ not a sprint. It’s not about who runs out the fastest. It’s gonna be who’s gonna finish up the proper way,” said Richardson, sounding upbeat that Mosley will outlast the seemingly-unstoppable Filipino star in their scheduled 12-rounder on May 7 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Despite the huge odds stacked against Mosley, the 39-year-old puncher insists he still has a lot of fight left in him as he revs up for his last chance at the bigtime since a loss would send him spiraling to the embarrassing level of a has-been.
Holed up in Big Bear, a high-altitude training camp around 100 miles from Los Angeles since early-March, Mosley has done nothing the past seven weeks but eat and breathe Pacquiao, something that has injected a sense of heavy optimism in his camp.
While Richardson remains tightlipped about their chances as he once praised Pacquiao to the high heavens as though Mosley will have to come up the ring with a crowbar that he will use to whack Pacquiao, Mosley sounds a bit more certain that he will “shock the world” next month.
“He hasn’t fought somebody like me,” said Mosley, who, even at his age, remains a livewire opponent owing to his vast experience, fast hands, punching power and durability.
To prepare for a best-conditioned and well-motivated Mosley, Pacquiao has also been doing his share in making sure he gets to keep his hold not only on the World Boxing Organization 147-lb title belt but on the mythical title--and most significant--of being the world’s pound-for-pound king.
Trainer Freddie Roach said this camp is the best and that he is looking forward to seeing Pacquiao become the first fighter to stop the iron-chinned Mosley.
Source: mb.com.ph
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