MANILA–This will sound odd, but there’s the distinct possibility of Shane Mosley clashing with another foe—other than Manny Pacquiao—at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas today.
Mosley will already have his hands full against the fire-breathing whirlwind puncher from the Philippines.
But if the bout pushes past, say, the sixth or seventh round, Mosley will most likely also be dealing with a second silent, if more menacing, opponent.
Actually, Mosley has been trumpeting how he would shock the world with an upset win over Pacquiao.
But at the same time, the 39-year-old future Hall of Famer has been very vague on how he would create a major upheaval.
For Mosley to score an upset, he should be able to deceive and push Pacquiao onto the wrong path, short of blindfolding him en route to unfamiliar territory, before shoving the Filipino superhero off a deathly cliff.
Mosley has also hinted at outracing the legendary Filipino fleet-foot; although there’s the strong likelihood this part of the World Boxing Organization welterweight title clash will slip into a ho-hum contest between a blazing sprinter and a weather-beaten long-distance runner.
Of course, the biggest promise at MGM Grand today is that of an early explosion, an extremely exciting firefight that should go into the record books as one of the most dramatic jump-offs in boxing history.
This is also the part when Mosley will most likely try to land his much-talked-about right shot.
Either Mosley sends Pacquiao to queer street or the Pacman clips and dumps him.
It’s like this: If the fight enters the second half with no major damage to either party, Mosley’s plot for a reversal could be snarled by a gang of invisible rodents, otherwise known as The Years.
This inescapable menace has been called many names.
But in boxing, it’s openly identified as Father Time and it, more often than not, gnaws at an aging fighter’s anatomy, mainly the rusty knees, in the twilight moments of both bout and career.
Still, it’s worth listening to what Mosley’s chief trainer, Naazim Richardson, has been claiming. The extra years, he said, give his fighter an edge in experience and deeper ring craft.
The trainer said people also tend to forget and overlook Mosley’s high boxing IQ.
However, the trainer was not asked and therefore failed to inform if Mosley could indeed deliver shock punches big as the ones absorbed and survived by Pacquiao against Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito, to name only two hoodlum tests.
Unhappily for Mosley, it may have come to a point when it will no longer be a matter of how wiser and sharper he is.
If the fight pushes late, there’s that distinct possibility that the second menace, Father Time, will also enter the ring.
By this time, it should no longer be a question of how much Mosley can deliver, but how much his aging body can take.
Yes, Mosley can still swing it and shame both Pacquiao and Father Time.
But in order to do this, Mosley would need the miracle of a second boyhood to at least finish in one piece against boxing’s certified miracle man.