Boxing News Thread

[heyzel]

Wladimir duck Haye?

Dave Lahr: Wladimir Klitschko had to have known that by choosing to fight Dereck Chisora in April, he would effectively be ruining the chance of his unification bout against WBA heavyweight champion David Haye. How could Wladimir not know that? By choosing the Chisora fight, Wladimir pretty much left Haye with no other choice but to scrap the idea of fighting Wladimir in July, because it would have required faith on Haye’s part that Wladimir would actually make the July 2nd date only two months after the Chisora fight.


With his retirement deadline coming up quick, Haye wasn’t willing to do that and I don’t blame him. Although Wladimir didn’t come out and say he doesn’t want to fight Haye, I think the Chisora fight pretty much amounts to the same thing. How can you take a fight with Chisora for what is really peanuts compared to the money he would make in the Haye fight if it puts that big mega fight in jeopardy?

If Wladimir didn’t understand that and didn’t do it intentionally in order to dodge the Haye fight, he should have realized it after Haye warned him not to do it. Wladimir ignored what Haye had to say and instead will go ahead and still fight Chisora. Now Haye is going in a different direction and will be facing Ruslan Chagaev, his number #1 WBA mandatory challenger, instead of fighting Wladimir on July 2nd. This all tells me that Wladmir, for whatever reason, didn’t want the fight with Haye.

Why else would Wladimir choose to fight Chisora for smaller money? I think Wladimir is afraid of the Haye fight after watching what he did to Audley Harrison recently. I guess I don’t blame Wladimir. You can’t defend against a fighter like Haye, because a huge portion of Wladimir’s game is based on clinching. Haye eats up fighters that try to clinch with him by just unloading on them with powerful shots each time they try to grab.

A huge part of Wladimir’s game would have been impacted if he chose to fight Haye, and I think he might have realized that. To fight Haye, it would have taken Wladimir years to change his entire fighting style around where he didn’t have to rely on clinching so much to shut down the offense of his oppponents. At 34, I think Wladimir can’t change his style and would have been knocked out by Haye.

 

[heyzel]

Hopkins: I want to wipe out all the Canadian fighters

By Dan Ambrose: 45-year-old Bernard Hopkins (51-5-2, 32 KO’s) is quite pleased about being given an immediate rematch against WBC light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal (26-1-1, 16 KO’s) by the World Boxing Council after fighting to a 12 round majority draw on December 18th. Hopkins was interviewed on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights and said that that if he beats Pascal in the rematch, he wants IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute next, saying “After I beat Pascal, I to go ahead and wipe out all the Canadian fighters.” So it looks like Hopkins is going after an entire country now instead of just one fighter. The problem is there isn’t much for Hopkins to wipe out in Canada besides Pascal and Bute.


If Hopkins does beat Pascal, which I’m not so sure of because Pascal will have fixed the mistakes he made in his fight with Hopkins, he should go ahead and fight Chad Dawson. That’s the fight that Hopkins should take, but he’s obviously angling for the money against Bute in Canada rather than facing Dawson in front of what would likely be a small crowd in the U.S and possibly getting beaten. Dawson is one of those types of fighters that Hopkins struggles against. He does good against fighters that don’t throw punches and let him work at a slow pace and don’t throw many jabs. That’s the mistake that Pascal made against Hopkins, but Dawson wouldn’t make that kind of mistake.

As far as Hopkins and Bute goes, that’s a fight that Hopkins would will lose. Bute is hard to hit because he moves a lot and has better power and offensive talent than Hopkins at this late stage in his career. It would be an interesting fight, but I can’t see Hopkins winning. The fight would have to take place in Canada, because it would draw over 10,000 easily over there.

In the U.S, it wouldn’t draw flies in comparison. I can see Bute beating Hopkins and then Hopkins protesting like he did in his loss to Joe Calzaghe and his draw with Pascal and claim he should have won. It’s one of those no-win fights because if you beat Hopkins, he won’t acknowledge it and will claim he should have won. Also, he’ll have the excuse that he’s 46-years-old and will be able to use that as crutch to explain away the loss. You never can win when you’re facing someone really old because if you beat them easily, then it’s no big deal because of their age. But if you struggle or get beaten, then you really look bad.

 

[heyzel]

Klitschko vs. Adamek likely to be shown on HBO

By Michael Lieberman: HBO president of Sports Ross Greenburg passed on one of IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko’s fights not long ago when he and his manager Bernd Boente proposed a fight between Klitschko and undefeated contender Alexander Povetkin. Greenburg made it clear then that he wasn’t interested in showing this fight, but he did leave open the door to show future fights between Klitschko and WBA heavyweight champion David Haye or Polish heavyweight Tomasz Adamek if those fighters were ever to happen.


Wladimir is now poised to fight the 34-year-old Adamek in September, and there’s already a lot of fan interest in this fight despite it being many months away. Greenburg may go for this fight and choose to show it to U.S. audiences, as long as Boente and Wladimir aren’t still nursing their hurt feelings about having the proposed Abraham fight rejected. There’s been talk that because HBO passed on this fight that Wladimir won’t let any of his future fights be shown on HBO.

Hopefully, Wladimir isn’t going to do something self defeating like hold a grudge against HBO and not let them show a fight that would ultimately benefit him if they’re allowed to show it. HBO likely won’t have any interest in Wladimir’s next fight against unbeaten British heavyweight Dereck Chisora on April 30th. On paper, that’s a fight that appears to be a hopeless mismatch for Wladimir, and hardcore boxing fans are already turned off on this fight. But that fight isn’t the important one. It’s the Adamek fight that’s going to be a great interest to fans.

HBO previously used to show many of Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko’s fights on their network, but do to the poor choice of opponents and the one-sided nature of the majority of the fights, fans were less than pleased with them and the ratings suffered. HBO, in the face of bad ratings, did the logical thing by discontinuing the airing of Wladimir’s bouts against opponents that had little chance to win. But they’ll likely be very interested in the Adamek fight because he’ll have a decent chance to win and has a lot of fan support in the U.S.

 

[heyzel]

Atlas talks why Arum chose 39-year-old Mosley for Pacquiao instead of Marquez

By Chris Williams: Television analyst/trainer Teddy Atlas chimed in on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights with why he felt Top Rank promoter Bob Arum hand picked the shot looking 39-year-old Shane Mosley as Manny Pacquiao’s next fight on May 7th.


Atlas pretty much said what many people already think about why Arum selected Mosley rather than someone that actually has an excellent chance of beating Pacquiao like Juan Manuel Marquez and WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez, saying “Look, it’s not personal, Bryan [Kenny], it;s business. Bob Arum is not going to fight anybody he doesn’t control both sides or where he can’t get options on. So, he’s gonna make sure that it;s always business in this case. And he’s gonna make sure that it’s a fighter that has name recognition. Yeah, I would rather see Juan Manuel Marquez, no doubts about it. he’s fought him two times. Both fights could be disputed where maybe Marquez could have won the fight, but it’s not gonna be. It’s gonna be a fight that Arum can control it. Where he can make sure that he is gonna be in control of all parts of it, all dimensions of it and where there’s name recognition. You walk into a store, you gonna buy Hershey;s chocolate or are you gonna buy Joe’s chocolate. Well you’re gonna buy Hershey’s. Joe’s might be great, but Hershey’s is recognizable.”

So by follwing Atlas’s thinking, in the case of Arum matching Pacquiao against his non-popular Top Rank stable fighters Antonio Margarito and Joshua Clottey in the past, this would mean that those fights happened because Arum controlled them because they were part of his stable. In other words, they didn’t need to be popular like Mosley in order to get a fight with Pacquiao, they got the fight because they were part of Arum’s stable. It’s too bad that Pacquiao isn’t put in with fighters that actually have a chance to beat him instead of being matched just by the basis of either name value or being controlled by Arum. It’s disappointing not to see Pacquiao in with Marquez and Martinez, two fighters that I feel would beat him but can’t get a fight with him.

 

[heyzel]

Haye furious with Wladimir, says “I’m not going to extend my career” to fight him

Dan Ambrose: WBA heavyweight champion David Haye (25-1, 23 KO’s) is irate about IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (55-3, 49 KO’s) choosing to fight British heavyweight champion Dereck Chisora (14-0, 9 KO’s) on April 30th rather than wait around a little longer and meet him for a huge money fight on July 2nd in Germany. Haye believes Wladimir did that because he doesn’t want to fight him and was just looking for an opportunity to get out of the proposed fight.


In an article at the dailystar.co.uK, Haye said “I’m not going to extend my career Wladimir. By him not signing to fight me, I have to now fight Ruslan Chagaev. Wladimir was putting up so many hurdles for us to clear but when I agreed to them all, he comes out and says he’s fighting Chisora next. He genuinely doesn’t want to fight me.” Haye plans on retiring at the end of the year when he turns 31 in October.

Haye really doesn’t like the idea of fighting the southpaw Chagaev, who is plenty tough and has the skills to really test Haye’s chin. This is a fight that Haye would much prefer to avoid, because there is no guarantee that Haye can win this fight. The bad thing is if Haye loses to Chagaev, then a fight against Wladimir or his brother WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko is finished.

Haye especially wants to fight Wladimir rather than his brother Vitali. Obviously Haye likes his chances against Wladimir rather than Vitali, as he’s got the weaker chin and Haye would at least have a chance to beat him unlike with the much stronger chinned Vitali.

Haye continues to lash out at Wladimir, saying “Wladimir hasn’t fought anyone. There’s no recognizable names on his record. They are ruining the sport because of the way they pick and choose who they fight. He will do down in history as being a coward.”

Haye is hoping to shame Wladimir into changing his mind about the Chisora fight and instead choosing to fight him. It’s perhaps too late for that, though. Wladimir is already signed to fight Chisora and he probably won’t back out of that fight with another injury.

 

[Tragedy]

teddy atlas is a smart guy talks too much and has been wrong in the past with pac / opponent predictions more than once maybe even more than 3! but i always said it i do want to see pac fight marquez for the third time.

mosley is shot. guess it's another retirement in the future.

 

[heyzel]

Team Pacquiao Expect 1 Million Buys, $15 Mill For Mosley

By Mark Vester

In a recent interview with The Philippine Star, Manny Pacquiao's chief-of-staff and attorney, Franklin Gacal, said that he expects Pacquiao to get no less than $15 million (P660 million) for his May 7 showdown with Shane Mosley. He also expects the pay-per-view to generate at least 1 million of more purchases.

In his last five fights, Pacquiao has made $68 million on paper. For Oscar De La Hoya it was $15 million guaranteed, Ricky Hatton ($13 million), Miguel Cotto ($13 million), Joshua Clottey ($12 million) and Margarito ($15 million).

As far as the pay-per-view buys, 1.25 million for De La Hoya, 850,000 for Hatton, 1.25 million for Cotto, 700,000 for Clottey and 1.15 million for Margarito.

 

[heyzel]

Wladimir says Haye won’t fight Vitali

By William Mackay: IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko is amused by the fact that WBA heavyweight champion David Haye is unwilling to fight his older brother WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko for some reason. With Wladimir unavailable to fight Haye now that Wladimir is lookint to fight Dereck Chisora on April 30th and Tomasz Adamek in September, Haye isn’t showing interest in fighting Vitali, the Klitschko brother with the better chance of being free for Haye during 2011.


In Dan Rafael’s spoke on this subject in his twitter earlier today, saying “One thing Wlad reminded me about was that Ducker [Haye] would not fight Vitali. Was not willing. Only would fight Wladimir.” This makes me wonder whether Haye was ever serious about wanting to fight both of the Klitschko brothers before retiring. I always had a feeling that Haye was only interested in fighting Wladimir, and that if push came to shove, he would come up with an excuse for why he couldn’t fight Vitali. With Wladimir now off the table and no other good money fights available, Haye’s feelings about not wanting to fight Vitali are looking pretty obvious now with him not even mentioning Vitali’s name and instead talking about fighting the less the popular Ruslan Chagaev.

It looks like Haye wants no part of having to tangle with the steel-chinned Vitali, and that’s interesting to see Haye clearly avoiding him. Wladimir certainly has noticed it and he must be having a good laugh about it with Vitali. At 39, you would think that Vitali would be old enough for Haye to feel good about his chances of beating him. But evidently Haye doesn’t like his chances because he’s not saying a word about Vitali.

 

[heyzel]

What does Andre Berto have to do to prove himself in 2011?

Alex Aviles: My first real exposure to Andre Berto (27-0, 21 KO’s)was in June 2008 on HBO’s Boxing After Dark card where he won the vacated WBC Welterweight title, since then Berto has been on the rise to stardom… and is still on the rise nearly 3 years later. His most notable victory comes off the very close (yet controversial) decision versus Luis Collazo. The opportunity for stardom was inevitable and a shot against a world renowned fighter was on the horizon. After defeating Juan Urango in May 2009, the stage was set for him to face “Sugar” Shane Mosley. Ultimately, the bout set for January 2010 fell through after a massive earthquake had hit the country of Haiti just 2 weeks prior of the fight, forcing Berto to pull out due to emergency stemming from the earthquake.


Since then Berto has had 2 fights. One a TKO victory over Carlos Quintana and most recently a first round KO over Freddy Hernandez. Boxing fans have pondered ever since “When is Andre Berto going to have his coming out party”. In other words, when is Berto going to have his first ‘big name’ fight? He has been very vocal at attempting to land a big fight with Manny Pacquiao, which subsequently went to Shane Mosley. Berto’s promoter Lou DiBella has been trying to get Berto that first big fight and pay day ever since the offer to fight Miguel Cotto, which Top Rank declined.

So what does Berto need to do to prove himself to the boxing community in 2011? With Mosley, Pacquiao, Cotto booked,Top Ranks refusal to co-promote, and with Mayweather’s legal troubles, the only options are in the 140lb division. The likes of Khan, Maidana, Bradley, Alexander, and Ortiz leave Berto no shortage of possibilities at Junior Welterweight. The fights would generate immediate interest among boxing fans, and will help gain the respect that Andre Berto so desperately needs at this point in his career. While still young at age 27, he is probably the most ready he’s ever been for that defining moment. But for now the question will remain of what does Andre Berto need to earn the respect of his fans and peers

 

[2-0-Sixx]

And what does Andre Berto do? Looks like he's going to fight Randall Bailey.

Bailey is cool and all that he has true one punch knock out power, problem is his chin is made out of china.

2011 was supposed to be the year that WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto (27-0, 21 KO’s) would finally start taking on some credible opponents so that he could become a more marketable fighter after having spent the past two years fighting smaller light welterweights and fluff welterweights when defending his World Boxing Council title.

But it now looks like Berto may be delaying his fights against the bigger named fighters to take on another fluff opponent in 36-year-old Randall Bailey (41-7, 36 KO’s). According to the latest news, Bailey is being strongly considered as an opponent for the 27-year-old Berto’s next fight.

If this was a fight that Berto had taken a couple of years ago when Berto first captured the WBC title against Miguel Angel Rodriguez, then fight fans would surely have looked the other way. However, Berto has done nothing but take on beatable fighters since capturing his title and Bailey is more of the same of what Berto has been facing.​

http://www.boxingnews24.com/2011/01/berto-could-be-facing-36-year-old-randall-bailey-next/

 

[Rumpelstiltskin]

Hopkins is willing to fight anyone.

I remember when almost all fighters were like that.

Now these fighters are a rare and dying breed.

 

[Lamberto Quintero]

Hop is probably down to fight both Klitschko's at the same time...

 

[2-0-Sixx]

^^Not too far off, remember hopkins was trying to fight David Haye after he beat roy jones, but Haye turned him down. He also tried to fight Adamek prior to that.

 

[2-0-Sixx]

Looks like Floyd is about to get kicked out of his own house

 

[heyzel]

Bob Arum, Don King, Ready To Renew Rivalry in New York

By Michael Marley

Maybe, by joining formidable forces, they can deliver Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao, the super fight the world is getting tired of waiting for.

Or maybe not.

But what I do know is that Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey will be hard pressed to outdo the "Sunshine Boys"--79 year olds Don King and Bob Arum--as they mix it up starting Thursday morning here in Times Square with what may be their final co-venture.

Who's fighting, where are they fighting?

Come on, who cares?

Does it really mean anything with the Hertz & Avis of boxing, the dominant promoter over 40-plus years, boxing's Twin Towers, merging for a co-promoter that both King and Arum, in separate converdations Monday night, both told me would be "a circus."

The event date is March 12 and Uncle Bob and Uncle Don will be appearing at BB King's Thursday morning to hype it up...as only they can, the "Only In America" legend who came out of an Ohio prison and the Harvard Law grad known for saying "yesterday I was lying but today I am telling the truth."

BB King's musical boite will be the venue as they publicize a March 12 boxing show at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas where the main go will feature Arum's redoubtable Puerto Rican, Miguel Cotto, and King's whack job Nicaraguan, Ricardo Mayorga..

But, wait, there is more, Arum informed me.

"We got Christy Martin, just stabbed by her crazy husband, and her attorney, Gloria Allred. And we've got the rabbi to be, Yuri Foreman. And we've got the Polish kid, Pawel Wolak. This is a real circus."

A real circus, indeed, with two master organ grinders.

Boxing's true King and Lonesome Bob as DK calls him....

I, for one, cannot wait.

 

[heyzel]

Audley Harrison to find out today if the BBBofC will withhold his purse from Haye bou

By Sean McDaniel: 39-year-old former 2000 Olympic Gold Medalist Audley Harrison (27-5, 20 KO’s) is expected to get the good or bad news about the fate of his £1.5million purse from the November 13th fiasco with World Boxing Association (WBA) heavyweight champion David Haye.


Harrison, for whatever reason, decided not to throw any punches for the three rounds of the fight other than one jab. Why Harrison failed to throw one meaningful punch is the big mystery.

The British Boxing Board of Control will be meeting on today to determine wither to withhold all or a portion of Harrison’s winnings for the fight based on his non-effort, according to fight news. Harrison will be at the meeting to answer questions that the BBBofC might have for him about the fight.

It was one of the oddest heavyweight title fights in memory, as not only did Harrison not throw punches, but Haye did little as well until the 3rd. Both fighters looked petrified for the most part and it was absolutely painful to watch. Finally, Haye landed a right hand that stunned Harrison in the 3rd. Haye then let loose with a stream of shots that had Harrison staggering around. The fight was then quickly stopped before Harrison could get really hurt.

It’s hard to imagine that the British Board of Controls will withhold Harrison’s purse, because the whole tempo of the fight was basically two guys petrified by fear and unable to pull the trigger. If they take Harrison’s purse, they might as well withhold Haye’s as well, because he didn’t do anything either until the 3rd round. And after the fight, Haye bragged about having bet on taking Harrison out in the 3rd.

 

[heyzel]

Cintron says Berto is like a little girl

By Dan Ambrose: Former IBF welterweight champion Kermit Cintron (32-3-1, 28 KO’s) is very interested in fighting WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto (27-0, 21 KO’s) next. The only problem is Berto is totally uninterested in taking the dangerous fight and is instead looking to take on 36-year-old Randall Bailey next. Cintron, 31, is looking to get back in the ring after having been out of action since his 4th round technical decision loss to Paul Williams in May 2010. Berto, with unbeaten record, would be perfect for Cintron to get back winning and opening the eyes of doubtful fans.


In an interview Greg Leon at boxingtalk.com, Cintron said this about Berto: “I read today that Berto is considering Randall Bailey as an opponent. Typical Andrea Berto. He’s like a little girl that runs and hides behind his mommy…I met with HBO. HBO wants to make the fight. I obviously want to make the fight.”

Unfortunately, Berto doesn’t want to make the fight with Cintron, because it’s looking like Berto is going to take for the safer pick against Bailey, whos’s fought the vast majority of his career as a light welterweight and only recently moved up to the welterweight division. Berto, 5’8″, seems to like to take on light welterweights because since he captured the World Boxing Council title in 2008, he’s defended his title twice against light welterweights.

Although Bailey is technically a welterweight now, he’s more like a light welterweight than one of the bigger welterweights. Berto would likely have his way against Bailey. Cintron, however, would be a big test for Berto and would be a big threat because of his power and 5’11″ height. Cintron would be making contact with Berto and with his power, he would have Berto under duress. It would be the first opponent that Berto has faced with any kind of power since he picked up the WBC strap against Miguel Angel Rodriguez.

Share and Enjoy:

 

[heyzel]

Vitali Klitschko vs. Odlanier Solis a done deal for 3/19 – contracts signed

By Jim Dower: The fight between WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko (41-2, 38 KO’s) and unbeaten challenger Odlanier Solis (17-0, 12 KO’s) is now a done deal, as the contracts have reportedly been “signed, sealed and delivered,” according to news from Dan Rafael of ESPN. The fight, which will be the 39-year-old Vitali’s sixth title defense of his World Boxing Council belt, will be taking place at the Lanxess-Arena, in Cologne, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. Vitali recently gave a horrible beating to 38-year-old Shannon Briggs in a 12 round decision win in October 2010.


Vitali was hoping to get a bigger name than just the unbeaten Solis, but Solis wasn’t interested in stepping aside while Vitali looked for greener pastures. Solis recently defeated Ray Austin by a 10th round disqualification bout on December 17th in the WBC heavyweight eliminator fight to get to the mandatory position to face Vitali. At 6’1 1/2″ 260 pounds, Solis is going to have major problems landing his shots against the towering 6’7″ Vitali.

Although Solis was able to land effectively against the 6’6″ Austin in his last fight, Austin fought in an upright manner and was throwing the weakest of jabs and right hands. Solis had nothing to fear from Austin and was able to plod forward and throw combinations whenever he pleased without having to worry about getting hit with anything significant. Against Vitali, Solis will have an extremely difficult time landing to the head because of Vitali’s style of leaning backwards when incoming shots are fired his way.

Solis can always work Vitali’s body, but to get close enough to land with any consistency, Solis is going to have to eat a lot of left hooks and right hands to the head. A fighter can only take so many of those shots without swelling up and cutting. Solis is going to have some problems unless he decides to play it safe and hang around on the outside to keep from getting hit so much. Either way, he’s going to have problems with Vitali’s size, strength and defense.

Share and

 

[2-0-Sixx]

LMAO @ Cintron calling Berto "Andrea Berto" and says he pisses sitting down etc!



CINTRON CONTINUES TO BARRAGE BERTO
By G. Leon


Former welterweight champion Kermit Cintron sent Boxing talk com the following via email:

"I read today that Berto is considering Randal Bailey as an opponent. Typical Andrea Berto. He's like a little girl that runs and hides behind his mommy. That what he does with Al Haymon. Look G, what is going on here is so simple. I was in New York last week. I met with HBO. HBO wants to make the fight. I obviously want to make the fight. The only thing standing in the way of this is Al Haymon and the fact that Berto isn't man enough to run his own career and fight the best competition. Haymon is afraid of my power and he is protecting Andrea and that is what our side is being told. The fans deserve better than this from a so called "champion." And Andrea Berto claims to be his own man, but all he does is hide behind his advisor. People can say whatever they want about me, but one thing everyone has to admit is that I will always step up to the plate and fight. I told my advisors Josh Dubin and J Prince that I only want to fight the best.

My record speaks for itself. When they put Alfredo Angulo in front of me for bs money, I said bring his ass on! He was undefeated and supposedly the next big thing and look what happened. This kid Berto is just getting ridiculous. He can respond to this by calling me names, but h can never face the facts because he knows deep down that he is hiding behind his management and I am the only fight that makes sense for him right now. What do you think HBO will pay more for, Berto against me or against Bailey. The fans should demand for their champions to fight the best available opponent. I WANT BERTO. I mean, does he piss standing up or sitting down? Again, this is so simple. All he has to do is be man enough to say to Al Haymon, "Stop trying to put me in there with guys that are safe fights that the fans don't want to see. I want Cintron." He does that, and the fight is made, 1, 2, 3. "

 

[heyzel]

Pacquiao's Adviser Fires Back at Mosley Fight Critics

By Lem Satterfield

Since the day the fight was announced, WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao has been attacked by critics who don't agree with his decision to face "Sugar" Shane Mosley on May 7 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Pacquiao (52-3-2, 38 KOs) is considered a heavy favorite over Mosley (46-6-1, 39 KOs), who observers consider Mosley to be over the hill.

Mosley did not look good in his past two fights, May's lopsided decision loss to Floyd Mayweather (41-0, 25 KOs), and, September's split-decision draw with ex-champion, Sergio Mora (21-1-1, six KOs) that was contested at 154 pounds. Regardless, he was selected over the other two considerations, Andre Berto and Juan Manuel Marquez.

"Again, who cares? I'm not too concerned, and nor is Manny, because, we want to do two things -- and when I say, 'we,' I'm speaking for Manny. "No. 1, we want to entertain the fans, because that's of the utmost importance to Manny. No. 2, we want to generate a paycheck, because that's his living," said Koncz.

"Out of the three names that we were giving, this was the best, overall opponent that we could get. Bob Arum never forces anything on us. He gives us options, and then, it's our decision on what we do."

Koncz lashed out at those whom he believes are denigrating Mosley's credentials and, by extension, Pacquiao's accomplishments. Like Roach, Koncz sees Mosley as a very dangerous opponent in the early rounds.

"I mean, what's wrong with Mosley? Mosley is a very talented fighter who has got power in both hands. I mean, when you look at it, Manny has done nothing but taken on larger opponents ever since he fought Oscar De La Hoya, and it has taken the toll at times," said Koncz. "Shane Mosley damn near knocked out Floyd Mayweather. I think that during rounds one through round five, Mosley is a very, very dangerous opponent