BOXING promoter Bob Arum must be grinning from ear to ear these days.
Tickets for the Manny Pacquiao-Shane Mosley fight on May 7 are disappearing faster than the sport utility vehicles in Quezon City. Officially, tickets for the fight became available on January 31. Between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. of the same day, a total of 16,000 tickets were gobbled up. Arum, the head honcho of Top Rank Promotions, which is promoting the fight, estimates that barely 1,000 tickets remain for the fight, which will be held at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
That the fight is on its way to becoming a huge box-office success is a virtual jab at the faces of critics who had earlier mocked the choice of Mosley as Pacquiao’s latest foe. One writer from the website Yahoo! even went as far as labeling the fight as “pure garbage.” Well, as my neighbor who owns a junkshop once said: “There is gold in garbage.”
When Arum first announced that Pacquiao-Mosley was a done deal, this deadline-beater concurred with the opinion of the majority that Arum could have come up with a better pair. I did say, however, that considering the politics involved in boxing, Pacquiao-Mosley was the only fight that could be made at this time.
Mosley, 39, is arguably a battle-scarred ring general looking for one hefty “pabaon.” He is getting just that for the Pacquiao fight, but the proud warrior in Mosley is hell-bent on going out with a bang.
Mosley had looked shopworn in his last two fights. On May 1, he rocked Floyd Mayweather Jr. early in their fight but faded terribly down the stretch to drop a lopsided decision. On September 18, Mosley barely escaped defeat with a 12-round draw against Sergio Mora. After the fight with Mora, there were calls from some quarters for Mosley to call it a day.
There is no doubting the fact that Mosley, an 18-year veteran, has seen better days. Then again, there is also reason to believe that he still has what it takes to put up, at the very least, a competitive showing against Pacquiao.
Mosley (46-6, 39 knockouts) no longer has the legs to keep up with fleet-footed boxers and this is why he struggled big time against known hit-and-run artists Mayweather and Mora. Pacquiao, however, is far from being a boxer-cum-ballerina. The “PacMan” stands his ground in the ring and is all too willing to trade bombs at close range. Styles make fights in boxing and with Mosley and Pacquiao both favoring nose-to-nose combat, an exciting hum-dinger appears to be in store. This is the reason why boxing fans still bought tickets for the fight. While only a few expect Mosley to win, experts believe the American has a puncher’s chance. It is also worth noting that Mosley has a good batting average against sluggers, having knocked out the likes of Fernando Vargas, Ricardo Mayorga and Antonio Margarito. Fight fans are also wondering if Pacquiao’s hammer-like fists can reduce into rubble the brick jaw of Mosley, who has never been knocked out in 53 professional bouts.
Pacquiao-Mosley is far from being a dream showdown, but it is still a fight that figures to keep everybody awake until the final bell.
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For comments, the writer can be reached at atty_eduardo@ yahoo.com
