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By Jun Medina, Special Correspondent
FORMER four division champion Roy Jones Jr. has a word of advice for
pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao: stay away from welterweight
standouts Shane Mosley and Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Jones, the pound-for-pound best boxer in the
world for most of the 90s, thinks it is not even fair to pit
Pacquiao against Mosley or Mayweather because they are not only
bigger than him but also faster and stronger.
“I love Pacquiao as a fighter,” Jones told
KFXX, Portland’s all sports station. “I don’t really think
[about] size. These guys [Mosley and Mayweather] are a little bit
faster and bigger.”
Jones, who holds the distinction as only the
second middleweight in history to win the world heavyweight title,
said he thinks Pacquiao would lose to either Mayweather or Mosley.
“To me it’s not really a fair situation to
put him [Pacquiao] in [the ring against Mayweather or Mosley],”
Jones said.
Pacquiao, who has endeared himself to global
boxing fans because he dares to fight the very best in the sport,
said the size factor does not bother him and that he would fight
Mosley or Mayweather anytime.
This writer asked Pacquiao if he would consider
fighting Mosley, who has been calling out him out even before the
Filipino icon ‘s second-round destruction of unbeaten junior
welterweight champ Ricky Hatton on May 2.
Pacquiao, 30, calmly said he would be delighted
to fight the World Boxing Council titlist, who is considered the
best in the star-studded welterweight division.
Reminded about Mosley’s size advantage over
him, Pacquiao said with a smile, “Pareho lang yan [It doesn’t
matter].”
For his next fight, Pacquiao (49-3-2, 37
knockouts) is being groomed to face World Boxing Organization
welterweight champion Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico, according to
Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank.
Cotto (34-1, 27 KOs) successfully defended his
WBO title on Saturday via a hard-fought, split decision against the
rugged Joshua Clottey from Ghana.
Arum said he hopes to be able to work out the
terms of Pacquiao-Cotto tentatively scheduled for November 14 at the
MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas.
Arum, who also promotes Cotto, said among the
terms he hopes to finalize within a week are the catch-weight and
the purse split.
Team Pacquiao wants a 142 to 144 pound weight
limit to minimize the built-in advantage of Cotto, a natural
welterweight.
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