By Lem Satterfield
Newly-crowned southpaw WBA and WBO interim lightweight titlist Robert Guerrero is picking 39-year-old, five-time titlist, Shane Mosley, to pull a major upse by dethroning eight-division king, Manny Pacquiao, as WBO welterweight champion when they meet on May 7 at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas.
"I've got to go with Shane Mosley. Me and Shane Mosley are good friends, and I know that he's up there in Big Bear training really hard," said the 28-year-old Guerrero (29-1-1, 18 knockouts).
"This is Mosley's big opportunity to get back on top, and I just see him doing that. You know, I just like Shane Mosley," said Guerrero. "You know, he's a good fighter and we're good friends and I know how hard he works. And I think that he's out there in Big Bear getting ready, and I have to go with Shane in this one."
Now, before you call Guerrero crazy, take note of a certain fact.
Nearly three weeks ago, BoxingScene.com spoke to 10 of the sport's insiders concerning whom they believed would win the April 16 clash betwen then-WBC king Andre Berto and rising southpaw, former junior welterweight, Victor Ortiz.
By now, you know that Ortiz (29-2-2, 22 KOs) dethroned Berto (27-1 21 KOs) by unanimous decision in over the course of a 12-round, multiple-knockdown drag out brawl.
In victory, the 24-year-old Ortiz rose to 5-0-1, with three knockouts since being stopped by in the sixth round in June of 2009 by WBA interim titlist Marcos Rene Maidana (29-2, 27 KOs), who was dropped three times during a bout in which Ortiz hit the canvas twice.
Well, Guerrero was the lone panel member of the 10 to select Ortiz, who was coming off of a 10-round, majority draw opposite the 27-year-old Lamont Peterson (28-1-1, 14 KOs), despite having floored Peterson twice in the third round.
"You know, it's a pick-em fight, man. I just think that. You know, Andre Berto's got that speed, and he comes forward, and Victor Ortiz has been boxing really well. It's one of those fights where it can go either way," said Guerrero prior to the Ortiz-Berto fight.
"But if I pick one, I'll have to go with Vicor Ortiz because of his height," said Guerrero. "He's tough when he gets behind that jab, and if he stays behind it, you know, I believe that he can edge it out. So I'm saying that he will win the fight over 12 rounds."
Guerrero re-emphasized his logic for picking Berto to lose to Ortiz, whose heart and couraged were being questioned by experts entering their title bout.
"I saw that Ortiz was going to box Berto all the way down the stretch, because nobody had really been in Berto's face too much where they were able to give him movement and give him problems," said Guerrero. "With me being a left-hander like Ortiz, I knew that that was going to give Berto some trouble."
And what of Pacquiao-Mosley?
"You know, it's like I always say, there's always that one last fight in that old dog, and Shane Mosley is one of the guys that surprises everybody all of the time," said Guerrero.
"Everybody thought that he was shot before he knocked out Antonio Margarito, and he came out just explosive. I just feel that he's going to come out the same way -- very explosive and hungry and ready to go," said Guerrero. "You know, Manny Pacquiao is fast, and he hits hard, and uses his legs to get in and out. But I think that Mosley has great timing and a great jab, and that's what stops all of that."
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