By Chris Robinson
It's hard to state how disappointing the Manny Pacquiao-Shane Mosley bout last weekend really was. Outside of a knockdown by Pacquiao in the third round and a knockdown by Shane in the tenth, which really was a push after further review, there was little to hold on to in terms of suspense or drama from rounds one through twelve.
But the general consensus has seen nearly all of the blame fall on Mosley, who was more content to backpedal than engage after absorbing that knockdown in round three. Pacquiao wasn't scintillating by any means but he won nearly every round and was still aggressive while forcing what little action there was to be had.
But one man who isn't so quick to let Pacquiao off the hook is Las Vegas-based trainer Jeff Mayweather, who has seen his family connected to the Filipino superstar the past few years because of the intrigue of a fight between him and Floyd Mayweather Jr. Giving his assessment of the fight, Jeff didn't exactly have any rave reviews.
"Well I thought the fight was very boring," said Mayweather. "The fight could have been better if Shane was willing to take chances but it seemed like once he got dropped he went strictly into survival mode and become way too friendly. I didn't understand that at all. Both fighters, before every round, touched gloves. After every round they touched gloves. And I already knew in the 12th round they was gonna hug each other like they were best friends. It didn't make for a good fight when two guys are getting paid that kind of money and they are that friendly as though they really don't want to hurt one another."
As for his criticisms towards Pacquiao, Mayweather definitely had a few things he wanted to get off of his chest.
"I mean, Manny took chances but more or less he exposed himself," Jeff continued. "He's so one-dimensional it's ridiculous. And when he got really aggression he threw a hook, left-hand, hook, left-hand. Nothing else. That was the only thing that he did. Occasionally he would throw a body shot but it was so rare. And he couldn't hardly even hit Shane."
To most observers a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight is extremely hard to predict given the multitude of gifts that each man brings into the ring and the contrast of styles that would be on display. Figures to be an intriguing matchup but Jeff speaks brazenly when calling for a routine night's worth of work for Floyd if the fight ever comes off.
"Believe me, if Pacquiao fights like that he has no chance at all. Zero chance. I mean, first of all, he couldn't hit Mosley and Mosley isn't a great defensive fighter. And then, secondly, there were so many times that Mosley could have countered him. He was wide open but Mosley was so caught up in surviving he didn't take no chance. With the speed and timing that Floyd has, and the defense that he has, if he couldn't hit Mosley he sure aint going to hit Floyd, so I see a easy fight for Floyd," Mayweather boldly predicted.
Hearing his words, the Pacquiao faithful would be quick to call Jeff a hater but truth be told he does have other things on his mind at the time. At the moment he has been training with his chief fighter and former super bantamweight champion Celestino Caballero and will be heading to Panama later this month to finish up camp before venturing to Argentina for their challenge of WBA featherweight champion Jonathan Barros on June 17th.
Caballero is coming off of a shocking upset loss to Jason Litzau this past November but Mayweather says that 'Pelenchin' is once again looking in rare form.
"I'm excited. I'm leaving for Panama May 21st. This time we understand about not overtraining and all the other things we aren't doing this time. We haven't really bee sparring much, just trying to maintain his weight and get him to a good spot with his weight. He's back to the old Celestino and I'm looking forward to him becoming a champion again."