Tweet
Shane mosley: "pacquiao is a real welterweight...i'll fight him in april"
"I thought he looked good. I thought he threw a lot of combinations and he got Cotto to press him a little bit and caught him with that little left uppercut/hook that he does and surprised Cotto...He's a welterweight! He's even got the welterweight power. He's hitting guys and knocking them down so you have to be careful...they thought he was a little guy, but now that myth is over with. There's no more little guy; this is a real welterweight so you gotta treat him as such," stated welterweight champion Shane Mosley, who was thoroughly impressed with Manny Pacquiao's performance in his 12th round TKO victory over Miguel Cotto. Even though Mosley is currently scheduled to face Andre Berto on January 30th, he couldn't help but to look past that fight at a potential action-packed showdown with the Filipino icon. Check out what else he had to say about Pacquiao's performance, what he and Floyd Sr. discussed during the fight, his thoughts on a possible clash with Mayweather Jr. and much more.
BT: I know you were ringside at the fight this past Saturday. You just said Pacquiao made a believer out of you, so what did you think of his performance?
SM: I thought he looked good. I thought he threw a lot of combinations and he got Cotto to press him a little bit and caught him with that little left uppercut/hook that he does and surprised Cotto. Cotto was like, "Okay, the guy can punch. The rumors are true." You know (laughing)?
BT: (Laughing) Before the fight, I know you really wanted to get that fight and were even willing to go down to 140, but did you imagine before he fought Cotto that he would be able to bully, dominate and stop Cotto like that?
SM: I really couldn't imagine that. I thought that he would be much too small, but like I said, he made a believer out of me. The cat's out of the bag. You can't say, "Oh, he's a little lightweight" anymore. He's a welterweight! He's even got the welterweight power. He's hitting guys and knocking them down so you have to be careful. I won't be going in there with my chin first. I'll be fighting him like a big man, like I was fighting Winky Wright or somebody; somebody big.
BT: I was going to ask you if you thought he was a legitimate welterweight or if you though he'd be better off staying at 140. He looks pretty solid at 147 to me.
SM: He's solid at 147. He'd probably be even better at 140, but at 47, he's looking for history. Now, the only thing left for him to do is to fight the best welterweight. I mean, Mayweather doesn't even have a title. He doesn't even have a world title or anything. He's just fighting him just for hype. He's fighting him for nothing.
BT: It seems like a lot of guys just underestimate his size. I mean, you know a lot about weightlifting. Is it just me or does Manny look like he has bodybuilder legs? Cotto's legs looked like toothpicks compared to his. Do you think the fact that he carries a lot of his weight in his legs is the reason why guys are thinking he's a smaller man, but are shocked to find out that he punches like a middleweight?
SM: I think so. I mean, that's just genetics. He carries his weight in his legs, which is beneficial to him to be able to generate all that power off that back leg. The way he throws them punches, it's harder than what it seems. It looks like he's just throwing a lot of shots, but he uses his legs very well to push off the ground and get the proper leverage on the shots.
BT: I saw you were sitting next to Big Floyd during the bout. Did you guys speak at all about Pacquiao's performance or his son?
SM: Yeah, I asked him, "What are you thinking?" Floyd Sr. was like, "Man, that guy is on something. There's no way in the world he's going to be walking back a big man like that." I was like, "Well, I mean, he's doing his thing so I don't know what to say about that." I mean, I don't think so, but, you know, genetically, some people are stronger than others. Genetically, he has power in his legs. Genetically, I'm physically stronger than a lot of people. Some people have gifts in different areas and he's using his gift that he has in his legs and I use the gift that I have in my upper body.
BT: Was he impressed at all with Manny?
SM: Well, I wouldn't say that he was impressed. He was kind of, you know…you know what, he was impressed, but he was like there's no way he could do what he does coming from 106 to 147 and walking down a big man like Cotto that normally walks down those guys. He just couldn't see that. It was too much. He was like that's too much for a little man to just start walking down a bigger guy, especially after fighting Marquez and Marquez was dropping him and now, all of a sudden, he's dropping big guys left and right. There's different theories about that too. I mean, when Cotto was fighting at 140, he was weak. He was getting dropped, but he went to 147, he wasn't hurt as quick. Maybe Pacquiao started filling out more and more and more and he's just fighting better as he gains weight. I don't know.
BT: Do you think Cotto fighting him at 145 was a problem? I thought he looked okay at the weigh-in. He didn't look drained to me at all.
SM: No, Cotto looked good to me. Cotto's body looked good and you can tell he was in good shape. He looked like he was ready to go; he looked like he was ready to fight. I think the difference in that fight was Cotto underestimated Pacquiao's power and his ability to hurt him. I think that's how Pacquiao gets a lot of these fighters now. Now that I've seen it, that's how he was getting a lot of fighters. They were underestimating his power. They would walk him down and think, "I'm just going to take his little shots and then knock him out." That wasn't the case. They only had Plan A, but they didn't have Plan B or C. So when they ran out of Plan A, they said, "Oh ****! What do I do now? That's not working." So I think that it was because they thought he was a little guy, but now that myth is over with. There's no more little guy; this is a real welterweight so you gotta treat him as such.
BT: And I think also part of that, when you mention him not having a Plan B, Joe Santiago obviously wasn't as experienced as Freddie Roach. How important do you think it is for you to have Brother Naaz in your corner right now?
SM: I think it's very important because we both share the same philosophies of boxing. I mean, boxing, punching, movements…when we work, we work in unison, so we're in harmony. Camp is fun and camp is great and I'm able to put my trust in somebody like Brother Naazim for these fights. I know when I go in, I'm going to be ready mentally and I'm going to be ready with all the strategy that I need. He's a strategist and he's going to be looking at everything and I know that, so I have confidence in him when it comes to that.
BT: Okay, so tell me, what's the bigger fight, Mosley vs. Mayweather or Mosley vs. Pacquiao?
SM: Okay, the most exciting fight is going to be me and Pacquiao.
BT: (Laughing) That was going to be my next question, the most exciting fight.
SM: The most exciting fight will be me and Manny. The most technical fight will be me and Mayweather. I'd have to be technical because I have to figure out ways of catching him in traps. I have to figure out ways of putting him in different traps so I can knock him out because I don't like to just go the distance and box back and forth. So I have to figure out how I'm going to put him in a trap. I gotta box him a little bit because Mayweather likes people to chase him so he can sit back and counter. You gotta get him out of his comfort zone. There's different ways of skinning a cat, so I gotta figure out ways of finding out how I'm going to catch him in a trap, how I'm going to make him react and try to come at me and catch him in that trap. Whereas Pacquiao, I gotta catch him in traps too, but I gotta make sure that I'm in the right position to catch him with the right angles of shots because he can throw punches and hard shots off of different angles, so I gotta make sure I understand the different angles he's throwing them from and be able to capitalize on that.
http://fighthype.com/pages/content6267.html
BT: I know you were ringside at the fight this past Saturday. You just said Pacquiao made a believer out of you, so what did you think of his performance?
SM: I thought he looked good. I thought he threw a lot of combinations and he got Cotto to press him a little bit and caught him with that little left uppercut/hook that he does and surprised Cotto. Cotto was like, "Okay, the guy can punch. The rumors are true." You know (laughing)?
BT: (Laughing) Before the fight, I know you really wanted to get that fight and were even willing to go down to 140, but did you imagine before he fought Cotto that he would be able to bully, dominate and stop Cotto like that?
SM: I really couldn't imagine that. I thought that he would be much too small, but like I said, he made a believer out of me. The cat's out of the bag. You can't say, "Oh, he's a little lightweight" anymore. He's a welterweight! He's even got the welterweight power. He's hitting guys and knocking them down so you have to be careful. I won't be going in there with my chin first. I'll be fighting him like a big man, like I was fighting Winky Wright or somebody; somebody big.
BT: I was going to ask you if you thought he was a legitimate welterweight or if you though he'd be better off staying at 140. He looks pretty solid at 147 to me.
SM: He's solid at 147. He'd probably be even better at 140, but at 47, he's looking for history. Now, the only thing left for him to do is to fight the best welterweight. I mean, Mayweather doesn't even have a title. He doesn't even have a world title or anything. He's just fighting him just for hype. He's fighting him for nothing.
BT: It seems like a lot of guys just underestimate his size. I mean, you know a lot about weightlifting. Is it just me or does Manny look like he has bodybuilder legs? Cotto's legs looked like toothpicks compared to his. Do you think the fact that he carries a lot of his weight in his legs is the reason why guys are thinking he's a smaller man, but are shocked to find out that he punches like a middleweight?
SM: I think so. I mean, that's just genetics. He carries his weight in his legs, which is beneficial to him to be able to generate all that power off that back leg. The way he throws them punches, it's harder than what it seems. It looks like he's just throwing a lot of shots, but he uses his legs very well to push off the ground and get the proper leverage on the shots.
BT: I saw you were sitting next to Big Floyd during the bout. Did you guys speak at all about Pacquiao's performance or his son?
SM: Yeah, I asked him, "What are you thinking?" Floyd Sr. was like, "Man, that guy is on something. There's no way in the world he's going to be walking back a big man like that." I was like, "Well, I mean, he's doing his thing so I don't know what to say about that." I mean, I don't think so, but, you know, genetically, some people are stronger than others. Genetically, he has power in his legs. Genetically, I'm physically stronger than a lot of people. Some people have gifts in different areas and he's using his gift that he has in his legs and I use the gift that I have in my upper body.
BT: Was he impressed at all with Manny?
SM: Well, I wouldn't say that he was impressed. He was kind of, you know…you know what, he was impressed, but he was like there's no way he could do what he does coming from 106 to 147 and walking down a big man like Cotto that normally walks down those guys. He just couldn't see that. It was too much. He was like that's too much for a little man to just start walking down a bigger guy, especially after fighting Marquez and Marquez was dropping him and now, all of a sudden, he's dropping big guys left and right. There's different theories about that too. I mean, when Cotto was fighting at 140, he was weak. He was getting dropped, but he went to 147, he wasn't hurt as quick. Maybe Pacquiao started filling out more and more and more and he's just fighting better as he gains weight. I don't know.
BT: Do you think Cotto fighting him at 145 was a problem? I thought he looked okay at the weigh-in. He didn't look drained to me at all.
SM: No, Cotto looked good to me. Cotto's body looked good and you can tell he was in good shape. He looked like he was ready to go; he looked like he was ready to fight. I think the difference in that fight was Cotto underestimated Pacquiao's power and his ability to hurt him. I think that's how Pacquiao gets a lot of these fighters now. Now that I've seen it, that's how he was getting a lot of fighters. They were underestimating his power. They would walk him down and think, "I'm just going to take his little shots and then knock him out." That wasn't the case. They only had Plan A, but they didn't have Plan B or C. So when they ran out of Plan A, they said, "Oh ****! What do I do now? That's not working." So I think that it was because they thought he was a little guy, but now that myth is over with. There's no more little guy; this is a real welterweight so you gotta treat him as such.
BT: And I think also part of that, when you mention him not having a Plan B, Joe Santiago obviously wasn't as experienced as Freddie Roach. How important do you think it is for you to have Brother Naaz in your corner right now?
SM: I think it's very important because we both share the same philosophies of boxing. I mean, boxing, punching, movements…when we work, we work in unison, so we're in harmony. Camp is fun and camp is great and I'm able to put my trust in somebody like Brother Naazim for these fights. I know when I go in, I'm going to be ready mentally and I'm going to be ready with all the strategy that I need. He's a strategist and he's going to be looking at everything and I know that, so I have confidence in him when it comes to that.
BT: Okay, so tell me, what's the bigger fight, Mosley vs. Mayweather or Mosley vs. Pacquiao?
SM: Okay, the most exciting fight is going to be me and Pacquiao.
BT: (Laughing) That was going to be my next question, the most exciting fight.
SM: The most exciting fight will be me and Manny. The most technical fight will be me and Mayweather. I'd have to be technical because I have to figure out ways of catching him in traps. I have to figure out ways of putting him in different traps so I can knock him out because I don't like to just go the distance and box back and forth. So I have to figure out how I'm going to put him in a trap. I gotta box him a little bit because Mayweather likes people to chase him so he can sit back and counter. You gotta get him out of his comfort zone. There's different ways of skinning a cat, so I gotta figure out ways of finding out how I'm going to catch him in a trap, how I'm going to make him react and try to come at me and catch him in that trap. Whereas Pacquiao, I gotta catch him in traps too, but I gotta make sure that I'm in the right position to catch him with the right angles of shots because he can throw punches and hard shots off of different angles, so I gotta make sure I understand the different angles he's throwing them from and be able to capitalize on that.
http://fighthype.com/pages/content6267.html
Comment