Manny "Pac-Man" Pacquiao V. Shane "Sugar" Mosley Recap

Weigh-Ins (A Day Before Fight Night)

Events starting from the Showtime boxing show, Fight Camp 360, leading till the main event, the hype for Manny 'Pac-Man' Pacquiao V. Shane 'Sugar' Mosely was tremendous. Every sports bar, every combat sports fan, everybody with Filipino roots, every pro-Mayweather fan, and every other 'every (insert here)', had their eyes glued to what could be Pac-Man's toughest bout. Both camps have stated "that this was their best camp ever, the fighters are in the best shape they have EVER been", and etc. Boxing fans and the world, know that fighters and their camp make these vapid proclamations to sell as many fights as possible, even when many people think otherwise. Let's see if what both camps told the public media is true; if actions speak louder than words, then the weigh-ins would speak volumes to how good this fight will be. The Pac-Man weighed in at 145lbs (66 Kilos) and Sugar weigh in at 147 (67 Kilos). As seen from the picture above, both Pac-Man and Sugar passed the 'eye-ball test.' From the appearance of the fighter's physique, both fighters do, in fact, look like they are in the best shape, they have EVER been. One proclamation that was to be seen and highly-anticipated came from the Mosely camp - "I got this!", said Mosely; signifying that he will be the man to dethrone the 8 time world champ-well, did he?

Before the bout started, 'Sugar' Shane came out to the likes of LL Cool J's -Momma Said Knock You Out, whereas Manny decided to let the people know that in this fight, he had the "Eye of the Tiger" and will once again, make his Filipino brethren proud. As he sung in the last episode of his Fight Camp 360 - "My fight, your fight, its all our fight for Filipinos." With this being said, it was evident that the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA was a pro-Manny crowd, and it seemed that the only pro-'Sugar' fans were his camp and his stunningly beautiful girlfriend, Bella Gonzalez. A Filipino singer, Charice Pempengco, performed the Filipino anthem with such grace that a grown man could have cried, singer/actor, Tyrese performed the National Anthem, and Jamie Foxx performed "America The Beautiful". Once the referee, Richard Bayless, addressed both fighters in the middle of the ring and once that bell rang, the itch that many fans endured all throughout the Showtime series, the media coverage and etc, was about to be scratched.

In the first round, no one would have expected that the fighting pride of the Philippines would look human against an aging boxer, but that is exactly how the champ looked. Both fighters did the usual, 'feeling each other out' to see what they would do; it was evident, from round one that they both were trying to establish their jab. Nothing special happened; only that Mosley still had his confidence. Round two, brought a similar fate to each fighter, only difference is that Manny was starting to realize that he is no mortal. Round three was a round that would have had Vernon Forrest angry at Manny because Mosley went down, after a straight left connected to the side of his head; this was the second time in Mosley's legendary career that he's hit the canvas, Vernon being the first. Not only was Mosley's pride hurt but all hope was hurt, abandoned, lost, 'insert adjective' here, because after round 3, the boxing bout became a cat and mouse chase. Rounds 4,5,6,7,8,9 can be summed up as Manny was the cat and Mosley was the mouse; all that was displayed was Mosley's boxing IQ is high, not because he can parry punches and tactfully evade Manny's assaults but because he kept clinching, circling and not engaging. On the opposite end, Manny was the aggressor, chasing Mosley around the ring, throwing those punches that had the pro-Manny crowd in a frenzy, in hope of a knock out but to no avail.

"Sugar" Shane phantom Knockdown

However in round 10, both fighters were clinched after a flurry from Manny, and when they disengaged Mosley pushed Manny off him which led to him falling, but Richard Bayless saw that as a knocked down. It was clearly a push, how Bayless saw that as a knocked down will go down in the annals of mystery. Just as the saying goes, "everything happens for a reason", well one can say this happened to lite a spark under Manny's feet because after the missed call, Manny came out with a vengeance. Round 11 and 12 was the pace that every Manny fan has known to love. He fought those rounds as if someone had stolen his money and he wanted it back, and was willing to do anything to get it back.

Manny's Powerful Punches

To put this bout in perspective, two judges scored this bout 120 to 108, and how one judge scored it 119 to 108 is beyond logic. That simply means that Manny won all 11 rounds with 1 round being a draw. Maybe the 1st round, in which both fighter were 'feeling each other out' was seen as a tie, but nonetheless, Manny Pacquiao continued his pummeling of world-class boxers to 5 in row. Will Floyd Mayweather finally step up and take on the champ or will there be another world-class boxer other than Floyd Mayweather to fight the pound-for-pound king?