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Mayweather vs Mosley
Las Vegas Boxing Examiner | Chris Robinson
The April 2010 issue of The Ring magazine is in newsstands now with Palm Springs native and current WBO Jr. Welterweight king Timothy Bradley gracing the cover. The magazine also features an exclusive preview of this Saturday’s bout between Manny Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey and takes a different twist on Teddy Atlas’ email speculation regarding Team Pacquiao. The Ring also focuses on Kelly Pavlik and his chances against some of the fighters near his division.
Timothy Bradley: “Boxing Changed Everything”
It’s hard to think of a fighter who is as eager to prove himself to the world as Timothy Bradley. At 26 years of age and sporting a 25-0 record with 11 knockouts, Bradley has stepped up the competition in recent years by facing the likes of Junior Witter, Kendall Holt, and Nate Campbell. His December decision over Lamont Peterson was one of his most impressive performances to date and Bradley is looking to make the most of his opportunities.
Joseph Santoliquito did an in depth interview with the Palm Springs native and much was revealed. Some of the highlights are below…
An angry kid…
“I used to fight all the time, every single day. I was six years old and I got kicked out of three elementary schools. I was an angry kid. I was a bully basically. I think it was my personality. I was just angry. I didn’t know how to walk away. I grew up in a tough neighborhood, where you didn’t back down. We fought all the time. I got my butt whipped every day when I got home. I used to get beat so often with the belt, it didn’t faze me anymore.”
The hard way…
“I came up the hard way like Shane Mosley, through the back door. It took a lot of people a while to recognize Shane Mosley, fighting in ballrooms and things like that. Looking back, it means more to me now the way I came up in boxing. I wouldn’t change anything though. Fighting where I fought is what built me.”
Going through hard times early in his career…
“It got so bad that I wasn’t able to buy my wife a Valentine’s gift and Christmas presents for my kids. I was personally training people to get money. That’s how I had to survive, that and on my wife’s income. We had to take out two loans. I was living like a poor, poor man, and that can you hungry. Not too many people know that story. There were a lot of stressful nights and we lived paycheck to paycheck.”
Over in Mexico…
“I can go down the street here in Palm Springs, and someone might nod their head because I look familiar. But I go to Mexico, I’m huge over there. They were showing my fights early in my career in Mexico and other South American countries on Fox Sports. But here in the United States, other than a few appearances on ShoBox, my face wasn’t on TV a lot.”
Beating Junior Witter to become champion of the world…
“When I beat Witter I saw tears in my father’s eyes. We got emotional together. We came a long, long, long way. Even in my amateur days, we had nothing handed to us, but we worked through it. There was so much politics in the amateur game and we went through some hard times in the amateurs and early in my pro career. My mother kept telling me that I didn’t lose the battle and keep fighting. I get all of that from my parents. They’re a big part of my boxing career.”
Later in the interview Bradley would get speaks on this Saturday’s clash between Pacquiao and Clottey, calling the fight ‘a joke’ and later claiming he would be the first man to defeated Floyd Mayweather if ever given the opportunity. To hear more about those exact remarks click HERE or on the picture below…
Pacquiao-Clottey: Texas-Sized Consolation Prize
On pages 38 through 45 of the magazine, Don Stradley takes a look at this Saturday’s potentially great bout between hard charging challenger Joshua Clottey and dynamic champion Manny Pacquiao. Despite a bout with Mayweather never coming to fruition, as of yet, the Pacquiao-Clottey contest is a fine fight and Stradley took a look at some key storylines revolving around the contest…
Clottey’s chance is finally here
Stradley starts off the article but taking us back to the night of June 13th, 2009, just moments after Clottey had lost a spirited split decision to Miguel Cotto. Clottey and his team were in disbelief, fully believing they had won the fight, and felt as though no opportunities would be available in the future because the Ghanaian was considered a high risk/low reward type of fighter.
But with the Mayweather fallout taking place earlier this year, Clottey’s chance is just around the corner. For a fighter who has suffered his share of heartbreaking losses in recent years perhaps we can chalk this one up to simply being a case of good karma. Surely Clottey will be looking to make the most of his coveted opportunity this Saturday night.
The challenges that Clottey presents
Stradley also takes a look at Clottey’s style and assesses the danger that he presents to the Filipino fighter. Stradley believes that Clottey presents a number of challenges, such as being a full-sized, physically powerful Welterweight who has never been stopped in his career.
Stradley also points out that Clottey works behind a rock-solid defensive stance, sometimes standing perfectly still with his hands over his face. Clottey is also a very capable counterpuncher who can be effective to the body and he has a sneaky uppercut on the inside.
Distractions and a possible comedown for Pacquiao?
Stradley points out that a letdown from Pacquiao is possible simply because he has been through a lot lately in and outside of the ring and he could easily be distracted. From the war of words with Mayweather, the threats of legal action, the drug testing fiasco, and another upcoming political run in the Philippines, Pacquiao’s plate is full and who knows what exactly his mental state is heading into the fight.
It was also pointed out that when a big fight is taken away from a fighter that they have trouble getting up for the replacement opponent. While Clottey can hardly be looked at as a tune up this contest surely doesn’t have the appeal of a showdown with Mayweather Jr. and only Manny and those in his camp know how motivated he is for this one.
(Click for an inside look at Pacquiao, Clottey, Mayweather, Kessler, Atlas, and the other storylines in this month's ring Magazine)
Did Mayweather Duck Gender Test?
On page 20 of the magazine Ivan Goldman calls into question the validity of Teddy Atlas’ anonymous source who claimed he saw incriminating email messages from Manny Pacquiao’s camp practically confessing to the use of performance-enhancing drugs. Goldman later went on to poke fun at the allegations, suggesting that he might have a source who told him that Floyd Mayweather’s people were worried their fighter might not make it past a gender test. The reference in regards to the Las Vegas fighter is an obvious joust at Atlas’ claims.
Goldman later stated that Atlas either believed in the existence of the phantom emails, accepted his source’s fabricated excuse for not producing them or he was too lame to ask to see them. Goldman later produced an answer for Atlas’ question as to why Pacquiao, if he had nothing to hide, wouldn’t just give in to Mayweather’s demands. Speaking boldly, Goldman summed it up best by stating ‘Pacquiao’s nobody’s bitch’.
Also in the magazine
- Middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik was featured as The Ring took a look at Pavlik’s top 10 contenders, their chances at a title shot, how the fight would do at the box office, and what would happen in the ring if they were to fight Pavlik. Names such as Felix Sturm, Paul Williams, Sergio Martinez, and Anthony Mundine were all thrown into the mix, with drastically different results.
- Promoter Frank Maloney’s career is highlighted in the magazine as he spoke from his headquarters in Chisleworth, London about his success and misfortunes in the sport of boxing. Maloney goes on to discuss his recent years, his stable of fighters, and his still present passion for the sport.
- The ‘Super Six’ Stage 2 matchup between champion Carl Froch and challenger Mikkel Kessler is also broken down. In their Stage 1 matchups Froch escaped with a split decision over Andre Dirrell while Kessler was outclassed by Andre Ward. Most telling is the reality that Kessler now finds himself in a must win situation following his last fight and that his image may have been damaged by Ward as much as his record.
For a closer look inside the April 2010 issue of The Ring please click on the Collage below to see the fighters, fights, and storylines that graced the pages…
Source: Examiner.com
