I'm wondering what was going through Manny Pacquiao's head when he decided to pick Shane Mosley for his 2011 debut. His opponent has looked more like "Molasses" Mosley than "Sugar" Shane lately, and it doesn't help that he passed up two theoretically tougher fighters in Andre Berto and Juan Manuel Marquez for the sure thing. Kevin Iole, the boxing columnist of Yahoo! Sports, went on to call the fight "garbage" and said that it was generally disgraceful. Those comments seemed to strike a chord with the Pacman.
Look, I'm not dogging on Pacquiao for fighting Mosley because, in all honesty, it's a whole lot better than the circumstances on which he fought Antonio Margarito, and it's probably going to be a better fight than people are thinking. But I guess columnists aren't quite as afraid anymore to say in public that Pacquiao is going after paydays and nothing but. Although Pacquiao went out of his way to condemn Iole, which is uncharacteristic for him, I can't help but wonder exactly what did he honestly expect? As long as Pacquiao keeps playing the "Money" moniker by taking the profitable fights, expect him to get the Mayweather treatment from the press.
Khan vs. Peterson Hitting Rough Waters
Lamont Peterson may not be as willing to fight Amir Khan in the U.K. as originally expected. In a recent update on his Twitter page, Khan wrote, "I have respect for Peterson he is a top fighter but why do all these guys overprice themselves, his demands are too high." I can see where Peterson is coming from. He's aware he'll need to beat Khan twice over to win the fight and he doesn't want to leave with a loss and a low purse, but who else can Peterson fight for a belt?
The fact that Golden Boy Promotions is giving him to Khan right away is indicative enough that he won't be having a rematch of his draw with Victor Ortiz, but this may be Peterson's best chance to fight for a title unless he holds out for Zab Judah, which is unlikely and implausible since Khan will target Judah as a Fall opponent himself.
Margarito Heading Straight For Cotto Rematch
While Miguel Cotto will be able to shake off some ring rust against Ricardo Mayorga this March, Antonio Margarito doesn't seem too concerned about waiting until June to get another undeserving title shot in a rematch. Margarito has been cleared to return to all normal gym activities, except for sparring, after his face got broken by Pacquiao last November. He'll now head right into a Cotto rematch should he get his license approved in New York.
Cotto seems to have warmed to a Margarito rematch despite repeated claims that he would never give Margarito another opportunity to make money off of him again. But money talks to everybody and Margarito is more appealing than Vanes Martirosyan. I have a gut feeling though that the New York State Athletic Commission is going to make it tough for Margarito to get licensed, but we'll have to see in the coming months.