Dougie's Monday mailbag - Monday mailbag page 2

SPEED KILLS

What Mosley says about styles making fights is true, but the saying “speed kills“ is also true. And unfortunately for Shane, Manny is a helluva lot faster than him. Mosley has a puncher's chance, but then so did Clottey, Cotto and Margarito. -- Keith

That’s true, Keith, however -- and I’m just playing Devil’s Advocate here, Pac-fans, so don’t gang up on Ole Dougie -- Mosley is facing a version of Pacquiao with the wear and tear of the Cotto, Clottey and Margarito fights on his compact little body.

Mosley lost and drew in his last two bouts but he didn’t take as much punishment as Pacquiao did during his recent dominant victories (especially against Cotto and Margarito). Despite weighing in at 144.6 pounds for Margarito I thought Pacquiao’s hands and feet were noticeably slower than they appeared in previous bouts, especially late in the fight when he practically had a dead body stalking in front of him.

One has to wonder when training and fighting at an unnaturally heavy weight and constantly burning the candle at both ends will finally catch up with Pacquiao.

BOXING ON NETWORK TV

What up Dougie,
So with all this talk about CBS being involved in the promotion of Manny's next fight, it reminded me of a debate with a friend as to what was better for the actual boxers. Boxing remaining on premium cable networks and PPV or back on network TV. I made the argument that boxing back on the networks would benefit the sport and the fighters more. With endorsements and more exposure, I figure the fighter to get more money in the process. My friend takes the stance that with PPV, the fighter maximizes his earnings. I was curious what you're take on this would be?

Top 5 wasted talents of that last 10 years...fighters who didn't achieve what they could of based off of a lack of effort. -- Robert

I think the sport of boxing and the fighters would benefit more -- WAY more -- from being back on network TV than both currently benefit from the pay-per-view revenue model.

Pay-per-view events only benefit a select few fighters and industry people, and only the smallest percentage of active fighters in the world actually get rich from having their fights broadcast in that manner.

Every hardcore fans has a list of 10 to 20 things he or she believes needs to be changed in boxing in order for the sport to thrive in 21^st Century, but I think all that really needs to happen for boxing to be more popular is that it appear on network television once again. The product is still good. Hell, sometimes, as we’ve seen with Corrales-Castillo I, Marquez-Pacquiao I and II, and the Barrera-Morales, Gatti-Ward, and Vazquez-Marquez trilogies, it’s GREAT! The problem is that these awesome bouts are shown to comparatively small premium cable and PPV universes. If those bouts were shown on ABC, CBS or NBC, and if those fighters were network staples, boxing would be much more popular in the U.S. The more demand there is for the sport and for the fighters the more money everyone in the industry makes.

Guys who are/were practically ignored in the States would have been huge had they fought on network TV. Steve Cunningham wouldn’t have had to sign with a German promoter and fight most of his bouts overseas had his barnburner with Tomasz Adamek been on network TV. If his story was told before and during the 12-round bout there‘s no doubt in my mind that huge numbers of American viewers -- particularly those in military service -- would have become attached to him, even though he lost a split decision. Cunningham is skilled, gutsy, intelligent, and engaging. His only problem is that American fans rarely get the chance to see him fight. Same deal with Lamon Brewster, whose fighting days are probably done. Everybody complains about how boring the heavyweight division is, but his brief WBO title reign was nothing but action, drama and surprises. However, those fights (vs. Wladdy Klitschko, Kali Meehan, Andrew Golota, Luan Krasniqi and Sergei Liakhovich) were either on Showtime, HBO or German television (the very underrated Krasniqi fight). If Brewster came back from a brutal beating to Klitschko like Rocky, he whacked out Golota like a prime Tyson, and he went life and death with the others in all-action fights. Had he done that on network TV there’s no way American sports fans wouldn’t have been talking about him and those fun fights around the water coolers at work.

Anyway, I’m digressing. Sorry about that.

Top 5 wasted talents of last 10 years: 1. Francisco Bojado (perhaps the most naturally gifted fighter I‘ve seen in the gym since James Toney, but he had even less dedication to the sport than ole “Lights Out“), 2. Edwin Valero (I know he won titles in two weight classes but I think he could have done so much more had he handled his personal life and career differently), 3. Rock Allen (a tremendous amateur boxer who literally grew up around world-class fighters and brilliant boxing minds, but he doesn‘t seem to want to fight), 4. Malik Scott (he’s got the best foundation, skillset and physical tools of any American heavyweight, but where the hell is he?) and 5. Kelly Pavlik (it‘s not too late for The Ghost but man, I can‘t help but think about how big this guy could have been had he taken better care of himself and stayed clear of Bernard Hopkins).

THIS IS IT FOR SSM

At least Mosley is trying to sell the fight but the truth is that Pacquaio will beat him so bad that this will be Sugar Shane’s last fight. -- Richard

I don’t think Mosley is trying to sell anything. He truly believes that he’s got a shot against Pacquiao due the overwhelming favorite’s aggressive style. And why shouldn’t he? He’s always whacked out aggressive fighters in the past.

But if Mosley does take such a severe beating that he calls it quits, so be it.

That’s the way it’s gotta be for a lot of fighters. They don’t know it’s time to hang up the gloves until they are absolutely dominated and/or quite literally beaten into submission.

As long as Mosley isn’t seriously hurt on fight night, it can be a good thing. Mosley’s been boxing competitively since he was eight years old. It’s probably time he moved on to training and/or managing fighters with his father.

TOO BAD IT ISN’T 2000

If I could have one wish....it'd be that Pacquiao was fighting the welterweight version of Mosley who beat Oscar De La Hoya (when he was stepping up from LW to WW).....what a mother effing FIGHT!!!!

Now? Not so much... -- Derrick

Pacquiao vs. the 28-year-old version of Mosley would indeed be off the damn chain. The official title for the event would probably be “What a mother effing fight!” LOL.

That version of Mosley had the same thing going for him at 147 pounds that Pacquiao does now -- the constant movement and high punch output of a lighter-weight fighter. Mosley shocked De La Hoya by bringing a 135-pound pace to their classic first bout. He slowed down by the time he got into the ring with Vernon Forrest.

Pacquiao has also slowed down a bit since his first fight above 135 pounds (for De La Hoya in December of 2008), but for his first few bouts in the 140-145-poundrange he carried the crazy workrate of junior lightweight into the ring. Pac’s still ridiculously active for a welterweight, and though he’s slowed down a bit, his reflexes appear as sharp as ever.

Mosley had razor-keen reflexes back in 2000. As Apollo Creed told Rocky Balboa at the end of Rocky III: “It’s too bad we gotta get old.”

Doug Fischer can be contacted at dougiefischer@yahoo.com