Pictured: Shane Mosley & Floyd Mayweather shake hands during promotional efforts for their bout this weekend.

 (Editor’s Note: David Bateman is a freelance journalist based out of the UK. We’re happy to have him contribute to Total-MMA this week. For more of his writing, go to DavidBatemanJournalist.com.  If you’re interested in writing for us, let us know!  As always, thanks for reading. — Tommy)

Anytime Floyd Mayweather chooses to grace a boxing ring with his presence, there is always a lot of interest.  

His status as one of the greatest pound-for-pound fighters of his generation assures great enthusiasm and excitement anytime he chooses to defend his 40-fight undefeated streak.

This Saturday should be no different. His opponent, ‘Sugar’ Shane Mosley, is more than formidable. He has beaten impressive names like Oscar De La Hoya, and Antonio Margarito in his latest bout. His power and punching veracity ensures he is a very credible threat to Mayweather’s unblemished record.

 Yet, despite the anticipation and intrigue we are feeling, something doesn’t quite feel right…

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March 13 should have been the night that we crowned a true pound-for-pound champion in boxing. We should have seen a joint effort from the sport’s two biggest promoters in Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions, finally setting aside their differences to bring the fans the one bout that everyone wanted to see. Top Rank’s Manny Pacquiao vs. Golden Boy Promotion’s Floyd Mayweather Jr. would promise a unification bout at welter for boxing’s biggest ever purse, pay per view audience, and all the glory that comes with it.

But when negotiations broke down, we found ourselves watching Top Rank’s next best welter in Joshua Clottey in what felt like a subpar sparring session against Pacquiao.

So, what went wrong with this show?

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Pictured: Manny Pacquiao carries the flag of the Philippines at the 2008 Olympic Games.

It’s tough to look at the above picture: Manny Pacquiao leading a group of athletes, who unlike himself, were willing to submit to Olympic-style drug testing.

Last week, talks finally appeared to break down for good for Manny Pacquiao’s proposed bout with Floyd Mayweather Jr., with the “sticking point” of Olympic-style blood testing finally leaving the two parties unable to reach an agreement. It’s a bad blow for the sport, which seemed to finally accumulating momentum for the first time in ages, to lose the climactic bout which we had been leading up towards.

It’s particularly a blow to a guy like me.

I’m really gutted — because as much as I’m not fan of Floyd Jr, his classless interviews and unprofessional antics — I have to sadly place blame at the feet of Manny Pacquiao for this “bloody mess.” Read the rest of this entry »

Congratulations to Manny Pacquiao and his supporters for another dominant win last night. As predicted, within a few rounds we learned whether or not Miguel Cotto could counter Pacquiao’s vaunted speed advantage. Unfortunately, I didn’t predict the correct answer. That advantage would prove key, and eventually lead to a 12th round T/KO stoppage.

So I was wrong, but I’m not interested in finding a Filipino preparation for crow right now (crow adobo?). Call it damage control if you want, but in attempting to handicap the bout, I maintained that no outcome would surprise me much — as it was a pairing of two guys who had never seen anything like the other. It won’t surprise anyone that I still feel that way. But here’s something Total-MMA readers may find surprising:

Right now, I couldn’t be prouder of Miguel Cotto.

(Well, other than the use of Kanye West for his ringwalk…)

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Miguel Angel Cotto is hours away from entering a Las Vegas ring an almost three-to-one underdog against Manny Pacquiao in their catch-weight bout at 145 lbs. To the Puerto Rican’s chagrin, it seems many find it a foregone conclusion that the night will end with Pacquiao earning a knockout victory at his expense. In fact, Pacquiao himself is reportedly so confident that he has scheduled a concert performance directly after the bout, where he will sing material from his own two record albums at Mandalay Bay.

Unfortunately for the Filipino’s supporters, I think Pacquaio will be singing the blues instead of his beloved ballads, as heard here (painfully) on Jimmy Kimmell Live…

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Anyone excited about next month’s fight between Miguel Cotto and Manny Pacquiao got a treat yesterday as Pacquiao vs. Cotto: Face Off, a fantastic interview segment between the two conducted by Max Kellerman, popped up online. In fact, it’s a treat for anyone who just enjoys a bit of class and respect being shared between two proud sons of their native countries. (Yes, Puerto Rico is really a commonwealth of the US, but you know what I mean.)

If you’re anything like me and find yourself forgotting what sportsmanship looks like sometimes, please enjoy…

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