VANCOUVER -- By staking his WBA super welterweight crown against unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr. on May 1 in Las Vegas, Shane Mosley is hoping he could waylay the man next in line for Manny Pacquiao and grab the slot for the right to face the Filipino pound-for-pound king in the richest boxing ex­travaganza in history tentatively in September or October 2010.

Mosley (40-5, 39 KOs) could have just easily dodged the offer to fight the dangerous Mayweather by picking a flash­in-the-pan and easily retain his title without risking his main faculties, but Mosley wants to rewrite history with his own finger­prints and might succeed in pulling the rag from under Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs). Since age is now fast catch­ing him up, the 36-year-old former conqueror of Oscar De La Hoya, might reserve his best for last against May-weather and could end up facing the 31-year-old Pacquiao in a multi-million duel to be co-promot­ed by Top Rank and Golden Boy. But there are those who suspect that Mosley is now only being fed to the lion in order to rev up May-weather who had been blamed for his foiled showdown with Pac­quiao owing to his “astronomical” demands, to borrow the word of Top Rank chief Bob Arum. It may be recalled that the May­weather-Pacquiao fight was pulled off in the eleventh hour when Mayweather rejected a compro­mise put forward by Team Pac­quiao for a random blood test to ensure the Filipino ring heart­throb wasn’t enamored in dope.

The scuttlebutt is that after Pacquiao whipped Joshua Clottey in a lackluster event in Arlington, Texas last month, it would be Mayweather’s turn to submit his performance report by steam‑rolling the pesky Mosley who has been serving as main obstacle in the throat of the Mayweather-Pacquiao dream match. The pressure will now be on the shoulders of Mosley to prove that he is not yet over the hill and is deserving of another title shot beyond the WBA tiara he wrested from Antonio Margarito on a brutal 9th round disposal on January 24 last year at the Staple Center in Los Angeles. If Mosley will upset Mayweather, he can change the entire program and position himself as the next op­ponent of Pacquiao.

The promoters can’t stand the way if Mos­ley’s victory is impressive. However, if Mayweather will toy with Mosley and obliterate him convincingly, it will definitely pave the way for the long over due Mayweather versus Pacquiao fisticuff rumored to be staged at Jerry Jones’ prized dome the Dallas Cowboys in Arlington. Mosley should prove to all and sundry that he is not a sacrifical lamb to Mayweather’s date with Pacquiao and that in the event of a win over Mayweather, he will really climb the ring as a serving Pacquiao foe.

 

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