VANCOUVER – The most fa­vorite training camp of Manny Pacquiao’s most recent oppo­nents has been the Big Bear in the San Bernardino County, Cali­fornia.Sugar Shane Mosley, a popular boxing figure in the states of Ne­vada and California, has chosen the cold elevated Californian hills as his training territory as he revs up for his WBO welterweight en­counter on May 7 in Las Vegas, Nevada with boxing’s most char­ismatic personality outside the heavyweight division. Big Bear, however, appears to be a jinx for those who have plot­ted to topple the 32-year-old Fili­pino boxer-turned-politician.

Both Juan Manuel Marquez and Oscar De La Hoya once boasted of having honed their skills in that popular training camp and they have failed to dethrone the Fili­pino champion. On the other hand, Pacquiao has opted to remain in Baguio City, the summer capital of the Philippines, where he is being accompanied by Hall of Fame coach Freddie Roach and other local talents.

As in Pacquiao’s previous fights, there is again a guessing game whether Mosley would be his farewell opponent. Now that he is nearing retirement, fans continue to speculate whether he will eventually cap his fistic career with a multi-million duel with Floyd Mayweather or he will be forced to hang up his gloves— win or lose against the 39-year­old Mosley.

It maybe recalled that in a re­cent exclusive interview by inter­national correspondent Alex Vidal in Las Vegas in February this year, boxing analyst and Mayweather’s neighbor Freddie Dawson, dis­closed that Mayweather may finally agree to face the “tired” Pacquiao next year when the hard-hitting Filipino champion is ready to retire.

According to Dawson, 63, Mayweather considers Pacquiao as dangerous until today and he will never risk his immaculate ledger fighting a human windmill from Saranggani, Philippines. Mayweather knows that he could be sent to dreamland by a powerful Pacquiao left hook and he could suffer a psychological damage if he would be brutally defeated for the first time. Hence the repeated attempt to dodge Pacquiao.

By the time Mayweather will ink the deal of Pacquiao’s promoter, Bob Arum, some fans may no longer find the Mayweather-Pac­quiao so exciting. They have waited for too long; too much. They have been hankering for this dream fight since 2009 even af­ter Pacquiao had walloped De La Hoya on December 7, 2008.
It is also possible that if Pac­quiao will roll past the still dan­gerous Mosley on May 7, Arum will pit him against Miguel Angel Cotto in a rematch before finally arranging the stage for his fare­well bout against Mayweather, a deal that could dwarf even the biggest heavyweight contract in history of fight business.

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Here’s the complete card, a joint promotion of the Top Rank Promotion, MP Promotion and the HBO on May 7 at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada:
Manny Pacquiao vs. Shane Mosley (WBO welterweight cham­pionship)
Humberto Soto vs. Urbano An­tillon, rematch (WBC lightweight championship)
Kelly Pavlik vs. Alfonso Lopez (super middleweight)
Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. vs. Jorge Arce (WBO junior featherweight championship)

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I was not surprised to learn that WBO and IBF champion No­nito Donaire Jr. has jumped ship and is now under the tutelage of the Golden Boy Promotions headed by Oscar De La Hoya.

Donaire is a natural talent and a big name now. He has carved his own niche in boxing and it’s about time he paddled his own canoe in another river.
It’s very understandable if he decided to junk Top Rank which had given him the much-need break that propelled him to star­dom. It’s a business decision and it’s normal and rational.

If he stayed with Top Rank, he would forever be behind the shadow of Manny Pacquiao, Top Rank’s most prized property. Un­der the Golden Boy Promotions, Donaire’s star will continue to shine and it will shine brighter owing to his talent and fighting skills.

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