Pacquiao heavy favorite vs Mosley in May fight

It didn’t come as a surprise that Manny Pacquiao emerged the heavy favorite to whip Sugar Shane Mosley in their May 7 face-off at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. A fighter many believe is way past his prime, Mosley will turn 40 on September 7 or four months after facing Pacquiao in the ring. He is also coming off two unimpressive bouts, against Floyd Mayweather Jr. (a unanimous decision loss), and Sergio Mora (a draw). No wonder, odds readily tilted on Pacquiao’s side with still a few days left before 2010 ends. The 32-year-old Filipino boxing champion has been initially installed a 4-1 pick by sports bookies in the U.S., with one online bookie even making Pacquiao a -900 odds, as reported by the Examiner. 5Dimes Sportsbook pegged Pacquiao a 7-4 favorite, meaning a $700 bet on the Filipino southpaw would only yield $100, while a $100 bet on Mosley would earn you $450. In contrast to Mosley, Pacquiao had been impressive in his previous fights, such as against bigger opponents like Joshua Clottey and Antonio Margarito in 2010. The boxing superstar dominated Clottey in their March outing at the Cowboys Stadium in Texas, scoring a unanimous decision to retain his World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight belt. Then he brutalized the 5-foot-11 Margarito the full 12 rounds at the same Texas stadium on his way to winning the World Boxing Council (WBC) junior middleweight crown, for his eighth world title belt. But Mosley, who is the only man in history who had beaten the great Oscar De La Hoya twice, is undeterred with his underdog tag. “They think I’m the easier fight, that’s fine with me." “Pacquiao’s a fighter like me; he comes forward. I promise you, I’ll hit him on the chin. His defense is not that good. The guys who come at me, I knock out," added Mosley. Top Rank chairman Bob Arum said promotion for the bout will officially kick off in February with a three-city press tour. The Hall of Fame promoter said Pacquiao and Mosley are set to promote the fight in Los Angeles, New York and Washington, where he hopes to get an audience with President Barack Obama through the help of Senate Majority leader Harry Reid, the Las Vegas Senator whom Pacquiao helped in his reelection campaign in the last election. And since Mosley will be coming from San Francisco, Arum said the official press conference of the fight is likely to be held in the same city within the Bay Area. – JVP, KY, GMANews.TV