BOXING:SOMETIMES WE expect too much from our heroes. Boxing history dictates that the barricade which tumbled unforgivingly in front of the 39-year-old Shane Mosley's meandering career path will one day halt the march of Manny Pacquiao, who unanimously outscored Mosley over 12 rounds at the MGM Grand.
Echoes of the past, which boomed through the loser’s performance, promise a future without the only man currently capable of transcending the sport.
Despite the disappointing nature of large parts of the WBO welterweight champion’s one-sided decision victory over the faded American, such foundations of disaster are yet to be set and we should be thankful of that.
A tentative start from the Filipino was snapped violently in the third round when a typically pulsating attack concluded with a blistering left hand that put Mosley on the deck.
“They’re different kinds of punches to what I have ever felt before,” said Mosley. “I really felt it (the punch that caused the knockdown). I was hurt, I was stunned. It didn’t seem like a big shot when he threw it but it hurt.”
The Californian’s finest moment arrived when he illegally shoved Pacquiao to the deck in the 10th and the referee, Kenny Bayless, administered a count over the bemused superstar.
The impatient spectators were grateful that the mistake breathed life into “Pacman” who finished the bout slashing his wounded opponent around the ring.
The judges’ scores of 120-108, 120-107 and 119-108 proved they did not make the same mistake as the man in the middle.
In China, John Joe Nevin helped Paris United claim the World Series of Boxing Team Championships crown on Saturday.
The Parisians finished top of the podium and received a cheque for €347,000 after beating Astana Arlans of Kazakhstan 4-1 on the day and 6-4 on aggregate in Guiyang City. “The lads boxed incredibly well and it has been a fantastic season,” said Nevin.
Meanwhile, World and European lightweight champ Katie Taylor blew away Germany’s Maike Kluners, 23-2, at the Walter Raleigh Hotel in Youghal. She will meet Sweden’s Helena Falk at Ardmore Studios in Bray on Wednesday night.
Ireland were edged out 5-4 by Poland in Saturday’s international clash outside Warsaw. Beijing Olympian John Joe Joyce, Chris Phelan, Declan Geraghty and Davey Joe Joyce recorded wins for Ireland.
Elsewhere on Saturday, Cork-based Cuban heavyweight Mike “The Rebel” Perez claimed the Prizefighter crown in London on Saturday night. The Sancti Spiritus-born southpaw, who boxes out of the Watergrasshill BC, beat Kerston Manswell, Gregory Tony and Tye Fields to pocket €36,000 from the one-night tournament.
