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Friday, April 30, 2010

Sugar Shane Mosley Conference Call Transcript

The Who Are You Picking? Campaign is in full swing. You will see in the coming days the major websites here in the United States up with banners on their sites where people can vote. CNN, USA Today, ESPN, Spike, People Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, Univision, Yahoo! and The New York Times will all have polls, most of them on their front pages, where people will be able to vote. Some of those sites actually are up already and I just wanted to give you a very quick update.

For those of you who were on the call last week, remember on the whoareyoupicking.com site, which is the Micro site for the fight, last week we had Floyd Mayweather ahead, with 47% of the people voting for him to win the fight and 43% for Sugar Shane Mosley. Well, it’s interesting, that tightened considerably. Mayweather now is only leading 51% to 49% against Shane Mosley.

Interesting as well, on the ESPN site, which just went up yesterday with the poll, it’s reversed; 51.4% are picking Shane Mosley to win the fight against 48.6% with Mayweather. I think the general sports fans are clearly favoring Shane Mosley.

On Spike, a very urban site, an interesting picture there as well. Sixty-seven percent of the people think that Floyd Mayweather is going to win the fight versus 33% for Mosley. So, we actually are going to give daily updates on those polls so you guys, media members, you don’t have to go and log on all of these sites, but we will send out daily updates because I think it’s really fascinating to see on how the various segments of the population here in the United States are picking their guys, so we’re really excited about that.

The fight is virtually sold out. A few tickets left, only $600 and $1,250 tickets are left. The $1,000 are sold out and all other categories as well. As a result, we are now going into closed circuit. We are starting with the closed circuit seats tomorrow at $50. We will initially make about 25,000 seats available in the various MGM Mirage properties. So if you do plan to go to Vegas and spend the Cinco de Mayo weekend in Las Vegas, a great fight weekend here, then go, tickets are available for $50.

Other than that, the movie theaters are tracking tremendously well as well and getting a lot of calls from people who have actually seen the spots and the promotions in the movie theaters. They think that they will have a tremendous, tremendous turnout. On about 12,000 screens across the United States the fight is being promoted and it will be in about 600 screens where the fight will actually be shown. They’re going to be movie theaters in all states.

That’s that and now I’d like to acknowledge and see if he would like to say a few words, Shane Mosley’s advisor and attorney as well, Judd Burstein. Judd, would you like to say a few comments?

Judd Burstein

I have nothing to say. Shane can say it all.

Schaefer

Great. It is a pleasure then for me to introduce to you truly one of the greatest fighters of our generation. With a record of 46 and 5, 39 KO’s, he’s the current WBA Welterweight Champion and has during his 16 year career, compiled six world titles, has ruled the Lightweight, Welterweight and Junior Middleweight division, and is really a man who knows how to perform in the big events. He lives for those big events. Many of those big events, many of those big victories were coming from the MGM Grand, which some people call Mosley’s Greatest Moments, MGM. And it really is a pleasure and an honor for me to introduce to you my good friend and partner in Golden Boy, Sugar Shane Mosley.

Sugar Shane Mosley

Thank you. Thank you, Richard. I just want to say that I’m happy that the fight is taking place and I’m happy with the training camp that we’ve been doing with Naazim Jameson and all the sparring partners, Karl Dargan, Rock, Mike Sharp and Eloy Perez and a few others. I’m just happy and excited to show my stuff May 1. It’s going to be very exciting. I’m in great shape. I’m in tremendous shape and I’m ready to take on Mayweather.

Schaefer

Thank you, Shane. We are going to open it up now for the media members for any questions. Operator, please?

Q:

You mentioned that Karl Dargan and Rock, that you’re sparring with them. They’ve been a little bit inactive lately, but I was just curious of your impressions of them as they’re both Naazimm’s relatives obviously, son and nephew.

Mosley

This camp has been like a family and I’m happy to have all of them contributing. They have great backgrounds, and Naazim Richardson trains them. Karl Dargan is very fast, a little taller than Mayweather, but has very fast hands. I think that a lot of it is the reaction time that I’m dealing with when I work with Karl Dargan to emulate Mayweather. We try to figure out different ways and different strategies of attacking.

Q:

One other question is, is all the stuff that’s popping up now that Victor Conte is sending out, is that any kind of a distraction to you?

Mosley

haven’t really heard anything about it and I don’t choose to even talk about it. That’s been 2003 when that type of stuff happened, so.

Q:

Shane, what would a victory over Floyd Mayweather, Jr. do for your legacy?

Mosley

I think a victory would do very good. It gives the people a chance to see that Sugar Shane really means business when he gets in that ring and fights. I rise to the occasion at every big fight. It’s going to be great.

Q:

One other thing. On the second 24/7, and I don’t know if you watched it or not because you said you didn’t watch the first one, Floyd is saying he thinks he is better than Ali, better than Sugar Ray Robinson. Do you think he is perhaps overstating that a little bit?

Mosley

I think that you can’t say who was the best fighter. I think Sugar Robinson was the greatest. Everybody has their own opinions about different fighters and what they can do and their ability. I think that it’s important that it’s not for you; it’s not for myself to tell everybody that I’m the greatest, it’s for your guys to decide that. So when the people start deciding that Sugar Robinson is the greatest or Muhammad Ali is the greatest, it’s the people that have spoken. You’re not just tooting your own horn and saying, oh I’m the greatest. A lot of the people believe that Sugar Robinson was one of the greatest so I guess he’s one of the greatest, him and Ali.

Q:

Judd, obviously we’ve all, and I’m sure you’ve seen the YouTube stuff, I just want to ask you just a basic question, if I may. I know I can hear you in the background objecting to the form of the question. I believe that was you. It did seem like the person asking the questions had some difficulty forming his questions. Do you think that that defamation video made Shane look bad or do you think it made the questioner look bad because he didn’t know how to form his questions?

Burstein

Well, first of all, I’m going to answer it quickly, but the real answer is there’s no point in talking about this. This was 2003. Shane will be victorious in court and that will answer all the questions. The whole thing about the Conte video was not more a) it was he couldn’t ask questions; but b) that Conte edited it and took it out of context. But there’s nothing more to say about this.

Q:

Do you feel at all like you’re disrespected by fans and the media or do you feel like people put you on an even footing with Floyd?

Mosley

I don’t know. I mean I really don’t get that stuff anymore. I haven’t really been looking into the media and seeing what they’ve been saying. I don’t know really what’s going on. I try to keep myself away from it so I can be focused on the fight and that’s my main importance right now is just being focused on the fight and being the best I can be when I get to the ring.

Q:

Do you feel Floyd is with all the trash talking that he’s doing is trying to goad you into distraction before the fight and maybe anger? Does that stuff anger you or do you not even pay attention to it?

Mosley

At this point, I’m not angered by it. I’m just trying to go to the fight and be the best I can be in the fight. Right now at this point, we’re getting ready to fight now.

Q:

Floyd, Sr. has said that he had heard you’ve been getting beat up by your sparring partner. How do you respond to something like that?

Mosley

I don’t know how he can hear that unless he has some kind of spy inside the gym which I don’t know of. No, I’ve been working good. I’m working diligently and I’m working real good and the sparring partners have been giving me good work. It’s great.

Q:

One last question. Do you feel 100% healthy and ready to go for this fight?

Mosley

I’m 100% healthy. I’m ready to go. I’m ready to fight and show the world I’m the best fighter.

Q:

Obviously they’re saying you don’t want to talk about any of this with Conte which is fine, but drug testing is a huge part of this fight. That’s one of the reasons you guys made it such a big deal when you all agreed to Olympic drug testing for it. Two thousand three is a long time ago, but can you say since then how you have felt differently in fights? Can you tell a difference from that night to how you fight now or recent fights from when you didn’t take that stuff? I mean what did it do to you as a fighter to come off it and then try to get back to just 100% of yourself and how you feel now when your in the ring compared to then.

Mosley

That’s just a stupid question that you asked me because I never did that stuff. I never was on it really like that. I’ve always been a clean fighter. Actually, I feel good and I’ve been feeling good. I’ve been knocking around everybody since 2003 and before 2003. I don’t feel that I should be condemned for something that I never tested positive for and I just told the truth of what happened, because the truth was brought to me by the Federal people that took me court that brought me in as a witness. They brought me in as a witness and the truth was revealed to me there, that this man that I’d seen one time in my whole entire life, before going to deposition and that’s the second time I’ve seen him. It’s ridiculous. It’s ridiculous now that the media wants to make me the poster boy of steroids when I don’t even …. Whatever, if you guys want to continue to think that or put that out there, so be it. So be it. You guys know the truth.

Q:

How are you doing guys? I appreciate your taking the time. This is for Shane. I’m doing a story to tell the people of Philadelphia a little bit more about your trainer and brother, Naazim. I just wanted to get a sense. Someone’s who’s been in this sport for so long, what can a guy like him come in and what has he been able to do for you either in the gym or in the corner and what’s it like working with him? What’s his personality like? Is he a hard ass? Does he make you laugh? Just kind of an insight to his personality as a trainer.

Mosley

Naazim is all of the above. He’s hard on me and makes sure that I’m prepared physically, mentally and especially, all different ways to be prepared to enter the fight. I think that’s the difference, is being prepared. He’s 100% in the game. I’m fighting and he’s fighting as well. He’s not fighting with his fist and hands, but he’s fighting with his mind which is a good thing. I’m happy and pleased with everything that’s going on in my camp.

Q:

Anything specifically different or are you doing anything differently?

Mosley

I’m not sure I’m doing anything differently. I think that he brings me back to all the movement and keep myself sharp and mentally sharp and sound. The punches that he’s having me do, I’m throwing very well and sharp. I’m ready to go.

Q:

What’s he like to work with?

Mosley

He’s a great trainer. I think he’s one of the best if not the best trainer right now today in this era. I couldn’t ask for a better person, a better friend and a better trainer in my camp right now.

Q:

I wanted you to recount that little incident. I think you talked about it when you guys were sitting down on that faceoff about the time Floyd came to you and said something like, “I want to be just like you one day,” something like that.

Mosley

Yes, it was something at, I think he was just out of the Olympics and he was maybe 2-0, 3-0, something like that. I came to his dressing room and I was telling him that he’s a great fighter. He looks good and he was going to be a world champion one day. I said you’re going to be World Champion one day. You look real good. And he’s was like “Oh man, thank you.” Basically he was just saying, “You’re doing good, too.” I think I was the Champion then or I was getting ready to be the Champion. He said, “Hopefully if I can be just like you, it will be great if I can win a title and all that stuff.” So we were both giving each other props and stuff about how good we were. That was it. He just wanted to have the accomplishments that I had accomplished in my professional career. He said if I can have those accomplishments then I’d be happy too, if I can be like you and have all the accomplishments that I have. I don’t know if was like being exactly like me per se, but just the accomplishments and everything I’ve done in my boxing career at that time, he was impressed with and he let me know that then.

Q:

How much do you think that his intimidation tactics are part of his getting to another opponent and how much do you think you have frustrated him by not reacting to any of that?

Mosley

I’m not really sure. I know me not reacting to his antics or whatever, that’s just me blocking all that stuff out and wanting to fight. I don’t really care about the different things that are being said. That doesn’t really matter. What matters is the fight and what happens in the fight. So that’s my whole interest and I kind of block all that other stuff out.

Q:

And one last question. You had a series of fights at 154. How do you think having fought heavier opponents, bigger opponents, how do you think that will translate into a fight where you’re fighting a guy that’s mostly a speed and defensive guy?

Mosley

Well, I think it might be a little different. I know it helps with the power aspect. I should be able to walk him down, a little stronger or better and do different things. I feel good about being in a ring with bigger guys. Both bigger and smaller; I’ve been in the ring with both sizes.

Q:

Okay. And what’s up with the tattoo on your shoulder?

Mosley

I’ve had it for about eight or nine months now. I was going to have it before the Berto fight. It’s a warrior, you know. It’s a Maori warrior tattoo that shows what type of fighter I am. When I get in the ring, I’m a warrior and I want the people to see that.

Q:

Shane, obviously this has a chance to be the biggest fight of the year in 2010 and a lots being made of it. There’s a lot of coverage. Is it the biggest fight at this stage can you say that you’ve ever been involved in and if not, what was?

Mosley

Well, I think at this point it will be the biggest fight. You have a lot of viewers watching it. It’s a fight that the world wanted to see. So it’s a big fight. It’s a very big fight and I’m excited to have this fight.

Q:

It’s bigger than fighting Oscar the first time?

Mosley

The first time I fought Oscar it had its own significance and it took me where I am today right now to be able to fight this type of mega fight. But it is definitely a big fight. Fighting De la Hoya the first time was a real big fight. There was a lot of people there at the fight and there was a lot of big expectations, but this is probably I can say right now, one of the biggest fights.

Q:

And to follow up real quickly on a question from earlier about Mayweather’s intimidation tactics. Obviously, you’ve had your fair share of things to say about your going to knock Mayweather out and some of his rhetoric and his talk really ramps up when it gets to fight week and he gets to see you face to face. How do you deal with that? Do you address it? Do you let it drop? Do you pick your spots? What do you do?

Mosley

Well, I guess it depends. As it comes, you pick your spots and maybe check them a little bit here and there and get him back to thinking. But at this point, it’s time to fight now. At this point, we’ve done a little talking and this and that, but now it’s fight time now and now we’re getting ready to show what we can do.

Q:

As you’ve been on the outside watching that over the years, do you think it has worked against certain guys?

Mosley

I think so. I think a lot of the press and media and just the whole event of all that can kind of distract a fighter but at this time, I just try to be; like I said, I just try to just think about focusing on the fight. Now it’s getting close to the fight and we need to worry about the fight instead of worrying about what people are saying about us.

Q:

Shane, just a couple things. First of all, I want to clarify are you defending your WBA title in this fight? Is that up for grabs?

Mosley

I don’t think so.

Schaefer

No, actually I can answer that for you. It looks like the fight will not be for Shane’s WBA title, however Shane will be; I mean Floyd is not fighting for the WBA title, but Shane is.

Q:

Okay, that’s kind of what I thought. I wonder Shane, I know this is a business, but the guys that get in the ring and do the fighting like to have belt fight to win titles and certainly in the instance of you against Floyd, arguably the two best welterweights in the world fighting for a lot of money, but pride as well as for maybe the championship of the world and you seem willing to do and I’ve heard a lot of comments from Floyd where he talks about well, the belts just collect dust and this and that. What is your take on that sort of attitude where I know you’re a guy that likes to fight the best guys and obviously wants to earn a lot of money doing it, but also I know takes certain pride in being champion. What do you think that says about Floyd where he has just this cavalier attitude where he at least publically says he doesn’t really give a darn about it?

Schaefer

No, you know my opinion about the subject. I think at that level, it really depends on the fighters. I think boxing is a sport of champions and it is the belt and it signifies the champion and so I think really at that level it is up to the fighters. Some fighters want to fight for a belt, others don’t. I think it depends on the fight and it depends on the circumstances. But let’s see what Shane has to say.

Mosley

I don’t know what to think about that. I think he should want; I mean everybody grows up wanting to fight for a belt and want to be world champion and for them to just dismiss it like oh, I’m bigger than the belt, I don’t know. That just doesn’t seem like he’s in the sport for the sport. He’s in it just for the money, which is good if he wants to do that. If he wants to fight for money, to each his own, but I love the glory, the legendary status of being a champion and winning belts and being the best guys out there. If he did that, the money is going to come regardless.

Q:

One other question for you about Floyd. He has stated, as has been discussed in this call, he’s the greatest fighter of all time, better than all the Ali’s and Sugar Robinson’s as we’ve covered. And then you look at his resume and he was the welterweight champ of the world when he beat some guys that he beat and then of course gave that up when he retired. But there are a lot of people, myself included, who have criticized the level of his competition particularly since he’s come out of the Lightweight division. When you look at his resume, do you think he has any real resume as a welterweight that by beating you, that would be clearly by far and away his best welterweight victory to do that?

Mosley

I always say that the best fighters, you have to let the people decide that. You can’t be the one to say oh, I’m the best, I’m the best.

Q:

But what do you think of his resume as a welterweight so far?

Mosley

As a welterweight, he hasn’t fought another top welterweight and I’m the first one that’s he fought that’s world champion so it makes the fight a big fight. All the other guys have not really been the best, if you will. There are a lot of great welterweights out there that he could have chosen to fight instead of fighting the ones that he fought. The guys coming from …-47, 35-47, so like I said we’ll see what happens in the fight.

Q:

Hey, Shane. I appreciate your taking my call. I just had one question. I image you’re going to want to put a lot of pressure on Mayweather and I was just wondering how you plan to deal with that … right hand of his?

Mosley

Well, that’s what’s being worked on, different things like that. So, hopefully, we’ll implement that into the fight when we fight him.

Q:

Okay, so you’re keeping it a secret?

Mosley:

I’m supposed to.

Q:

Strategy wise, you guys are both incredibly fast fighters and I’m curious of your perception of Floyd’s speed. Do you think you’re as fast as Floyd at this point in your career and how are you going to counter that speed?

Mosley

Well, I think I’m as fast as any fighter out there and especially Floyd. I’m one of the fastest. I’ve always been quick. We’ll see when we get in there. I’ve never been in the ring with Floyd so I don’t know how to answer that, how I’m going to counter. I’m just going to do what I do best as Sugar Shane Mosley.

Q:

I mean when you watch the tapes, what’s your perception of his speed?

Mosley

I think he has good hand speed, but I think my hand speed is good, too. I don’t know if I’m going to be faster or I’m going to be slower. I have to get in the ring and see. I believe I’m faster. I believe that I’m going to have the advantage in the speed, but we’ll see.

Q:

It seems like you and Naazim have two have very different personalities, but you both have the same understanding of the sport. I just wanted to know like how it was when you two first started training together, like how long it took for you two to gel and what your thoughts are of him as a trainer compared to everyone else you’ve been with in your career.

Mosley

I think he’s a great trainer. I think he’s the best trainer, one of the best trainers that I’ve worked with.

Q:

You had it right the first time. He is the best trainer in the sport.

Mosley

Yes. It’s been great working with him. Right from day one, we gelled perfectly because we had the same philosophies about boxing and different things. We worked great. Right from day one it was a great match.

Q:

To me, from my own experience with Naazim, he seems to be the most honest guy out there. He’ll always tell you what’s on his mind, never in a disrespectful manner, but he’s not going to sugarcoat anything. Has that caused any problems in training? I know some guys they tell you what you want to hear and Naazim tells you what you need to hear. Do you feel like his take is more refreshing than what most others are willing to tell you?

Mosley

I think so. I think him giving me his honest opinion on what he believes and what he feels makes it that much better when we get into the fight. We understand each other. I know what he’s telling me is the truth and it’s not I just can’t just guess and say okay, well can you sugarcoat it a little bit for me? I know that he’s telling me the truth when I get into the fight or when I’m sparring or whatever. Whatever it is, he’s going to give me his honest opinion and I’m happy with that.

Q:

Does that give you more confidence once you step into the ring? I mean I know it’s only the one fight with him, but this will be your second.

Mosley

It’ll definitely gives me more confidence definitely since I’ve been to the ring. I know that I definitely need to do the work. All the good work for this fight I’ve done, the training and different strategies and moves we did, I know that I’m ready and prepared for the fight. All I’ve got to do is just execute.

Q:

Good, good, good. I’m not sure exactly how to ask this, but the fight is being portrayed by some people as sort of a good versus evil, although I think evil is a little bit strong. Does that seem appropriate to you? That would be my first question.

Mosley

Good versus evil? I don’t know. I don’t really think so. I think that Floyd just acts out because of that’s just being himself. But you know, probably outside of the fight, you probably could see some good qualities Floyd has. He can charm up a little bit and be more friendly or whatever. It’s just when the fight happens, he just starts getting a little crazy and starts going back to the things that he’s used to doing. But, I don’t know if you’d say good versus evil. But it’s just going to be a great fight.

Q:

You sort of answered my follow-up. I believe you told me that you don’t really think he’s such a bad guy. It’s just sort of stuff that he says.

Mosley

Yes, some of the things that he says, it’s bad and it reflects and looks bad on him when he says the different things. Some of the things he says I don’t really think he means. He just kind of says it to get a reaction out of you to see what happens and see what you do and that’s probably part of his plan or his strategy before the fight. It’s like fighting before the fight. He’ll just say what’s on the top of his head and just get a reaction out of you. If he gets a reaction out of you, then he’s done a good job, he’s won. So, I don’t perceive him as being a real, like an evil person. That’s just sometimes his nature.

Q:

Okay. So last thing. So one on one, when you’ve run into him over the years, you guys have been fine with each other?

Mosley

Yes, we see each other like I said on the basketball courts or I might see him out and about. We’re fine. There’s no problems. I see like his family members, Roger and Floyd, Sr. and a few other guys. I don’t hate any of those guys. We have a job to do right now and it’s competitive. It’s a competitive sport. We want to know who is the best and I’m here to get in there and show that I’m the best.

Q:

I just wanted to ask and sort of follow-up on that last question and then I have another question. Do you think after this that you and Floyd will have any kind of relationship? I don’t know if you guys had any kind of relationship previous to this, but can you see yourself maybe having any kind of relationship with him whether it’s a professional relationship or whether it’s a personal relationship or being friends or hanging out or anything like that?

Mosley

Yes, of course. It’s nothing personal. I know for me, it’s all business. This is business and this is a competitive sport. This is our legacy on who’s the best fighter. It’s a challenge. So it’s a challenge that I’m ready to take and I’m ready to go into the history books as being the guy to beat Floyd Mayweather and the guy that beats everybody out there, the last man standing. I’m into that. So, when I say that, I mean yes definitely I’ll be there. We can be friends. We can go to dinner, whatever after the fight. It’s all good. The families can get together, all that. But for now, I guess we’re enemies.

Q:

Okay. And the second question, how disruptive has just the Olympic style training and having to let these guys know where you are 24 hours a day and just sort of opening up your camp to the testing, has that been a disruption for you or has it thrown off what you normally would be doing in preparation?

Mosley

Actually, no. Actually, I like the fact that they come all the time and I learned a lot of different things about different things to do. Different things that, if you will, just eating natural and normal foods without taking any of the vitamins. Taking a bunch of vitamins is a good thing for your body. I feel good. I feel great. This has actually been a breakthrough. I like it.

Q:

Okay. You mean say like if you had the sniffles or you have a cold, most people would just like reach for the Tylenol Sinus or whatever. You can’t just reach for that. You have to sort of find out whether it’s okay to take something for the sniffles or sinus infection or cold or whatever, right?

Mosley

Yes it’s been educational, but you can take Tylenol or some other things if you get the sniffles. But there’s other things to take that’s natural that you can use that you can take too as well. It hasn’t bothered me at all. Everything has been great. I love the fact, like I said, it’s been like a breakthrough for me with this USADA thing. It’s actually a good thing.

Q:

Now have they said how far up to the fight that they’re going to keep testing?

Mosley

I don’t know. I’m fine with it. All my testing has been real quick. I did like five of them already and everything is good.

Q:

Okay, five tests. How many for blood?

Mosley

I did three for blood and five for blood and urine.

Q:

Okay. Did you feel weak after the blood test?

Mosley

No, no. They just put a little needle in. I guess it’s psychological. If you feel weak or whatever, that’s a psychological thing with a needle going into you, but with me, I never got weak with needles or blood. That never affected me.

Q:

Just one question for Richard. Could you please go back and explain the belt situation? What exactly is on the line for Shane?

Schaefer

Well, it is not a WBA world championship fight. That’s the fact. However, on the separate side, we are currently discussing with the WBA that for Shane, Shane would be defending his belt. But for the purpose of this call, it’s basically a non-WBA fight. The two best fighters fighting each other I guess. That’s what’s at stake here.

I think that is wrapping it up and again, it’s only a few days for Fight Week. We’re excited about it and look forward to see you all there on May 1 for the great showdown between Floyd Mayweather and Sugar Shane Mosley. See you at the Fights.
Thank You for your time.
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Floyd Mayweather Conference Call Transcript & MP3‏

Floyd Mayweather Conference Call Transcript & MP3‏
Good afternoon and welcome to today's conference call featuring the money man himself: Floyd Mayweather. We have a week to go and I have to say, this is, as I just predicted, shaping up as the most heavily promoted fight of all time. We are for the first time utilizing all available new media and all media platforms and generating a pre-fight buzz, which I frankly have never seen before.

This fight is not just getting coverage in the boxing and sports media, but it has captured the interest of the financial and the entertainment press here in the United States, but frankly around the world. The general public is embracing this fight as what it is, truly one of the all time greatest showdowns between two of the best athletes of our time.

The talk is 'Who Are You Picking?'. Your opinions are changing everyday as we have seen in the many polls which are up. It seems that the urban sites, such as Spike and the financial sites like CNN, entertainment sites like People and Entertainment Weekly are heavily favoring Floyd Mayweather, while the Hispanic polls and the general sports fans are more towards Shane Mosley. Within the boxing community, it is shaping up as a dead even race.

The one fact I want to point out here is that with nine days to go, we have already experienced an unprecedented 20 million impressions. The number of people participating in these various polls is approaching over a quarter of a million votes. I am convinced that we are on track to break the all-time pay-per-view record.

Don't miss this weekend as well, the third episode of 24/7, which is bringing in itself record ratings. And by the way, Floyd, I was really impressed with Cash Flow. That kid is going to be very special just like you are. It's a pleasure now to introduce to you, our co-promoter Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions.

L. Ellerbe

Thanks, Richard. First off, I'd like to thank everyone for joining the call today. It is my great pleasure to introduce not only an extremely talented individual who is a complete athlete, but is a great father, son and a provider to a lot of people.

Floyd has been training with unbelievable intensity. It's amazing. For this fight, not only has he been training so hard, he still finds the time to be a great father, as he's doing today. Right after this call, he's going to see his daughter for an award ceremony. So without further ado, none other than the greatest fighter of all time, the best fighter in the world today, Floyd Mayweather.

F. Mayweather

Thanks for having me on this call today. I want to thank all the writers and all the media. I also want to thank Richard Schaefer and Golden Boy, and I want to let Richard Schaefer know that they've done a tremendous job with Shane Mosley, layering Shane Mosley's career, but also with the rest of their fighters. I wish everybody nothing but the best.

I really want to thank Leonard Ellerbe and Al Haymon and the rest of my team. I truly believe in my heart they've done a tremendous job with my career and I'm very, very appreciative. I just want to thank all the writers and everybody.

May 1, I know we're not that far away. I'm going to give the fans one hell of a fight. I'm in tiptop condition and tiptop shape.

Q:

Last week when I asked you about remaining undefeated, you said that wasn't what was driving you. Let me ask you this. As far as the legacy of your career is concerned, is this fight about enhancing it or preserving it?

Mayweather

Every fight at this point is always about...it all depends on who the opponent is. At this point, it's about enhancing it. So like I said before, I think Shane's a solid welterweight. He's been around the sport for a long, long time and he's done some things in this sport. I've done a lot of things in this sport. I've done a lot of things that a lot of fighters weren't able to do in this sport and didn't do in this sport. So like I said before, I think with Shane Mosley, it's going to of course, enhance my legacy.

Q:

First of all, can I get your thoughts in which ways do you think that you and Shane are similar as fighters and which way you think you're different?

Mayweather

I think we're totally different.

Q:

Do you? In what ways?

Mayweather

I think we're totally different. I think that he's a fighter that always worries about landing one big shot. He's worried about who is extremely strong and I worry about being smart and winning. So we approach fighting in two total different ways, always.

I mean, Shane may be loading up with wide shots and kind of using not really a fuller jab and I use a fuller jab. You know when I shoot my shots, I look at my opponents and I look where I'm punching. When Shane punches a lot of times, he closes his eyes if you go back and look at some of Shane's fights. So I think we are two total different fighters.

Q:

Is there any way you think you might be similar?

Mayweather

Yes, we're fighting May 1st.

Q:

What are your thoughts on the fact that you cannot fight for the WBA title in this fight? Did you know that?

Mayweather

I'll let Leonard answer that. I didn't want to fight for the WBA title.

Q:

You didn't?

Ellerbe

At this level, Floyd did not; it's not about belts. It's about fighting, like he said, to improve his legacy and also it's about money.

Q:

Okay. So the title never entered into the equation?

Ellerbe

Never.

Mayweather

No.

Ellerbe


Floyd's already the best fighter in the world. What does he need to fight for a belt to prove that?

Q:

Hey, Floyd. I'm curious if you could talk about some the fighters you admired while growing up and if you modeled your style after any of them? And then also, this fight coming up, kind of talk about the potential for it to be along the lines of some of the great Hagler/Hearns fights or Leonard/Hagler fights of the 80's.

Mayweather

As a kid, I always liked to go watch. I used to like to watch the fights always, especially either on HBO or closed circuit. I used to love to go watch Hagler, Hearns, Leonard, Duran, Larry Holmes, Pryor and Pernell Whitaker, Roger Mayweather, Mike Tyson and the list goes on and on. I used to love just to go watch boxing. I was just a fan of boxing. I used to love just to go. I used to love just to go watch boxing, especially and of course, the build up to the fight before the two get in the ring on HBO, it used to be just so unbelievable.

I don't know, I can't say how this fight matches up, but I think I'm a 15-round fighter. I think I'll show the world that I'm always in tiptop shape and I'm in the best condition. You know, the guys from 24/7 say that they went to every other fighter's camp and they went to some other guy's camps, some mixed martial arts guys and they said they always ask them, well who works the hardest and they say well, hands down Floyd Mayweather. Nobody pushes to the limit like I do, so I was happy when I heard that. Like I said before, the only thing I want to do is just be the best. So I'm going to continue just to work hard and I'm pretty sure Shane's in good condition, we're going to put on one hell of a show May 1.

Q:

If I can just go back to when Shane entered the ring last September, like you, I didn't think it was very cool. I thought that was your moment. I'm wondering did him doing that have anything to do with your prefight hype talk being a little bit more personal than usual?

Mayweather

No. If you ever noticed, I think that Shane is out of character. That is not Shane Mosley to be trash talking. I've been doing that my whole career, so this is nothing new. If you go back and do your homework, Floyd Mayweather has been doing this since I've been fighting the Tuesday night fight, since I've been fighting on HBO, ESPN, my early days, since the '90s. I've never known Shane to be a big trash talker. And the thing that I think that is not cool is how Shane is talking about; well, I didn't like when 24/7 was out, Shane kind of downplayed Jack Mosley. That's not cool. Jack Mosley stuck by us on our side. Jack Mosley was a good trainer and a good father. He helped his son. He stood by his son's side through the ups and through the downs of his career. For him to say his Dad wasn't giving him 100% and I didn't like that at all. I think Jack Mosley is a cool guy, personally.

And as far as taking it personally, no, this is my job. I know what I have to go out there and do. Like I've always said before and it's the truth, period. There's no remedy on how to beat Floyd Mayweather. There's no remedy on how to beat me yet. So the thing is this, everyone is trying to solve the problem. It's like a difficult math problem that no one can solve. No one can solve it. So, they go and try to solve the problem, how to beat Floyd Mayweather. That's the ultimate goal. I mean they say, "Who are you picking?" but the ultimate goal is, "How can I beat Floyd Mayweather?"

Q:

One last thing. You mentioned on the last 24/7 that you think you're better than Ali and Sugar Ray Robinson. Why do you think that, Floyd?

Mayweather

Why not? I take my hat off to them. I got respect for Sugar Ray Robinson. I've got respect for Muhammad Ali. But I'm a man just like they're men. I put on my pants just like they put on their pants. What makes them any better than I am? Because they fought a thousand fights? In my era, it's totally different. You know? It's pay-per-view now, so things change. It's out with the old and in with the new. Things change. Like I said, Muhammad Ali is one hell of a fighter. But Floyd Mayweather is the best. Sugar Ray Robinson is one hell of a fighter, but Floyd Mayweather is the best.

Q:

In 24/7 you talk about being better than Ali and Robinson. I'm curious where you put Mosley and Manny Pacquiao on that list.

Mayweather

Well, I don't know where I could put Mosley. I can't see how a guy can call himself great. I can't see how a guy like Mosley can even call himself great or he can't talk about; I can't see Mosley talk about putting himself as a future Hall of Famer and this was a guy we don't know how long he was taking enhancement drugs. So this is something that we don't know.

Okay, Manny Pacquiao struggled twice, which we really know he got beat, struggled twice with Marquez, which we know he really lost, right? And we know he's been knocked out twice. And he's been out-boxed by Eric Morales, but they still give him Boxer of the Decade. So that's something I don't understand. He beat a Miguel Cotto who just got pummeled with a cast. So I mean, tell me what it really is. He beat Miguel Cotto that got pummeled with a cast and he beat a Ricky Hatton that got stretched by me. I'm trying to find out what it really is. That's not for me to choose. That's not for me to put him in the Hall of Fame. All I'm saying, if you're a clean athlete, take your test. That's all I'm saying. That's all I've got to say. If you're a clean athlete, take the test. Show the world, you know what, I'm a natural. Take the test, that's all I say. That you saw they come get you at any time and take the test.

We're talking about what these guys are doing. We're talking about me. I've been dominating since the 90's. That's what we talk about what I've been doing. Like I said before, when guys like this fight De la Hoya and then they say, "Oh, it's unbelievable." When I fight De la Hoya, they said, "De la Hoya's washed up." See? Things like this that I don't like. Would you like when I go out and beat Mosley, I'm going to go say he's over the hill. It's always an excuse. But they don't talk about how I won the title in one year. I had the title all through my career, retired, came back and beat the number two dude pound-for-pound, but they say you was too big for Marquez, but you got too big for Manny Pacquiao. Well him and Marquez are the same size.

Q:

In your view, would it shut everybody up if, you just fought?

Mayweather

I don't care about nothing. I don't care about shutting anybody up. I don't care about shutting anybody up. I'm happy with myself. I'm happy with my career and I'm happy with my family.

Q:

Floyd you talked a lot, just mentioned actually your retirement in your last comments to the other reporter.

Mayweather

Hold on real quick. Let me find out when my daughter...Hold on real quick. Hold on one sec.

Rafael

Hey, Floyd. Being a good Dad, right?

Mayweather

Yes. My daughter is getting an award today. She's like the number one kid at her school.

Q:

What I was going to ask you is you had mentioned in one of your past comments you were talking about how you had retired and come back and still easily defeated Marquez in September. I wondered if at any point since you've come out of your retirement and well, let me put it like this. When you were retired and you gave up your Welterweight Championship and you gave up your perch as the number one fighter in the world because you weren't fighting and you had said you were retiring and you were done for a year and a half or more, and at that point, other fighters moving up the ladder, that's when Pacquiao took over the number one mantle in most people's thoughts and was winning along the way, at any point do you regret retiring for the year and a half because you obviously could have had some big fights during that period of time?

Mayweather

No, not at all. No, not at all. I'll let Leonard answer that.

Ellerbe

No, I mean and actually when Floyd came back, he's bigger than he was when he left the sport. All it did was allow him a chance to spend more time with his family and get a chance to really enjoy his time off. He came back and he's still the best and the reason why he's the best is because he's never been beat.

Q:

No, understood, understood, Leonard. But I wondered from Floyd's point of view if he hadn't of retired, he theoretically would still be considered number one and there really wouldn't be....

Mayweather

That's only opinionated. We know that. We say numbers never lie. Numbers and stats, stats don't lie. Numbers and stats don't lie.

Q:

It seems Floyd when others say that somebody else is number one, it does seem in your comment that it seems to irritate you a little bit.

Mayweather

No, I'm not worried about that. I know where I stand there. I'm not worried about that. I know where I stand there. It's like this. Most people that got an opinion don't know nothing about boxing. And that's one thing that Roger, when Roger be on the show, when he be talking about, which is true, most people that got an opinion about boxing; you've got to realize that most of the commentators on HBO knows nothing about boxing. The only one that knows something about boxing is Lennox Lewis. The rest of the commentators on HBO knows nothing about boxing.

Q:

Okay. Let me change the topic real quick, wanted to ask you about 24/7. I think is like your fourth time or fifth time being on the show. It's it your fourth? Fourth time?

Mayweather

Yes, I think. Something like that.

Q:

Been a lot of times, so I wonder is it getting to the point where whenever you go into your training camp to do your thing that that's just, they're as much, the guys that do it, are just as much a part of your daily routine in life as it would be getting your hands wrapped or working the mitts with your Uncle? Does it just sort of go along with training for a big fight? And if so, we've seen so much of you on the show. What else can you do to sort of make it different than what maybe it's been for the past several fights, even though it's still entertaining?

Mayweather

Well, the thing with 24/7, I asked them, we have a lot of different things, a lot of other things. But I'm not the editor. I'm not in the office. I'm not in the office or the editing room editing the tapes. So it has nothing to do with me. If it was up to me, there's a lot of other things that I would love to put in there. There's a lot of other things that I would love to put in there.

Q:

Like what?

Mayweather

It's so much stuff, you know. They've got so many behind the scenes things that they can't show.

Q:

Could you say an example or two?

Mayweather

I mean 24/7, you talk to 24/7 they could tell you guys. It's so, so much stuff. It's just a lot of stuff.

Q:

Floyd, I've tried to rank your top like one through five victories based on the circumstances, your performance, and I kind of went Corrales, Hernandez, De la Hoya, Hatton, Gatti, maybe Castillo and I wondered whether you could briefly address what of those performances you thought were the best and maybe address the circumstances around why your performance was so good in those fights.

Mayweather

I don't know. I don't even rate myself. Like I said before, I don't even watch boxing. All I do is go out there and just do my job. I go do my job. The main thing is I was just giving my kids my time. That's the main thing now because I'm a critic, I'm a harsh critic of myself, so no matter how I go, I always say to myself I could have done better. When I fought Corrales, I said well, I could have done this better. When I fought Gatti, I said I could have done this better. Even when I fought Oscar De la Hoya, if we had fought in eight ounce gloves or I would have fought him in gloves that I chose, we would have chopped him up. So things happen, but like I say, you just take the good with the good and you take the bad with the bad and you just keep striving. My main thing is I don't worry about; I try not to rate myself. I just try to go out there and perform well, at least when I go out.

Q:

Okay Floyd, obviously when you took all that time off, you came back and you came back, you came back against Marquez and there were some things said about you by like Dana White and Bob Arum that you had no drawing ability. But your pay-per-view numbers went right through the roof with the Marquez fight...

Mayweather

Okay, no, no. I was talking to my daughter. She came up and people told me I had to wait a little bit longer.

Q:

But yeah, there was some things said about your drawing ability, that you couldn't draw flies, that kind of stuff, but then your pay-per-view numbers went right through the roof with that first fight back. Do you in any way feel vindicated by that?

Mayweather

Well, the thing is this, like I said before, of course I want to please the fans and I want to please everybody that's buying pay-per-view. But self-preservation is the law of the land. I come first. I must fight for Floyd Mayweather first. But everybody's entitled to their own opinion. I called Dana White up because the thing is, I was friends with Dana White before, before he even got involved with the MMA. That's the thing. Dana White used to hang around. He used to be with my Uncle Jeff. My Uncle Jeff is one of the people, he's the guy who got Dana White started. Dana White was teaching boxing aerobics and somebody had to teach him about boxing, so my Uncle Jeff Mayweather taught him about boxing. And in the beginning of my career, White had asked me, he said basically, he asked me can I wear this little patch.? He was trying to build this thing I told him I could do it as a favor. In the beginning of my career, you go back and look at my trunks and it had a little thing on it, a little dog on there, this little patch on my shorts for Dana White. So after the fight, I called Dana White up, after the Marquez fight and I just talked to him like a man. I said I don't have nothing against you at all. You do your thing and I wish you guys nothing but the best and I'm pretty sure you feel the same way. That was it and I asked him if he wanted to go eat lunch and sit down like men and talk about it and he said he would get back with me, but he never called. But I never worried about it.

You know Bob Arum always says that I can't draw flies and he says black fighters can't do numbers. That's something that he's going to say that forever. But the thing is, he's always trying to get his fighters to fight me. So like I said before, every fighter often goes to fight Floyd Mayweather not matter what happens because if you notice, I mean with De la Hoya, he got his biggest pay fighting Floyd Mayweather. Shane Mosley is getting his biggest payday with Floyd Mayweather and the list goes on and on.
Q:

Okay, Floyd. I really appreciate that. Last question, you mentioned Shane's Dad and how he disrespected him or how you felt he disrespected him on 24/7. How has it been for you to have your Dad in camp and has it made things better? Are you more motivated? What is different about having him in camp and can you talk a little bit about the reconciliation process?

Mayweather

I just think that I think we got the bomb squad in camp. It's truly unbelievable. I got my Uncle Roger. He's not just got experience as a trainer, but he's got experience at being in the crunch, being in a championship fight. My father of course, like I said before, he got experience with being a top contender in the sport of boxing.

The thing with Shane's trainer, if I'm not mistaken, when it comes down to crunch time, how can you possibly tell a fighter what to do if you've never been in crunch time? And the thing is this, when he was talking about, just like Shane's trainer said he wasn't going to get into a debate, a back and forth debate. But once again, we baited him in, so he's going back and forth, you know and that's something that he said he wasn't going to do. He wasn't going to be trash talking. He wasn't going to go back and forth. He wasn't going to get baited into doing that. I guess we up one cause we baited him in to talking trash and he said that that's something he wouldn't do. He said he wouldn't stoop that low. Well, it's obviously not that low if he stooped to that level.

See You at the Fights.
Thank You for your time.
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©®™ 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 All rights reserved

Thursday, April 29, 2010

NY State Senate Unanimously Approves State Athletic Commission. Chairwoman Melvina Lathan for Second, Three Year Term

The New York State Senate today unanimously approved the current chairwoman of the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC), Melvina Lathan, for a second three-year term. Tom Santino was also unanimously approved to serve as one of three commissioners on the State Athletic Commission.

"I want to congratulate Melvina and Tom on their appointments," Secretary of State Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez said. "Chairwoman Lathan has served the state with dignity, and I am pleased that the State Senate has confirmed her to continue in her current role. Boxing has a long and storied history in New York, and under Melvina's guidance the Athletic Commission has reinvigorated the sport here, making it as safe as possible and helping better prepare boxers for life after boxing. She has made the Athletic Commission as transparent as it has ever been."

"It has been my honor to serve as chair of the State Athletic Commission," Chairwoman Lathan said. "I am looking forward to continuing my work with Governor Paterson and Secretary of State Cortés-Vázquez, ensuring boxing bouts here are safe and fair. We will never compromise safety in the ring, and I will continue to work with NYSAC-trained doctors and inspectors to ensure their training is as current as possible."

"I want to thank Governor Paterson, Secretary of State Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez and the State Senate for this opportunity. As a former professional boxer, I know how important it is to have an open and transparent Athletic Commission overseeing boxing in New York state," Tom Santino said. "I look forward to working with Chairwoman Lathan and fellow commissioner Judge Edward Torres and continuing their efforts to reinvigorate boxing in our state."

Chairwoman Lathan was appointed by Governor David Paterson on July 25, 2008 – the first woman and the first African American female to hold this title – after holding the position of NYSAC commissioner for the previous year. She has a distinguished career as a professional boxing judge, judging more than 235 fight cards including 82 world title matches in the 10 countries. She became the first African American female licensed as a professional boxing Judge in New York in 1991, and she is also licensed in five other states and by two Native American tribes. Chairwoman Lathan has devised and conducted training seminars for boxing judges for NYSAC, the Washington, D.C., Boxing Commission, the International Boxing Federation and the World Boxing Organization. She is the only female recipient of the Rocky Marciano Officials Award presented by the American Association for the Improvement of Boxing.

Commissioner Santino is a retired NYPD detective, former professional boxer and current coach of the Baruch College baseball team. He lives with his family in Queens, NY.
See you at the Fights.
Thank You for your time.
EL Boxing Empress Online @ Twitter http://www.twitter.com/Keishamorrisey
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©®™ 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 All photos by "EL Boxing Empress" Keisha Morrisey- Empire Morrisey Photo-Studios, Khris Kirkpatrick for Bloodline Boxing Communications Entertainment and Starlite Boxing's Sweetscience Magnews-Online Publication all rights reserved

No Holds Barred: Mayweather-Mosley Preview with Charles Farrell

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman speaks with our colleague and correspondent Charles Farrell about some of the latest and not-so-greatest in boxing, and the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Shane Mosley fight, which takes place Saturday, May 1, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Mayweather-Mosley fight will be shown live in the U.S. on HBO pay-per-view.

But we begin with a commentary on one of the truly underrated overachievers in boxing, John Ruiz, who just announced his retirement. Few appreciated why he fought like he did, in a clutching style often not pleasing to the eye, but which landed him near the top of the heavyweight division for almost a decade.

The Mayweather-Mosley event has once again been preceded by a series of near-mindless infomercials on the HBO 24/7 series. Instead of ruminating on whose uncle said what, we discuss the careers of both fighters, their styles, and what each man must do to win this fight. Despite the cheapening of it by all the nasty rubbish which has been heaped upon us, this fight still is an important one and may actually end up being rather entertaining.

We also once again rip the clueless and compromised boxing media, whose members seem only to understand how to please promoters and networks enough to be buddies with the suits and get ringside press credentials. We give no quarter to these shills, hypocrites, and mediocrities who pose as journalists and writers, and we even do so without cussing.

Our lengthy discussion also takes us to many other issues in boxing, and is candid and on a high level because, unlike the guys who run the sport, we respect our audience.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here. You can also download No Holds Barred here. If one link does not work, please try another. The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", by Ian Carpenter.

Make sure to visit the official boxing forum for No Holds Barred, the MySpace Boxing Forum.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

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See you at the Fights.
Thank You for your time.
EL Boxing Empress Online @ Twitter http://www.twitter.com/Keishamorrisey
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Honorable Keisha Morrisey http://www.keishamorrisey.com

©®™ 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 All photos by "EL Boxing Empress" Keisha Morrisey- Empire Morrisey Photo-Studios, Khris Kirkpatrick for Bloodline Boxing Communications Entertainment and Starlite Boxing's Sweetscience Magnews-Online Publication all rights reserved

THE PRESSURE OF A PERFECT RECORD; WHEN SOMEONE'S "0" JUST MIGHT GO‏

THE PRESSURE OF A PERFECT RECORD; WHEN SOMEONE'S "0" JUST MIGHT GO

Boxing is not a sport that readily lends itself to statistics, but one set of numbers is as elemental as a left-right combination: a fighter's wins, losses and draws. We often overvalue a good record and misinterpret a mediocre one; there are dozens of 10-loss veterans who are better than young fighters with only one or two defeats.

Nothing, however, catches our eye like a perfect record and when one or both undefeated fighters square off, you can count on either the ring announcer or the TV commentators declaring, "Somebody's '0' has got to go!" or "Maybe tonight his '0' might just go!"

Yet the fascination with a fighter who's never lost remains strong. For instance, the appeal of Floyd Mayweather, who's "0" is on the line against Sugar Shane Mosley on May 1 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and live on HBO Pay-Per-View®, can be attributed to his sustained excellence and his star power, but there's something more. Over the course of his 15-year career, Mayweather's engaged in 40 fights, and each time he's proven himself the better man.

Maybe we focus on a perfect record more than the fighters do...

"I don't think about the '0'," said Mayweather, whose last loss came on July 22, 1996, at the Olympic Games in Atlanta. "I think about winning. Everything takes care of itself if you win.

"Of course it's a great thing to be undefeated, but I don't consciously think about it when I'm preparing for the next fight."

The record against which all others are judged is former heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano's mark of 49-0. In September 1985, then-WBC titlist Larry Holmes was 48-0 when he lost to Michael Spinks.

"I was always tying records, breaking records; it didn't mean [expletive] to me," Holmes said. "I didn't care. What was important was making money, keeping the title, and proving people wrong.

"The undefeated record meant I wasn't getting beaten up, and that meant a lot to me."

In November 2008, super middleweight/light heavyweight champion Joe Calzaghe fought for the last time. He retired with a record of 46-0. What made Calzaghe different from most unbeaten fighters is that his toughest tests, vs. Jeff Lacy, Bernard Hopkins and Mikkel Kessler, came toward the conclusion of his hall of fame career.

"I never really dwelled on the '0' until close to the end, when I realized I had only a couple of fights left, I was undefeated and I could retire that way," Calzaghe said. "I always hated to lose, and when I did so as an amateur, it burned me up inside and created my motivation for winning.

"Taking big fights wasn't a risk for me because I believed in myself and went for it. I can say, however, that it was a relief when it was all over and I finished undefeated and ahead of the game."

Calzaghe certainly fought the best available opposition, as did unbeatens Marciano and Ricardo Lopez (51-0-1), but in today's boxing world, there are four major titles per division and, as a result, champions can protect their records more easily than in the past. That's largely why alphabet titlists like junior welterweight Terry Marsh (26-0-1), welterweight Michael Loewe (28-0) and junior featherweight Ji Won Kim (16-0-2) were able to retire without having lost. Marsh and Loewe defended their respective titles only once each.

The question remains...is a perfect record a sign of perfection or does an imperfect record reveal anything at all? Consider the following:

*Ninety-nine percent of boxing historians rank Sugar Ray Robinson as the best fighter in history. He lost 19 times.

*Muhammad Ali was "The Greatest" despite losing five fights. In fact, he arguably gained more respect in his first loss, to Joe Frazier, than in building a record of 31-0.

*Since 1900, eight world champions have retired-and stayed retired-without having lost a fight. Even at their respective peaks, five of them never made the pound-for-pound top 10.

*Among today's elite, Bernard Hopkins lost his professional debut and Manny Pacquiao lost to an opponent who went 2-4-1 in his next seven fights.

*Robinson's only loss in his first 132 bouts

In evaluating recent champions, then, we must look at their body of work, and not just their records. The resume of five-division titlist Mayweather is impressive, making his perfect record all the more eye-popping. Maybe, just maybe, remaining undefeated and keeping his "0" means more than he'll acknowledge.

"No one wants to lose their '0'," said Floyd Mayweather Sr., a top trainer and Mayweather's father. "I'm sure he thinks about it and it motivates him. Fortunately for my son, it's so far so good and I don't see anyone taking that '0' away from him either."

Boxing superstar and six-time World Champion Floyd "Money" Mayweather and welterweight mega-star, five-time World Champion and current WBA Welterweight World Champion Sugar Shane Mosley, are set to meet on Saturday, May 1 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas in a spectacular bout which will be produced and distributed live on HBO Pay-Per-View® beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.


‏See you at the Fights.

Thank You for your time.

EL Boxing Empress Online @ Twitter http://www.twitter.com/Keishamorrisey
EL Boxing Empress Keisha Morrisey's Myspace http://www.myspace.com/Keishadivine
Honorable Keisha Morrisey http://www.keishamorrisey.com

©®™2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 All rights reserved

MAYWEATHER VS MOSLEY GRAND ARRIVALS with Fighting Words

FLOYD "MONEY" MAYWEATHER AND SUGAR SHANE MOSLEY GRAND ARRIVALS

FLOYD "MONEY" MAYWEATHER

On Sugar Shane Mosley:

"When I beat him, they are going to say he is old.

"All these fighters get the belts that I gave up. When you are bigger than the sport, belts don't mean anything. He needs a belt...A belt means something to him."

On breaking records:

"All I can do is hope for the best. There is no limit to what we can do. The sky is not even the limit. If they did say a fight is going to do 700,000 homes, it will do something like 1.4 million. We can never predict a certain number.

"The ultimate goal is to always break records."

On USADA Drug Testing:

"There are all these athletes out there cheating. I am clean and pure.

"I know I am a clean athlete. I didn't start taking vitamins until I was 30, so I know I am a clean athlete.

"You see so many different fighters going into comas and dying. All fighters are taking is a urine test. From what I hear, enhancement drugs are making these fighters punch harder and all it is doing is hurting the sport.

"I want to be able to separate the average from the good and from the great. I want to separate the ordinary from the extraordinary.

On the success of 24/7:

"I truly believe that we have so many different characters. My father, when he is in the boxing gym, is 'Floyd Joy.' My uncle is 'The Black Mamba.' We have children that are characters. And of course, myself, I am leading the pack. So many different personalities and so many people inside the gym and outside the gym. We have fun, but we know when to turn it on and when to turn it off.

"This is something that we talked about for a long time. Going in depth and behind the scenes, and showing things that no one had ever shown about a fighter. We talked about this back in the 90s.

"I think that in my household, when I am with my family, we are always positive and thankful for what we have. As far as the world right now, people love to watch controversy. Any show that is really controversial. I think I am versatile. I am very controversial, but when I get home, I am Floyd Mayweather and to my children, I am just dad."

On his team:

"Our whole circle has changed totally. The only two people that are still here are me and you (to Leonard Ellerbe). Mainly the guys that are with me now are the guys I grew up with (in Grand Rapids, MI).

"I have Rafael Garcia. He does a tremendous job. You get what you pay for in life. You want your hands to be wrapped by the best so you have no hand problems, you get Rafael Garcia. If you want to make tremendous money, you hire the best to make you the best deals. Simple as that."

SUGAR SHANE MOSLEY

On the fight:

"This is what makes Sugar Shane Mosley; being able to fight, being able to box, and being ready mentally.

"I can box too. I have boxed guys I was supposed to punch out. This is what makes me Sugar Shane. Being able to box, being able to slip and slide, being able to do everything.

"Every time I fight, I'm looking to knock the guy out.

"I don't think I am going to spend the whole fight trying to outbox him. I am going to do everything Sugar Shane is supposed to do.

"Every fight has its own significance. This fight would be a great win. Beating Floyd would be a big feather in my cap."

On Floyd Mayweather:

"He brings a lot of mouth and we'll see what this mouth is about.

"He had to fight somebody if he wanted to be considered the best.

"It's not really what Floyd says or believes; it's about what I believe.

"I see where he has slipped and I see some things where his body is beginning to go. But he doesn't see that.

"He has great defense. He's a great fighter. That's why we are looking at each other May 1. I am happy he accepted this challenge."

On his love of boxing:

"I'm always doing something. I'm never really that far away from the gym.

"Even when I retire, I'll probably never be far from the gym. I will be sparring. I can't get away from the gym.

"It depends on how you train. That's the most important part of the picture.

On the scuffle in the ring following Mayweather vs. Marquez:

"You guys seem to forget, I am part of Golden Boy Promotions. That's why I was in the ring.

"The reason why I said something was because I was called over and I was welcomed into the conversation."

On trash-talking:

"Floyd says a lot of things that are sometimes out of line. I guess right now we are enemies.

"A lot of times when people say something that's true it hurts. But then when they say something that isn't true, it just rolls off your shoulder.

"When they say those different things and I know they're not the truth, I can't change their mind. I know the truth."

On past losses:

"The fight game is really a mental game. People don't realize that. It's not really that physical. I think mentally, at that point in my career I wasn't on top of my game mentally."

See you at the Fights.
Thank You for your time.

EL Boxing Empress Online @ Twitter http://www.twitter.com/Keishamorrisey
EL Boxing Empress Keisha Morrisey's Myspace http://www.myspace.com/Keishadivine
Honorable Keisha Morrisey http://www.keishamorrisey.com
©®™2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 All photos by "EL Boxing Empress" Keisha Morrisey- Empire Morrisey Photo-Studios, Khris Kirkpatrick for Bloodline Boxing Communications Entertainment and Starlite Boxing's Sweetscience Magnews-Online Publication all rights reserved

"24/7 Mayweather/Mosley" Finale Friday, Apr. 30 at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT on HBO

The finale of HBO®'s all-access reality series "24/7 Mayweather/Mosley" debuts Friday, Apr. 30 at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT. Episodes one thru three are available on HBO ON DEMAND®. All four episodes will air consecutively on Saturday, May 1 at 9:30 a.m. ET/PT on the main HBO service.



See you at the Fights. Thank You for your time.
EL Boxing Empress Online @ Twitter http://www.twitter.com/Keishamorrisey
EL Boxing Empress Keisha Morrisey's Myspace http://www.myspace.com/Keishadivine
Honorable Keisha Morrisey http://www.keishamorrisey.com

©®™2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 All photos by "EL Boxing Empress" Keisha Morrisey- Empire Morrisey Photo-Studios, Khris Kirkpatrick for Bloodline Boxing Communications Entertainment and Starlite Boxing's Sweetscience Magnews-Online Publication all rights reserved

MAYWEATHER VS. MOSLEY SET FOR MAY 1 AT MGM GRAND IN LAS VEGAS, NV AND LIVE ON HBO PPV‏

The buzz surrounding the biggest night of boxing this year, superstar and six-time World Champion Floyd "Money" Mayweather and welterweight mega-star, five-time World Champion and current WBA Welterweight World Champion Sugar Shane Mosley, are set to meet in Mayweather vs. Mosley: Who R U Picking?, on Saturday, May 1 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas in a spectacular bout which will be produced and distributed live on HBO Pay-Per-View® beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

The bout, promoted by Mayweather Promotions and Golden Boy Promotions, and sponsored by Cerveza Tecate, AT&T, Dewalt Tools and StubHub,promises to be a spectacular display of talent and skill with Mayweather and Mosley will meet in a 12-round welterweight battle that is already being compared to other great and historic welterweight match-ups like Sugar Ray Leonard against Tommy Hearns and Oscar de la Hoya against Felix Trinidad.

"Ever since I came back to the sport I said I only wanted to fight the best and Shane Mosley is one of the best," said Mayweather (40-0, 25 KO's). "Not only does he have the skills, but he is also fast, strong and a very tough competitor. His speed and power won't mean much that night against my will and determination to dominate him inside the square circle. When I compete against the best, I am always at my best; so on May 1 the fans will see one great performance."


"I have always wanted to fight Floyd Mayweather and now that dream is finally coming true," said Mosley, (46-5, 39 KO's). "Floyd is excellent at what he does, but my past record of beating the best competition and other great champions shows that he is just another one of my opponents I intend to beat. He has never faced anyone like me before and I think that will be a big factor on May 1 when I plan to show him just what it means to meet a true champion in the ring."

"This fight has been in the making for a long time and now Floyd has the opportunity to showcase his skills against a great champion like Shane," said Leonard Ellerbe, CEO, Mayweather Promotions. "It is these kinds of opportunities that elevate and excite Floyd. The people and the polls might be wondering who is going to win this fight, but on May 1, I have no doubt that Floyd is going to give them a dominant performance and continue to prove why he is the best fighter in the world today. "

"The theme of this fight is "who are you picking?" because when two champions of this caliber meet in the ring, you can expect nothing but an extremely competitive fight and an unknown outcome that will only reveal itself on May 1," said Richard Schaefer, CEO, Golden Boy Promotions. "Shane Mosley is one of the greatest fighters of this era and so is Floyd Mayweather, so it is a true gift that the fans will have the opportunity to see a fiercely competitive and fantastic night of boxing."

"MGM Grand is thrilled to host two of the sport's superstars," said Richard Sturm, President of Sports and Entertainment for MGM MIRAGE. "Mayweather and Mosley bring tremendous speed and skill to the ring and will no doubt electrify the fans on May 1."

"Mayweather vs. Mosley is a showdown of superstars that fans have been talking about for years," said Mark Taffet of HBO Pay-Per-View. "It has all the elements of a pay-per-view mega-fight."

A 1996 Olympic Bronze medalist for the United States, the undefeated Floyd Mayweather has since gone on to strike gold in the professional ranks, winning six world titles in five weight classes to firmly establish himself as one of the most elite fighters of his era. With dominating wins over the likes of World Champions Diego Corrales, Jose Luis Castillo, Arturo Gatti, Zab Judah, Oscar de la Hoya and Ricky Hatton, Mayweather was on a meteoric rise to hall of fame greatness when he announced his retirement from the ring in 2008. But he left the door open for a return if the right challenge presented itself and after 18 months of a much needed physical and emotional break from the ring, he returned to boxing on September 19, 2009 with a dominating and spectacular victory over future Hall of Famer Juan Manuel Marquez. He now faces Mosley on May 1 in what will be one of his most challenging contests to date.

In addition to his boxing accomplishments, Mayweather has managed to become a crossover star, appearing in HBO®'s Emmy® award winning reality series "24/7" three separate times as he provided cameras with an all access look at his training and personal life. Additionally, as a competitor on ABC's Dancing With The Stars, Mayweather was introduced to a completely new audience with over 35 million viewers tuning in each week.

It would be easy for Sugar Shane Mosley to be a satisfied man, but Mosley will not be content until he feels that he has climbed every mountain the sport has to offer, including beating Floyd Mayweather on May 1. His goal is to continue to win as this future Hall of Famer always has, compiling six world titles and having ruled the lightweight, welterweight and junior middleweight divisions over his storied 16-year career. Mosley has defeated them all, including the likes of Oscar de la Hoya, Fernando Vargas (twice), Luis Collazo and Ricardo Mayorga, but his most recent victory could be his most spectacular - a ninth round stoppage of Antonio Margarito in January 2009 to win the welterweight world title for the third time.

Mosley has a worldwide fan base and feels that he can continue to win, including one more world championship, his sixth, which is an amazing feat for any fighter, but seems easy when you're a given the hallowed "Sugar" nickname, shared by Mosley with the legendary "Sugars," Robinson and Leonard. He also hopes to ascend back to the number one spot on the mythical pound for pound list, which will only happen by taking on the best in the world, fight in and fight out.

See you at the Fights. Thank You for your time.
EL Boxing Empress Online @ Twitter http://www.twitter.com/Keishamorrisey
EL Boxing Empress Keisha Morrisey's Myspace http://www.myspace.com/
Keisha Morrisey http://www.keishamorrisey.com

©®™2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 All rights reserved

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

MAYWEATHER VS. MOSLEY: WHO R U PICKING? POLL UPDATE

MAYWEATHER VS. MOSLEY: WHO R U PICKING? POLL UPDATE

Countdown To Fight Night - 3 Days To Go!

The polls on the internet asking "Who R U Picking?" for Mayweather vs. Mosley are producing very interesting results. With less than a week to go, the buzz has spread across all media platforms breaking the general boxing barriers and into mainstream sports, entertainment, political and many other sites. See what people are saying on who they think will be victorious on May 1 when Floyd "Money" Mayweather and Sugar Shane Mosley meet in the ring at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in a mega-fight which will be produced and distributed live by HBO-Pay-Per-View® beginning at 6 p.m. PST/9 p.m. EST:

Sugar Shane Mosley picked up 3% of East Coast votes and 2% of West Coast votes since we last tallied. The data still points to Mayweather dominating the East Coast voting, while Mosley still has the West Coast fans on his side.



Mayweather Mosley

East Coast 59% 41%

West Coast 46% 54%



A more in depth look at the country's top cities shows that Floyd Mayweather increased votes in Houston, Dallas and Phoenix while Sugar Shane Mosley gained votes in the seven other cities that have been tracked:



Mayweather Mosley

Los Angeles 44% 56%

New York 54% 46%

DC 67% 33%

Miami 63% 37%

Chicago 58% 42%

Houston 49% 51%

San Francisco 41% 59%

Dallas 49% 51%

Atlanta 66% 34%

Phoenix 51% 49%



In the Male/Female breakdown, Floyd Mayweather gained a percentage point in both categories and now the women have the votes split dead even:



Mayweather Mosley

Male 54% 46%

Female 50% 50%



International polls are favoring Sugar Shane Mosley:



Mayweather Mosley

Canada 42% 58%

Non US 48% 52%



Results have been derived from online polls currently running on:

CNN

USA Today

ESPN

People

Spike

Entertainment Weekly

Univision

www,Whorupicking.com

See you at the Fights.
Thank You for your time.
EL Boxing Empress Online @ Twitter http://www.twitter.com/Keishamorrisey
EL Boxing Empress Keisha Morrisey's Myspace http://www.myspace.com/Keishadivine
Honorable Keisha Morrisey http://www.keishamorrisey.com

©®™2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 All rights reserved

Mayweather vs. Mosley - A Throwback to the Rich History of American Fights and the Welterweight Division‏



...Check your almanac: On the night of September 16, 1981, time stopped for one hour while welterweight champions Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns traded punches in Las Vegas. That's how big a fight it was. On May 1, welterweights Floyd "Money" Mayweather and Sugar Shane Mosley will clash in the biggest bout of 2010. The mega-matchup of multi-division champions, pound-for-pound kings and future Hall of Famers summons memories not only of Leonard-Hearns, but also of the rich history of American welterweights.

In recent years, boxing's headlines have been made largely by foreign-born fighters like Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko, Ricky Hatton, Manny Pacquiao, Joe Calzaghe and Juan Manuel Marquez. At welterweight or otherwise, there have been precious-few all-American matchups. In that sense, Mayweather-Mosley is a throwback fight.

In the boxing-rich 1980s, the majority of super-fights were contested between Americans. Among the memorable matchups were Leonard-Hearns, Leonard-Marvin Hagler, Hagler-Hearns, Larry Holmes-Gerry Cooney, Holmes-Muhammad Ali, Michael Spinks-Holmes and Mike Tyson-Spinks.

The same can be said for many of the major fights of the 1990s, including Evander Holyfield-Riddick Bowe, Holyfield-Tyson, Holyfield-George Foreman, Michael Moorer-George Foreman Roy Jones-Bernard Hopkins, Jones-James Toney and Pernell Whitaker-Oscar De La Hoya.

The first decade of the new century has seen a shift. There have been big fights involving Americans (De La Hoya-Mayweather, De La Hoya- Hopkins, Mosley-De La Hoya I and II), but nowhere near as many as in previous years. Perhaps Mayweather-Mosley represents the beginning of a shift back to the way it used to be.

No one is quite sure of the origin of the word "welterweight," but boxing historians are certain that the 147-pound division's first world champion was Boston's Paddy Duffy, who was crowned in 1888. In the 122 years since, the division has been dominated by Americans.

Consider the following:

*In 1939, St. Louis' Henry Armstrong, who is usually ranked below only Sugar Ray Robinson on all-time pound-for-pound lists, defended his welterweight title an incredible 11 times. This feat took place only a year after Armstrong defeated Chicago's Barney Ross, an all-time great himself, to win the title.

*New York City's Sugar Ray Robinson is remembered primarily as a middleweight, but was at his fighting best as a welterweight. He defended his title five times and was beaten only once, by a middleweight...Jake LaMotta.

*A handful of the fighters who have held the mythical pound-for-pound title did so as welterweights, including Whitaker (Norfolk, Virginia), Leonard (Palmer Park, Maryland), Mayweather (Grand Rapids, Michigan), Mosley (Pomona, California), De La Hoya (Los Angeles) and Donald Curry (Fort Worth, Texas).

*Other legends who held the welterweight title before jumping to middleweight include Mickey Walker (Elizabeth, New Jersey) and Carmen Basilio (Canastota, New York).

*Four of Ring Magazine's 10 best welterweight fights of all time were all-American affairs: Basilio-Tony DeMarco II, Leonard-Hearns I, Simon Brown-Maurice Blocker and De La Hoya-Mosley I.

American athletes have historically been bigger than their foreign counterparts. Scan boxing's various divisions and you'll see that while the vast majority of heavyweight champions have been American, the United States has produced very few notable flyweights and bantamweights.

With a limit of 147 pounds, the welterweight division lies somewhere near the middle of boxing's eight original weight classes. One might say it is the average or median of all weight classes and as a result, there have been great fighters from all over the world competing in the division. Pacquiao hails from the Philippines; Miguel Cotto, Felix Trinidad, and Wilfred Benitez from Puerto Rico; Ike Quartey from Ghana; Ted "Kid" Lewis from England; Joe Walcott from Barbados; Jimmy McLarnin from Ireland; Pipino Cuevas from Mexico; Roberto Duran from Panama and Jose Napoles and Kid Gavilan from Cuba.

Still, Ring Magazine lists Americans as the four best fighters in the history of the division (Armstrong, Robinson, Leonard, and Ross). Until the recent influx of titlists from the former Soviet Union and elsewhere, Americans dominated at heavyweight, and their excellence was best explained by genetics. Not so at welterweight, where the fighters have always battled on an even playing field.

Mayweather-Mosley serves as a reminder not only that Americans remain among the world's best fighters, but also that the welterweight division is still red, white and blue.

See you at the Fights.
Thank You for your time.
EL Boxing Empress Online @ Twitter

http://www.twitter.com/Keishamorrisey
EL Boxing Empress Keisha Morrisey's Myspace http://www.myspace.com/Keishadivine
Honorable Keisha Morrisey http://www.keishamorrisey.com

©®™2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 All photos by "EL Boxing Empress" Keisha Morrisey- Empire Morrisey Photo-Studios, Khris Kirkpatrick for Bloodline Boxing Communications Entertainment and Starlite Boxing's Sweetscience Magnews-Online Publication all rights reserved

Mayweather vs. Mosley: Who R U Picking?

Mayweather vs. Mosley:
Who R U Picking? is promoted by Mayweather Promotions and Golden Boy Promotions, and sponsored by Cerveza Tecate, AT&T, DeWALT Tools and StubHub. The 12-round welterweight battle is set for Saturday, May 1 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas and will be produced and distributed live on HBO Pay-Per-View® beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

Tickets, priced at $1,250, $1,000, $600, $300 and $150 not including applicable service charges, are on sale now and limited to 10 per person and ticket sales at $150 are limited to two (2) per person with a total ticket limit of 10 per person. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets also are available for purchase at www.mgmgrand.com or www.ticketmaster.com.

Seven of the MGM MIRAGE properties will host closed circuit viewing of Mayweather vs. Mosley. Tickets for the closed circuit telecasts at all venues are priced at $50, not including applicable service charges and handling fees, go on sale today. All seats will be general admission and will be available at each individual property's box office outlets and at all Las Vegas Ticketmaster locations (select Smith's Food and Drug Centers and Ritmo Latino). To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000, or visit www.mgmgrand.com or www.ticketmaster.com. Ticket sales are limited to 20 per person.

The finale of HBO®'s all-access reality series "24/7 Mayweather/Mosley" debuts Friday, Apr. 30 at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT. Episodes one thru three are available on HBO ON DEMAND®. All four episodes will air consecutively on Saturday, May 1 at 9:30 a.m. ET/PT on the main HBO service.

The Mayweather vs. Mosley pay-per-view telecast, beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, has a suggested retail price of $54.95, will be produced and distributed by HBO Pay-Per-View® and will be available to more than 71 million pay-per-view homes. The telecast will be available in HD-TV for those viewers who can receive HD. HBO Pay-Per-View®, a division of Home Box Office, Inc., is the leading supplier of event programming to the pay-per-view industry. For Mayweather vs. Mosley fight week updates, log on to www.hbo.com.

See you at the Fights. Thank You for your time.EL Boxing Empress Online @ Twitter http://www.twitter.com/KeishamorriseyEL Boxing Empress Keisha Morrisey's Myspace http://www.myspace.com/KeishadivineHonorable Keisha Morrisey http://www.keishamorrisey.com©®™2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 All photos by "EL Boxing Empress" Keisha Morrisey- Empire Morrisey Photo-Studios, Khris Kirkpatrick for Bloodline Boxing Communications Entertainment and Starlite Boxing's Sweetscience Magnews-Online Publication all rights reserved

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

BOXING'S NEXT GENERATION OF CHAMPIONS HIT LAS VEGAS ON THE MAY 1 MAYWEATHER-MOSLEY TELEVISED UNDERCARD

BOXING'S NEXT GENERATION OF CHAMPIONS HIT LAS VEGAS ON THE MAY 1 MAYWEATHER-MOSLEY TELEVISED UNDER-CARD SAUL ALVAREZ VS. JOSE MIGUEL COTTO and DANIEL PONCE DE LEON VS. CORNELIUS LOCK and HECTOR SALDIVIA VS. SAID OUALI FEATURED ON THE HBO PAY-PER-VIEW® TELECAST

Boxing superstar and six-time World Champion Floyd "Money" Mayweather and welterweight mega-star, five-time World Champion and current WBA Welterweight World Champion Sugar Shane Mosley, are set to meet Saturday, May 1 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas in a spectacular bout which will be produced and distributed live on HBO Pay-Per-View® beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

In welterweight action, 19-year-old Mexican prodigy Saul "Canelo" Alvarez puts his unbeaten record on the line against veteran contender Jose Miguel Cotto in a 10-round bout, former World Champion Daniel Ponce De Leon and Cornelius Lock will face off in a 10-round featherweight match-up, while Argentinean power puncher Hector David Saldivia takes on Las Vegas native Said Ouali in a 10-round welterweight fight.

The event, promoted by Mayweather Promotions and Golden Boy Promotions, and sponsored by Cerveza Tecate, AT&T, Dewalt Tools and StubHub, promises to be a spectacular display of talent and skill with Mayweather and Mosley meeting in a 12-round welterweight battle that is already being compared to other great and historic welterweight match-ups such as Sugar Ray Leonard against Tommy Hearns and Oscar de la Hoya against Felix Trinidad.

Unbeaten in 32 pro fights, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico's Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (31-0-1, 23 KOs) has quickly developed a tremendous fan base and is rapidly moving in on a world title shot. With the NABF, WBO Latino, WBC Youth and WBA Fedecentro welterweight title belts already in his trophy case, it's clear that the Mexican phenom is ready for the big time. Currently ranked fourth in the world by the WBC and WBO, Alvarez must first turn back the challenge of his toughest test to date, Jose Miguel Cotto, before moving closer to his dream of a world title shot.

The brother of boxing superstar Miguel Cotto, Jose Miguel Cotto (31-1-1, 23 KOs) is carving out his own niche in the fight game with an exciting style and a veteran's savvy. A 1996 Puerto Rican Olympian, the Caguas native is unbeaten in five fights since his hard-fought decision loss to Juan "Baby Bull" Diaz in a 2006 lightweight world title bout. Now fighting at 147 pounds, the 32-year-old feels that now is the time to shine and wants to prove it against Alvarez on May 1.

Known for his knockout power and warrior's heart, former Junior Featherweight World Champion Daniel Ponce De Leon (38-2, 32 KOs) has reinvented himself as a featherweight contender and with wins over Marlon "Rata" Aguilar, Roinet Caballero and Orlando "El Fenomeno" Cruz in his new weight class. A May 1 victory over the crafty Cornelius Lock should put him on a fast track to becoming a two-division world champion.

Winner of three of his last four bouts, including victories over 14-0 Juan Garcia, 27-1 Roger "Speedy" Gonzalez and 16-0-1 Orlando "El Fenomeno" Cruz, Detroit's Cornelius Lock (19-4-1, 12 KOs) is rapidly becoming a fighter opposing pugilists definitely don't want to see across the ring from them on fight night. The 31-year-old southpaw plans on spoiling Daniel Ponce De Leon's night this May.

Ranked fourth in the world by the WBA, Argentinean warrior Hector David Saldivia (33-1, 26 KOs) has been making waves in the welterweight division for the last two years. Winner of the WBA Fedelatin title, he has defeated the likes of Omar "Tito" Weis, Ricardo Cano, Daudy Bahari and Luis Rodriguez. On May 1, "El Tigre" makes his United States debut against Said Ouali.

A native of Morocco now fighting out of Las Vegas, Said Ouali (26-3, 18 KOs) gets a chance to perform in front of his adopted hometown crowd on May 1 when he takes on Argentina's Hector David Saldivia. Winner of 12 of his last 13 bouts, this southpaw standout who is ranked number five in the world by the WBA is well aware that he can catapult himself even higher up in the 147-pound rankings with a victory over Saldivia.

The Mayweather vs. Mosley pay-per-view telecast, which begins at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT, has a suggested retail price of $54.95, will be produced and distributed by HBO Pay-Per-View® and will be available to more than 71 million pay-per-view homes. The telecast will be available in HD-TV for those viewers who can receive HD. HBO Pay-Per-View®, a division of Home Box Office, Inc., is the leading supplier of event programming to the pay-per-view industry. For Mayweather vs. Mosley fight week updates, log on to www.hbo.com.

See you at the Fights. Thank You for your time.EL Boxing Empress Online @ Twitter http://www.twitter.com/Keishamorrisey
EL Boxing Empress Keisha Morrisey's Myspace http://www.myspace.com/Keishadivine
Honorable Keisha Morrisey http://www.keishamorrisey.com

©®™2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 All rights reserved

Mayweather vs. Mosley Trainer Conference Call-In part

N. Richardson

Well, going forward, a lot of things come to pass. We see this as being an outstanding fight once again that relies on both participants, but I feel as though if you check the history you've never seen Shane Mosley in let alone a bad fight, you've never seen Shane Mosley in a boring fight. I don't see that changing at all in this fight, especially with an outstanding athlete such as Floyd Mayweather Jr. Like I said, this will be a matter of us putting the strategy together and seeing what the outcome is. In fact, both of us have exceptional athletes, but I'm still confident that our guys can get the job done. I look forward to the contest

N. Richardson:

I've said this before, and I'll repeat it. As far as Shane preparing for the Margarito fight and Shane preparing for the Mayweather fight, I'm very comfortable with his mental preparation. I'm very comfortable, and I'm more comfortable in either one of those fights than I was for the Berto fight because this is the level that Shane desires. This is where Shane knows he belongs.

Now, like we said, it's all right that I hear things of the nature, one side of the fence I hear people say undefeated, and they give you the impression because a guy hasn't lost yet he's great, but then they say the greatest fighter was Ray Robinson who lost fights. If Ray Robinson's the greatest fighter in your mind, then you do recommend great fighters lose fights. Right there in that contradiction itself, it explains what can happen in this fight on May 1.

R. Mayweather

Thank you. My name is Roger Mayweather. Obviously, you already know I'm training Floyd Mayweather. Of course, we're preparing now for the fight with Shane Mosley, which is not that far away. I don't think he's going to be- Shane Mosley's a good fighter, and I don't doubt that, but I truly believe that my nephew is the best fighter in the sport of boxing period hands down. I'm not saying what Shane Mosley can't do, but whatever he can do, he can't do it better than Floyd. That's what I'm saying. I understand about boxing.

I understand about boxing because I've been around boxing all of my life. They've both got tremendous skill. That's what makes a fight. They've both got a tremendous fan base. That's what makes a fight, but come on May 1st, they're going to see why they call Floyd the best in the world.

There are a whole bunch of guys that are good. Good and great are two different things, and he's on the verge of greatness, so when it comes May 1st, when all this is said and done, I won't even have to talk about how good Floyd is or how great he is or how, I won't even have to say anything because all that's going to be shared in the books and the papers. They're going to say it all week, so I don't have to say much of anything about that.

R. Mayweather

People don't even understand about boxing. One thing I'm going to tell them right now is to let them know that one of the fastest guys in the history of the sport of boxing was a 1976 Olympic gold medalist. It was Howard Davis Jr. He had tremendous speed, but he never won a world championship, and he fought guys that were much slower than him. It's not about speed that wins fights. Skill wins fights, and he's the most skilled fighter in the sport of boxing period hands down.

When you start talking about on a skill level or how, I'm not saying Shane Mosley's not a skilled fighter, but I said Floyd is the most skilled fighter in the sport. He understands boxing. That's what he's been doing all his life. Shane Mosley had a great career as well, but at the same time when you start talking about skill, then you guys understand. You know what I'm saying. He did fight Cotto, didn't he?

See you at the Fights. Thank You for your time.

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