Unless you plan on buying a scalped ticket for the May 7th mega-fight between Shane Mosley and Manny Pacquiao, it looks like you'll be watching it on TV just like me. The MGM Grand seems to be at capacity for the big fight coming up in a few weeks. With Fight Camp 360 underway, Mosley already having his media workout, and Pacquiao gearing up for his next week, the buzz for the fight is building quickly, but is it just me or were tickets not going quite as fast as they did for Pacquiao's last fight with Margarito? Nevertheless, it looks like Bob Arum has the last laugh on those critics who were not pleased with the selection of Mosley as Pacquiao's next opponent.
One thing I also have noticed regarding this fight is that Pacquiao hasn't suffered some kind of foot injury or stroke-like symptoms associated with almost every camp he has had. Actually, very little has come from the usually talkative Pacquiao camp, save for the occasional strength and conditioning updates from Alex Ariza. We'll have to see if this lack of drama is going to affect the pound-for-pound king's tough assignment next month against the odds-on no-hoper in Mosley, who gave his prediction of a seventh round TKO earlier this week.
Barrera and Soto Declare Free Agent Status
The best fight on the Pacquiao-Mosley undercard was going to be a rematch of last year's best fight between Humberto Soto and Urbano Antillon, but Soto has announced he's no longer affiliated with Top Rank and off the card. Soto, who is the WBC Lightweight champion, doesn't seem interested in renewing his contract with Top Rank despite a possible big money fight with former stablemate Brandon Rios down the line.
Future Hall of Famer Marco Antonio Barerra has also announced his free agency status, citing that he has four more fights to go until retiring for good. Unlike Soto, Barrera had nothing lined up and is now exploring all of his options before calling it quits, including rematches with Juan Manuel Marquez and Erik Morales. A possible big winner from this could be Golden Boy Promotions, who can finally sign a big named fighter without getting sued in the process.
Martinez vs. Manfredo? Ishida? Who The Hell Cares?
Sergio Martinez wants a big fight by the end of the year, but it is looking less and less likely that he's going to get one when names being thrown in the mix are world-beaters such as Peter Manfredo and current flavor of the week Nobuhiro Ishida. It looked like the 2010 Fighter of the Year had gone from beating two of the world's best fighters to settling for two unknowns, but Martinez's return date, which was originally scheduled for July, was surprisingly pushed back to September by HBO. His adviser, Sampson Lewkowicz, recently informed FightHype's Mike Juhas that they are targeting the winner of Chavez Jr. vs. Zbik.
Should Zbik win, there's not doubt he'll get the assignment as Martinez's next opponent, as he originally agreed to face Martinez earlier this year prior to HBO rejecting him as an opponent. Should he beat Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., you can bet HBO will quickly change their opinion and immediately deem Zbik a worthy challenger for the middleweight crown. If Chavez Jr. wins, however, a fight with Martinez might be a little more difficult to make as it's highly unlikely that promoter Bob Arum will be too eager to sacrifice his newly crowned champion. That being said, if Chavez Jr. were to refuse to fight Martinez, the WBC has made it clear that he will be stripped of his title.
Also, don't be too terribly surprised if Martinez ends up facing Paul Williams this fall should Williams win his return fight this Summer. Despite being blasted to the moon by Martinez in their last fight, HBO would more likely prefer a Williams trilogy as opposed to the murderer's row of opponents like Manfredo, Ishida or the Julio Cesar Chavez Jr-Sebastian Zbik winner.
Potshot Picks:
Andre Berto vs. Victor Ortiz
In what should have been this generations version of Oscar De La Hoya vs. Shane Mosley, expect a short fight with big punches along the way. Berto's speed and explosive power is going to be much too much for the easily hittable Ortiz to handle. Once Ortiz realizes Berto is not scared of him, he'll pack up shop and leave early just like he did against Maidana. Berto by stoppage between the 6th and 8th.
Potshot Picks is on a 10-fight winning streak! 10-0 for the year.
(Danny Howard can be reached at dhoward@fighthype.com, Twitter @DBHoward126, and Facebook.)