Sergio "Nomora"
After earning an undeserved draw against Shane Mosley boxing's American Idol took another nose dive dropping a 10 rounder to Brian Vera last Friday night. What can I say, the bout was entertaining by FNF standards and Mora was clearly outworked by the Texan. Luckily for him he’s under the Golden Boy banner and he will inexplicably surface somewhere he isn’t supposed to be sometime real soon. Maybe it's time for Cameron Dunkin to realize there’s no more long term "star" agenda for Mora and Pavlik so it might be wise to match them on the Mosley/Pacquiao under card. Poor Brian Vera will probably get shut out of a rematch and word has it Pavlik wants no part of him. I would love to see James Kirkland move up to 160lbs. and give the guy a respectable paycheck from HBO. Maybe all four of this pool can create a climate where Alfred Angulo will finally find it "worth his while" to come out and play. Lord knows none of these guys want any part of Sergio Martinez and Paul Williams. The sad part is if we can get action filled match-ups we’ll turn a blind eye to the pound for pound great dying on the vine. It happens all the time, there have been better fighters than Martinez that were sacrificed at the altar of "business" and make believe -that’s boxing.

Anderson Silva and the Front Kick.

You’ll rarely see and MMA commentary this high in my column but what Anderson Silva did at UFC 126 is a rare exception. MMA’s version of Mayweather Silva is often rebuked by commish/meathead Dana White for not giving people what they want. Whenever you here anyone connected with a combat sport talk about giving people what they want it’s usually directed at a fighter of color who is too talented to be hit. Keep in mind last Saturday’s kick wasn’t of the caliber of Roy Jones’s "no hands" left hook because Victor Belfort is an elite fighter. I can’t remember the clown Roy pulled his And 1 boxing move off against. For nearly five minutes Silva circled his prey; obviously not giving people what they want, looked down at his feet and drove a front kick through to Belforts chin knocking him cold. It was the equivalent of Mayweather knocking Pacquiao out with a stiff single jab. I watched it several times and laughed at how it reminded me of some bad cop movie from the 80’s when a cop kicks down a front door. The story got even more bizarre when it was revealed Silva learned the kick from Steven Seagal; a 1980’s action film badass. Never mind the fact that Seagal was the real deal as a fighter and actually found his way in films through combat sports. The point is the kick looked like something Seagal learned on a film set, not a dojo "40 years ago."  The moral of the story; mass exposure (and success) in one arena can strip you of all credibility you earned in another. Older boxers should take heed, when you become a punch line longer than you were great-the punch line assumes your identity and becomes you.

"King" Khan in regal position 
Amir Khan is on the precipice of big things, really big things. Young enough, and accomplished enough, he's positioned to reap the benefits of father times impending defeat of Pacquiao and Mayweather to start his own legacy. He can either beat one of them down the road or sit back like Aaron Rogers and wait his turn. Tim Bradley is in the cards for later this year and I presume by then even as challenger he’ll be in the promotional driver’s seat. His opponent for April 16th at sold out MEN Arena will be Paul McClosky, and he was in the position to shun Breidis Prescott despite HBO’s wishes. Revenge is for fighters on the slide, rarely do fighters entering the major tax brackets worry about slip ups that weren’t widely viewed in the US. Kahn is a boxing star in training and he’s obviously made it clear that revenge is a business and homeboy (Prescott) has yet to make it "good business."  About that who April thing with Paul McClosky, I did a little homework and he’s not a soft touch. The European Commonwealth champ is a slick southpaw with a good jab and great defensive instincts. Across the pond his rep is that of a practitioner of the sweet science and he won’t be there for Khans jab. Freddie Roach will have to focus on patience and breaking the kid down to the body, the one thing Khan can count on is unlike most slick guys McClosky isn’t quick footed. McClosky’s camp see Khans temple as a soft spot not his chin, but I don’t think Paul has the power to test that theory. At some point I see Kahn doing the job and gobbling up the southpaw and more of the European Market share. I sure hope Bradley is loaded up on frequent flyer miles, he may have avoided ‘The Lou" (St. Louis) but he will be traveling abroad to defend his title. Bradley may have to get in line under the Golden Boy banner and take a few pictures with Ricky Hatton (Hatton Promotions) to make this whole thing happen.

More Sugar Shane "crazy talk" 
Let me make myself perfectly clear... I’m a Sugar Shane guy and I don’t feel the need to tout my credentials. But I will.  I once received an email directly from Jin Mosley complimenting me on how I portrayed her then husband in one of my articles. Remember it was this brotha who wrote just last year that Shane would push Floyd Mayweather and check that chin. I just didn’t know that it would last all of one punch. What I saw last year was disturbing and trust me it won’t get any better from there. Part of crossing the aisle and being a pawn in this Top Rank/ Golden Boy feud is a CBS infused deal that requires Shane to run his mouth even more than 24/7 required. I’ll bet certain sites, in exchange for access will trumpet the same mantra to propagandize one of the most hyped fights in the modern era. Don’t get me wrong, I am a fan of those sites but the big picture is by not calling a spade a spade we are helping boxing sell a farce to people that are not as forgiving as we are.
I won’t back off on this one, there’s only one Bernard Hopkins and even he got dropped and fought to a draw a kid he would have destroyed 10 years ago. Now Shane (on said website) is framing his message to the fans like this; Manny’s a really busy fighter that likes to mix it up and I can catch him. What older fighters can’t deal with is speed, Mayweather proved that, but the thing that burst old pipes is pressure and a fast pace-Manny has both. What bugs me the most about the older fighters that hang on is what I mentioned earlier, string enough of these together and perception takes over. Promoters and money men take advantage of fighters who for one reason or another are caught in the unholy matrix of chasing immortality-something ironically accomplished between the ages 25-32. We have every right to question this bout because from my vantage point the man that beats Pacquiao will absorb career altering punishment in return.
Freddie Roach says it will be Manny’s toughest test, but here’s a prop bet for Bodog.com. What are the odds Freddie says post fight "I knew if we put pressure on him and use our speed it would be easy because Shane is past it". You could get rich on that one playboy.
 

And meanwhile, as Pacquiao is becoming more HUGE

Congressman Pacquiao is due to meet the leader of the free world President Barrack Obama in the next week or so. This meet and greet is in exchange for hitting the bricks to assure Harry "How ya like me now?" Reid was able to fend off Tea Party crazy lady Sharon Engle last November. With tickets for Pacquiao vs. Mosley are one fire the plan is obviously to move the Filipino into planets uninhabited by even the Golden Boy. However, doesn’t it seem weird that the guy who was president of the Harvard Law Review is constantly under intellectual attack and the boxer is widely unchallenged? Maybe Manny can bring Freddie Roach to tighten up the tall southpaw's jab and defense; I’ll bet after some time at the Wildcard nobody calls him a liar on the floor of Congress.
 

Shannon Briggs shorted on Klitschko Bout 

You would think that after a guy lays his ass and long-term health on the line for an ESPN3 audience the promoter would have the decency to pay him. If Shannon were anything less than a warrior he would have found a way out of that bout but he stayed in there no matter how futile his chances. After the bout, the New Yorker was rushed to the hospital, and it is protocol for the promoter to have purchased insurance for such cases. Not only did "K2 Promotions" not cover the stay but they took it out of his purse a promised $ 750,000 leaving him with $25,000! So let me get this straight, Briggs literally got his career shortened for peanuts and you wonder why American fighters are leery of European fights. Ever notice American fighters with any kind of power stay far away form these guys? and I always figured it was just the judging. There’s plenty of ways to reach out to Shannon on all social media platforms to offer help and protest against the way he was treated. Hopefully this will shed a little light on why David Haye is in no rush to step in there with either Ukrainian. Americans love to pop off about their style, and that’s one thing; but actually being in there getting pole axed by one of them is another. Haye's brain thrusts know he’ll have to "cash out" with a Klitschko because he won’t be the same man afterwards.

Just two Rich Guys chillin at the Super Bowl? 

When you think about the number of celebs Jerry Jones had in that box and the number of people now suing his ass don’t it make you wonder?. Do you find it a coincidence that Jerry Jones would invite Floyd Mayweather and his new road dawg Bob Arum? Mayweather vs. Pacquiao is what Jerry truly covets and last year and he’ll be willing to let Manny fight any clown in his joint just to stay close to the fire. Rich guys plant the seeds for projects while hanging out, if they didn’t high earners wouldn’t give a damn about golf. The picture says it all, even Bob Arum said what we all know which is socializing can go a long way toward humanizing a perceived adversary. I believe they didn’t talk boxing (it’s the Super Bowl!) but you can’t tell me Floyd's smile wasn’t broadened by the thought of 115 million potential homes seeing his face this fall. Oscar De La Hoya smirked but it was the visage of a negligent spouse who thinks his woman who is "out with the girls" ain't going nowhere. Mayweather's allegiance to Golden Boy and HBO is well stated and about as strong as Carmelo Anthony’s to the Denver Nuggets.
 

Stealing the last Round