Manny Pacquiao – Shane Mosley: Fight Camp 360 to the Super Fight
Starting on April 16th, Showtime began its broadcast of the series, “Fight Camp 360 – Pacquiao-Mosley.” The series primarily serves as a build-up to the upcoming fight between Pacquiao and Mosley on Saturday, May 7th for the WBO Welterweight title.
The opening sequence shows Baguio City, Philippines. With its serene, almost subdued setting, you get the sense that it is about to change. Baguio City is quiet, at least until Congressman Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao shows up. Then, you realize, it just may be a lost episode of another reality series called “Chaotic.”
Episode 1 is aptly named “The Hype.” The opening shows a contrast between two boxers – Pacquiao & Mosley, of course, at very different stages of their respective careers. In this episode, Arum states, “(Pacquiao’s) style is made to fight against Shane. It’s going to be a hellacious fight.”
As each fighter is introduced, there is a montage of images highlighting Pacquiao at his best against Morales and Hatton. Aside from his dated hair, these fleeting images are embedded in just how hard Pacquiao has moved in the direction of a boxing superstar.
Pacquiao is a different man now with different priorities, including that of elected official. But as the episode introduced his quiet training location in Baguio City, Philippines, the episode then veers to the Pacquiao residence in Los Angeles, CA. Advisor Michael Koncz must wake up Pacquiao and his wife, Jinkee in order to attend the start of a five city tour to build up the fight.
At the site of the press conference for the fight, an employee states, rather matter of factly, “there is Eastern time, Pacific time, and then there’s Pacquiao time.” I liked this because in my family, we call it Filipino time. It usually takes us an extra 1-hr and a half to get somewhere. Personal example? An invitation to a party may be noon, but you can show up at 1:30 or 2 p. In fact, you are looked at kind of weird if you are early.
There is no such thing as being early, just on time. But let me clarify, Filipino time.
In the opening episode, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum states that “Pacquiao has elevated boxing to a new level. “My experience, since the 1960s, which included Ali …, Pacquiao is the best boxer I have ever seen.” But this opening episode already has the makings of keeping a humbled approach to how we must perceive both Pacquiao and Mosley. Trainer Freddie Roach states, “It’s not an easy fight.”
Even though the episode is titled “The Hype,” the show is obviously intended to create some. The fight is hardly the mega fight that people want to see a la Floyd Mayweather JR because both Pacquiao and Mosley are good guys. Mosley is portrayed as the low-key underdog. Meanwhile, as I introduced, Pacquiao’s boxing lifestyle is a bit chaotic. It was stated that Pacquiao “thrives on chaos because he causes it.”
As the episode wound down, it turned to a Las Vegas Fan Conference. Manny was asked two questions: “Do you like Justin Bieber because of your haircut?” Pacquiao’s answer: “Bruce Lee is my idol.” Another question: “Are you ready for Mosley’s body punishment?” Answer: “I’m not looking for a knockout.” Mosley kindly interrupts and states, “Yes, Manny, you’re looking for a knockout. I’m looking for a knockout.” Cute yes.
The show also highlighted two visits. First, Mosley had a visit with Reverend Al Sharpton. Second, Paquiao had a visit with President Obama and caused a traffic accident. Wow – stark contrast indeed.
Finally, the show ended with Mosley’s trainer, Nazim Richardson, getting back to the focus of boxing, “You got to be dare to be great sometimes. (When you look at Manny) you can see holes, see flaws, but no one has been able to exploit them.” Warning, yes. Worried? Perhaps. Let’s just see where Episode 2 takes an inside look at both Pacquiao and Mosley.
The 2nd episode of the series titled “Training Day” brings the viewers back to the quiet of Baguio City, Philippines. According to the Mayor, Baguio City is a “very quiet city, but when Manny Pacquiao is here, everyone is rushing to see him.” A sequence shows Pacquiao filming a segment for a television show titled, “Show Me Da Manny” where Pacquiao plays himself. The host respectfully refers to Pacquaio as Congressman Manny Pacquiao. And similarly to Episode 1, advisor Michael Koncz provides a sidebar to the Pacquiao persona stating, “He (Pacquiao) needs to be doing something, he tries to focus solely on one thing, he gets bored.”
There is then the fade out to the more than quiet serenity of Mosley jogging on a trail near Big Bear Lake, the location of his training camp. There is an undercurrent that Mosley believes that the fight with Pacquiao will get him “back on top.” In order to make the fight happen, Mosley had formed his own promotion company, Sugar Shane Mosley Promotions. The message of this opening sequence reveals that Mosley with his quiet, understated presence has as much determination to make a good fight against Pacquiao. In his last outing against Sergio “Latin Snake” Mora, Mosley primarily fought a defensive fight. But he is strong. Mosley does have the distinction to have gotten a fight against Mayweather JR. I thought he had a fighting chance, but he didn’t put the fight away as he needed. I give Mosley kudos though because like Hopkins, he remains active, and decidedly takes fights to show what I already know. Mosley still has some fight left in him.
The 2nd episode carried the same theme of the first episode, with Pacquiao and Mosley camp circles emphasizing the will of each fighter to diligently train and provide stability and instill confidence in their boxing abilities. Trainer Freddie Roach provides great boxing insight to how he feels Pacquiao has not only changed boxing, but has also changed him as well. The two have forged a successful relationship and Roach states that Pacquiao is “like a son to me. If I did have a child, he’s the closest thing to it. I would die for Manny Pacquiao and I think he would do the same for me.” Similarly, the episode switches to the Mosley training camp which consists of a light hearted family of men – trainer Richardson and son as well as Mosley and son. Both camps show a very supportive inner circle of support.
As Episode 1 provided a quote from Bob Arum, Episode 2 did not fail to disappoint. In fact, it provided further evidence to just how much Pacquiao has contributed to the sport of boxing. Arum states that he promoted a fight between Muhammad Ali vs George Chuvalo. Ali received $300,000 to $400,000 to fight while Chuvalo earned $100,000. Arum states that “the public is paying for them to fight.” Pacquiao is guaranteed $20 million with Mosley guaranteed $5 million. In a sidebar for Top Rank, Dena DuBoef, VP of Special Events, states that the “fight is sold out. There are no seats and it’s difficult to accommodate at this point.” I wish Dena luck on this one. I believe her when she says the fight is sold out. It’s a humorous scene because another employee states, “You know Dena has some in her pocket.” She laughs but the Top Rank team has their hands full with trying to find seats.
But finally, the episode brings us back to the business of training. Fade to the Philippines, Alex Ariza, Pacquiao’s strength trainer, alludes to the fact that Pacquiao has been 5 months stagnant. But then remains adamant that he likes training Pacquiao in Baguio City because there are hills and a high altitude. Ariza says, “Manny is happy and what wills him to do what he does – it’s for his people”. Amir Khan also makes an appearance in the Pacquiao training camp. Khan states that he thinks Pacquiao is the “best fighter in the world. I want to follow in his footsteps.”
Finally, there are some closing words by Trainer Roach that Manny is a “fierce competitor. He’s working harder now because there is more at stake now, and if he loses, he feels he’s letting his whole country down.” There is a driving force and directed spirit for Pacquiao. But I like Mosley’s approach to training, “eat, sleep, workout.” I like how both episodes are slowly revealing the stakes and the intensity of each fighter. Let’s just see how far things are looked at in Episode 3. But based on the first two episodes, both Pacquiao and Mosley have a competitive intensity that truly appears in the training. As May 7th approaches, the hype and training will be over, and finally, we’ll just see who wins.