The terrible earthquake in Haiti that has gripped the world headlines has taken its toll on the sport of boxing as well. As reported on FightNews.com, two top Haitian prospects, junior welterweight Evans Pierre (12-0, 11 KOs) and junior featherweight Johny Orisme (4-1, 1KO) are among the missing. Both of the fighters fought out of Panama but were in Haiti visiting family at the time of the earthquake.
The WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto, whose family is from Haiti, suffered the loss of eight family members. His half sister Naomi and six year old niece Jessica were left homeless. Andre Berto represented Haiti in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and was scheduled to fight Sugar Shane Mosley on January 30th in a fight in which a win would have propelled him to the next level. In a prepared statement released to the media Berto stated the following, "As a result of the disaster, I am a mentally and physically exhausted and therefore I have no choice but to withdraw from my bout on January 30." And with that the entire card has been cancelled. Shane Mosley issued statements of support for Berto and his family as well as for the people of Haiti.
As a result of the cancellation Shane Mosley is now left without a fight and in the same predicament that Floyd Mayweather Jr finds himself after the collapse of his mega fight with Manny Pacquiao. Representatives from both camps have expressed interest in starting talks to hammer out a deal for Mayweather vs Mosley in the spring. As reported on ESPN.com, Mayweather advisor Leonard Ellerbe stated the following, " I know everyone is rushing to make this fight with Mosley, but I want people to know that Floyd feels awful for Berto and his family for what they and their country are going through," Ellerbe said. "That is first and foremost. But if in fact Shane Mosley is available, that's the fight that Floyd would love to make. It's no secret that Floyd has been trying to make a fight with Shane for the last 10 years." He added, "That's the fight he wants more than anything. And Floyd has instructed me and Al [Haymon Mayweather's other advisor] to make the biggest fight possible. We will be talking with [Golden Boy CEO] Richard [Schaefer]. Floyd against Shane is the biggest fight in boxing right now that can be made."
At the conclusion of Mayweather's comeback fight against Juan Manuel Marquez last September, Mayweather was confronted in the ring by Mosley and he did not look as willing as his advisor makes him out to be.
It will be interesting to see if Mayweather's camp will insist that Mosley undergo all of the blood testing that was at the center of dispute with Pacquiao. Unlike Pacquiao who has never been linked to performance enhancing drugs, there is grand jury testimony form Mosley himself that he used PEDs leading up to his 2003 rematch with Oscar De La Hoya.
No comments:
Post a Comment