Manny Pacquiao, left, and Shane Mosley pose during a news conference in Beverly Hills on Thursday. (Jae C. Hong / Associated Press / February 10, 2011)
The newest star of a coming CBS reality series showed off a new haircut and said all the right things Thursday.
After all, Manny Pacquiao, the world's best pound-for-pound boxer, understands the need to punch up his May 7 Showtime pay-per-view when he takes on Pomona's former three-division world champion Shane Mosley. Upping the ante is a Showtime reality series built around this match, three episodes of which will air on CBS, Showtime's parent network.
"If he trains hard for this fight, he's not an easy opponent," Pacquiao said at a news conference in Beverly Hills that featured both fighters. "It's going to be a good fight."
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But the World Boxing Organization welterweight title bout is hurt by Mosley's image, which took a beating in last May's lopsided unanimous-decision loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. and in a sluggish battle against Sergio Mora in September that ended in a draw.
In those fights, Mosley (46-6-1, 39 knockouts) looked all of his 39 years. Meanwhile, Pacquiao (52-3-2, 38 KOs) has won 13 consecutive fights ranging from lightweight to junior middleweight.
Mosley was upbeat, though, with reporters.
"The difference with this fight is I'm facing a guy attacking me, so it'll be more easy to get my shots off," Mosley said. "In a fight like that that becomes a battle, it might be the end of the fight. I can still throw a lot of punches in a short time.
"Fight fans want to see guys exchange, and that's what's going to happen."
Showtime's Pacquiao-Mosley series, "Fight Camp 360," hopes to play off that notion. It debuts April 2 at 9 a.m. on CBS in advance of the network's coverage of the NCAA Final Four. That first episode will replay on Showtime on April 16. The finale will air May 6 on Showtime and CBS will air it at 11 a.m. on the day of the fight.
By shunning HBO this time around, Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum showed he is sold on the idea that the involvement of CBS will make this Pacquiao's strongest pay-per-view ever — more than the 1.25 million buys for Pacquiao-De La Hoya in late 2008.
The nagging reality, however, is that the May 7 fight at MGM Grand might not be anything more than a rest stop before a Pacquiao-Mayweather date.
"Right now, I pray for him, for his personal problems to be OK," Pacquiao said of Mayweather, who is facing a March 10 court appearance for his alleged role in a Las Vegas domestic violence case. "There are bad things around him. I hope it's OK."
While an MGM Resorts official has declared Pacquiao, 32, a 7-1 favorite, Pacquiao's blunt trainer Freddie Roach didn't exactly retreat from his November call for Mosley to retire.
"Does [Mosley] have a chance? An outside one," Roach said. "I'm looking for my guy to knock out this guy with no compassion, like he showed Margarito in the 12th round of the last fight. Manny will be the first guy to stop this person, and be able to say he did it when Mayweather couldn't.
"Losing two fights like that, even though the Mora result was a draw, show [Mosley's] slipped from what he once was. With his age, if he wants to continue fighting, it's a free country. But obviously, I think my guy will dominate, will win every round and knock Mosley out."
lance.pugmire@latimes.com
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