Mosley toughens up with 'monster' sparmates

MANILA, Philippines - Shane Mosley is taking a different approach gearing up for his May 7 fight with Manny Pacquiao.

Instead of using Pacquiao look-alikes, guys as small and as quick as the Filipino icon, Mosley has placed “monsters” in front of him in sparring.

This way, he told the Los Angeles Times during his media day yesterday, he won’t feel a thing when he gets to face the hard-hitting Pacquiao at the MGM Grand.

“Lately, I’ve been dealing with bigger guys, monsters. To have a guy with a smaller frame in front of me this time, he doesn’t intimidate me at all,” he said.

Mosley had great success dealing with smaller opponents, and will enjoy a couple of inches in height advantage against Pacquiao, barely 5-foot-7.

“Watching those tapes, I saw how I took it to the body and head, used my long jab,” Mosley told Lance Pugmire from his Big Bear training.

Around 50 members of the media took the bus up to Big Bear for Mosley’s media day. Pacquiao will probably host his own at the Wild Card Gym the next few days.

Mosley, who’s never been knocked out before, said he’d knock Pacquiao, and succeed where a lot others have failed.

Bob Arum, the promotional genius, is not laughing.

“Shane’s always at his best against fighters who come at him, and have you ever seen Manny retreat?” Arum was quoted as saying.

Meaning: It can be done.

And the boxing public may have sensed something because as of yesterday, four weeks to the fight, tickets are “officially sold out.”

“Well, this is a legitimate sellout. There is no ticket to be had. I mean, there are zero tickets available. You can’t get a ticket for the love of money. I mean, it is absolutely sold out,” Arum told www.boxingscene.com.

All 17,000 of them gone, and on the internet, a Floor E front-row ticket is being sold for $8,665 (P381,000) each.

And people are paying that much to get close to the action, and probably rub elbows with Hollywood stars like Denzel Washington or Mark Wahlberg.

A small group of Filipinos, who did not want to be identified, are dying to get there, but said they can only pay as much as $25,000 for their tickets.

Yes, they will cough up a million pesos – for four front-row seats.