Videotaped Mosley Deposition Leaks

As if Shane Mosley doesn’t have enough on his plate going into May 1 against Floyd Mayweather, former BALCO head Victor Conte has now leaked damaging footage of Mosley’s 2009 testimony regarding his use of performance enhancing drugs.

A spliced version of the testimony shows an uncomfortable Mosley answering questions about whether he knew he was taking EPO (Erythropoietin), a now banned drug, while working with Victor Conte.

Mosley has endured criticism from the case since 2003, when a raid of Conte’s BALCO company showed lists of various athletes who used their products. Mosley’s name was included on the list, but for the past 7 years Mosley has maintained he thought he was taking legal drugs, and not banned substances.

Mosley over the course of several weeks took the drug in preparation for his rematch with Oscar De La Hoya, which he won by a controversial unanimous decision.

Conte, who served jail time for his role in the scandal, bluntly accused Mosley of lying, and stated he disclosed to every athlete that came to him the true nature of his products and what they were capable of doing. Because of this, Mosley has filed an ongoing defamation suit to clear his name, countering that Conte advised him his drugs were completely legal.

The footage shows Mosley answering “yes” to whether he knowingly used EPO, which may be in contradiction to his previous statements of not knowing the substance he took was a performance enhancing drug banned in many sports, including the Olympics.

 Bottom line, this doesn’t look good. But is anyone truly surprised?

I’ve talked at length with Shane Mosley several times, and I believe he is a good guy at heart. But being a good person does not mean you are infallible. An athlete makes a living based on keeping their bodies in the best condition possible. The idea that any athlete would inject substances into their bodies without knowing the exact nature of what they are taking defies logic.

Shane Mosley before the De La Hoya rematch was believed to be on the downside of his career. After back to back decisive losses to Vernon Forrest (which knocked him from pound for pound #1) and a disappointing no-contest with Raul Marquez, the De La Hoya rematch was considered a make or break fight. An impressive win gets him right back in the mix with the top players. A loss and his career as an elite fighter was likely over.

Feeling that intense pressure, it’s not out of the question for him look to someone like Victor Conte for any type of edge.

As probable as my theory is, it still doesn’t account for why Mosley would file a defamation case against Conte, which is the reason this isn’t a dead issue now despite happening 7 years ago. A Mosley admission of guilt several years ago would have put this issue to bed, so one can easily argue he’s going through all this time and money simply because he is telling the truth and wants his name cleared. Now, the welterweight champ will unfortunately be hounded by this going into another crossroads fight.

Even so, the nature of this “leak” is interesting as well. And we also should keep in mind the footage is spliced, and does not show Mosley’s full testimony that may support the fighter’s previous statements.

UPDATE (8:52PM EST)

Mosley’s attorny Judd Berstein has released the unedited testimony, and labeled Conte as a “stone cold liar.” See the below two clips.

Part 2

Do these new videos change your opinion of Shane Mosley?

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HBO 24/7 Continues Tomorrow Night

HBO award-winning 24/7 series continues this Saturday (April 17, 9:30PM EST) in its extensive coverage of Mayweather-Mosley.

Last week fans got their first glimpses of both men’s preparation for arguably the biggest fight of their careers. The cameras detailed everything from Floyd’s backstage anger at Mosley’s in ring challenge after the Marquez fight, and the procedures with the much-analyzed Olympic style drug testing. In addition, we saw Mosley’s preparation with premier trainer Naazim Richardson, and Floyd’s continued community outreach in Las Vegas.

For those that missed it, check the link below to the entire show. Voice your opinion here on your impressions.

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Kelly Pavlik Returns Against Sergio Martinez

Kelly Pavlik’s (36-1, 32 KOs) career has been offtrack since his schooling at the hands of Bernard Hopkins in 2008. The allegations of ducking Paul Williams last year didn’t help either. Tomorrow (April 17), Pavlik takes the first step to redeeming his public image with an intriguing showdown with underrated southpaw Sergio Martinez (44-2-2, 24 KOs).

Martinez holds the dubious distinction of having highly questionable outcomes in his 2 biggest fights.

Last February, Martinez received a draw against Kermit Cintron despite KO’ing him in the 7th. Cintron was able to argue the punch was a head butt and the bout continued even after Cintron got a 10 count.

In December, he waged a Fight of the Year level battle with feared contender Paul Williams. The pair traded early knockdowns, with Martinez holding the edge in harder punches, and Williams in volume. In the end, Williams escaped with a controversial majority decision.

Pavlik also had 2 bouts last year. He wore down Marco Antonio Rubio to a 9th round corner stoppage, and TKO’d a game but overmatched Miguel Angel Espino in 5 rounds last December.

Pavlik is very strong and has been able to grind down fighters who stand in front of him (Edison Miranda, Jermain Taylor). However, Hopkins exposed how badly Kelly deals with movement. The wily Hopkins constantly turned, feinted, and countered him to death for 12 embarrassing rounds.

With Martinez, fans will see how much Pavlik has improved since 2008. To beat Martinez, he’ll have to cut off the ring and keep Sergio under constant pressure. At times in the Williams fight, Martinez appeared overwhelmed and allowed himself to get outworked. Pavlik isn’t a volume puncher, but he has heavy hands and can do more damage in 2 punches than Williams could do in 7 or 8. A focused body attack could lead to Martinez wilting and becoming more stationary in the late rounds, giving Kelly ample chances to land hard with the right hand and possibly score a knockout.

For Martinez to win, his stamina will have to be better than it was against Paul Williams in December. His keys to success are movement, timing, and speed. He doesn’t have the tricks of a Bernard Hopkins to disrupt Pavlik with inside fighting, so Sergio must be dependent on his legs to stay out of trouble. From the outside and mid range, Martinez should be able to land quick counters from awkward angles. Still, Martinez must be alert any time he rests, as Pavlik can hurt opponents with uppercuts out of clinches.

An upset is possible, but I feel Pavlik’s power is the great equalizer. Martinez is a natural junior middleweight who gets hit once he tires. Pavlik as the big middleweight will make that flaw more costly than it was down the stretch for Martinez with Cintron and Williams. I see Martinez making Pavlik look silly at times in the first half, but ending up on the run as Pavlik comes on strong in the final 4 rounds.

My prediction is Kelly Pavlik by a clear decision.

Miranda Planning Career Resurrection Against Lucian Bute

Edison Miranda (33-4, 29 KOs) gets another chance to prove he is an elite fighter when he faces Lucian Bute (25-0, 20 KOs) on the same card. In previous attempts, the hard-punching but technically-limited Miranda has come up short against all the name fighters on his record in Andre Ward (L12), Arthur Abraham (L12, TKO4), and Kelly Pavlik (TKO7).

What is different now? For the past year, Miranda has been working on his flaws with new trainer Joe Goossen, known recently for being instrumental in the final career surge of the late Diego Corrales. Their first outing last October was successful, when Miranda knocked out unheralded Francisco Sierra in 1 round.

But tomorrow night will be the true test of Miranda’s progression. Bute is one of the top fighters at super-middleweight, and it’s either sink or swim for Miranda. Based on Bute’s last fight, an impressive body shot KO over iron-chinned Librado Andrade in November; the Canadian is now punching with power and speed.

That’s a deadly combination, and unless Goossen has improved Miranda’s defense profoundly, it’s difficult to see him winning this bout outside of a Hail Mary shot.

Roger Mayweather Here Next Week on Knockout Nation

You didn’t think Roger Mayweather would let that Naazim Richardson interview ride, did you? Early next week, Roger Mayweather breaks down his nephew Floyd Mayweather’s big challenge against Shane Mosley, why he feels Manny Pacquiao is guilty of steroid abuse, and his own professional career as the Black Mamba. Roger pulls no punches, so stay tuned.

Arthur Mercante, Sr (1920-2010)

A belated RIP goes out to legendary referee Arthur Mercante, who passed away on April 10 at the age of 90.

Mercante was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame in 1995, and had refereed many of boxing’s most historic battles, including Ali-Frazier I, Patterson-Johansson II, Foreman-Frazier I, Arguello-Escalera I, and Ali-Norton III.

He retired at 2001 after calling 145 world title fights.

On behalf of Knockout Nation and AllHipHop.com, I salute Arthur Mercante, Sr for his service to boxing. Thank you!

 Despite the hype surrounding him, the one thing about Drake that remains understated is his style. He keeps it simple with hoodies, slim relaxed jeans, Air Force Ones, plain tees, minimal jewelry—you get the picture. It’s hard to picture him being “trendy” or super bold with his style.  We’ve spotted him in brands like Comme Des Garçons and Red Wing shoes on more than one occasion. He subtly rocks high-end designer pieces, like Louis Vuitton and Hermès belts and accessories. Recently, we saw the usually casual Drake in a more formal light, as GQ magazine entered his life. He was featured in the magazine’s March 2010 issue where he modeled a slew of sexy menswear looks. He also attended the GQ “Men of the Year” party in a dapper suit—again keeping it clean with a charcoal suit, skinny solid black tie and white shirt. For those of you who respect Drake’s humble, laid-back swag, here’s how you can cop a couple of his fresh looks using pieces from DrJays.com and DJPremium.com: Heatin Up Flannel Woven by Ecko  Bruce Melange Tee by Cheap Monday Cash Jean by Syn Jean Black Diamond Jacket by D-LuxCross Hatch Denim by Beyond The Limit SH Court Mid by Reebok