Mosley's foe withdraws due to Haiti tragedy

MANILA, Philippines - Floyd Mayweather, Jr., who was left without a foe when Manny Pacquiao chose to fight Joshua Clottey, has reportedly found an opponent.

The undefeated boxing star is said to figure in a match against fellow American Shane Mosley.

The stellar fight could be announced “as soon as Tuesday,” according to David Mayo of The Grand Rapids Press.

The rumored clash is planned to take place on May 1 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was earlier reported that Mayweather would continue to fight on March 13, the schedule of his botched bout with Pacquiao.

Mosley was slated to fight on January 30 against Haitian Andre Berto at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

But Berto pulled out of the welterweight unification bout because of the devastation in Haiti where he lost some family members.

Pacquiao and Clottey, meantime, will formally announce their “The Event” fight also on Tuesday in Dallas, Texas. Their March 13 clash will be held at the Cowboys Stadium.

Mayweather and Pacquiao were supposed to face off on March 13 at the MGM Grand but talks crumbled because of their disagreement on the drug testing procedure. Pacquiao also sued Mayweather and some of his team members for alleging that the pound-for-pound king was taking performance-enhancing drugs.

Next order of business

According to Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer, the Mayweather-Mosley match is a mega bout that fans would surely watch.

“That is a super fight, and now my next order of business -- to see if we can put [Mosley-Mayweather] together… That is what I am going to be doing in the coming hours. The sooner the better if we can get this potential fight done,” Schaefer told Dan Rafael of ESPN.com.

“With Shane now being available and Floyd being available, that's a fight all fight fans and sports fans would embrace. This would be a huge showdown. Shane has wanted that fight for awhile. That's what I am going to try to do,” he continued.

Mosley, 38, is the reigning World Boxing Association (WBA) welterweight super champion. He has 46 wins (with 39 knockouts), 5 losses and 1 no contest. He defeated Antonio Margarito of Mexico via technical knockout in Round 9 of their bout last January.

The 32-year-old Mayweather, a former pound-for-pound king and World Boxing Council (WBC) welterweight champion, has a 40-0 (with 25 KOs) record. He vacated the WBC welterweight title when he retired in 2008.

Mayweather made a winning comeback in 2009 when he beat Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez by unanimous decision in September.

Unfortunate situation

Mosley was said to be in perfect shape for his fight against the undefeated Berto (26-0 with 19 KOs).

Schaefer related, “I talked to Shane. Obviously, he shares the sentiment. He feels bad for Andre and understands. But at the same time he is disappointed because he is in amazing shape with two weeks to go, and now this fight fell out. He is not happy about it, but he fully understands the situation. We just wish the best for Andre Berto.”

“It's just a very unfortunate situation… This is unbelievable. Everyone has seen the pictures from Haiti and followed this devastating situation. We all feel very bad for Andre. We know where his focus needs to be and that is with his family and his people,” noted the Golden Boy CEO.

“As a result of this disaster, I am mentally and physically exhausted and therefore I have no choice but to withdraw from my bout," Berto said in an Agence France-Presse report.

Berto, the WBC welterweight champion, was raised in Florida but he represented Haiti in the 2004 Athens Olympics.

“I lost several family members to the earthquake and after two days without word, was relieved to learn that my sister, Naomi and her daughter, Jessica survived, but were left homeless,” he added.

"I have seen the pain in my parents' eyes as they attempt to understand what has happened to our homeland and recognize a place they once called home.”