Manny Pacquiao has been installed as favourite for his WBO welterweight title defence against Shane Mosley but the Filipino has taken great pains not to underestimate his American challenger.
While Pacquiao is already acknowledged as one of the best offensive fighters of all time, he said on Wednesday he had not prepared for a fight in such intense fashion since he took on 10-times world champion Oscar De La Hoya three years ago.
"I have trained hard for this fight," Pacquiao, who has a career record of 52-3-2 with 38 knockouts, told a packed news conference at the MGM Grand's Hollywood Theater. "I am in 100 percent condition. You know why?
"Because I never underestimate Mosley. Mosley is a good fighter. Do you think he's old? He's not old. He moves like a 32-year-old, a 31-year-old. His hand speed and foot speed is still strong."
Mosley, a four-times world champion in three weight divisions, is a boxing veteran at 39 and many critics believe he is a shadow of the man who twice beat De La Hoya.
Yet it has often been said that styles make fights and Pacquiao knows full well that his American opponent, an agile and highly intelligent boxer, loves to attack.
"Mosley is not that easy (an) opponent," the 32-year-old Filipino, who was smartly dressed in a black suit and white dress shirt, said of their showdown on Saturday.
"He is a good fighter. He is strong, he throws a lot of punches and he moves fast. He is the kind of fighter you can't underestimate."
Asked by reporters when he had last felt a similar level of concern preparing for a bout, Pacquiao replied: "The De La Hoya fight. De La Hoya throws a lot of punches, moves fast and is bigger and taller."
Pacquiao, moving up two weight classes for his first fight at welterweight, stunned De La Hoya with an eighth-round TKO in their non-title fight in Las Vegas in December 2008.
That victory confirmed the Filipino's pedigree and he has since won a further four fights, most recently an eighth world title in an unprecedented eighth weight class against Mexican Antonio Margarito in November.
Last week, Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach said his fighter had never prepared better for a bout, and he emphasised the point during Wednesday's news conference.
"We know we're in a tough fight," the bespectacled Roach said. "We respect Shane and his camp. They have a great team.
"But we are 100 percent ready. Everybody has worked really hard at this training camp. I think it's the best training camp we've ever had and Manny is in the best shape ever.
"We need to peak for this fight because Shane's one of the most crafty guys out there. He's intelligent and experienced and you can't replace experience, that's for sure."
Mosley, who has not competed in the ring since his draw with Sergio Mora in September, predicted an all-action contest at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday.
"This is going to be a terrific fight, a great fight," said the American, who is 46-6-1 with 39 KOs. "We're both warriors, we both love to fight and we're both winners.
"And when you get two winners in there, you know it's going to be a heck of a fight. So I'm excited. I'm ready. It's going to be a block-buster ... and I'm happy to be a part of this."
Pacquiao, like Mosley, is no lover of the trash talking that so often dominates the buildup to professional fights and he had a special message for those attending Wednesday's news conference.
"All of my life, I have had to fight," said the Filipino, who rose from poverty in his homeland to become a beloved sportsman and win a seat in his national congress. "As a child, I had to fight just to eat.
"The biggest fight of my life is not in boxing. No, the biggest fight in my life is how to end poverty in my country and this Saturday, I will wear yellow gloves (in the ring) as a symbol of unity and poverty."
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Profile of Tarabut Gateway
Founder: Abdulla Almoayed
Based: UAE
Founded: 2017
Number of employees: 35
Sector: FinTech
Raised: $13 million
Backers: Berlin-based venture capital company Target Global, Kingsway, CE Ventures, Entrée Capital, Zamil Investment Group, Global Ventures, Almoayed Technologies and Mad’a Investment.
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Punchy appearance
Roars of support buoyed Mr Johnson in an extremely confident and combative appearance
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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Our Time Has Come
Alyssa Ayres, Oxford University Press
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
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Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
