Floyd Mayweather v Shane Mosley preview
The Floyd Mayweather ego machine lands in Las Vegas once again this Saturday as “Money May” faces “Sugar” Shane Mosley. This is a grudge match that boxing fans have waited a long time to see as the two rivals look to end a long running feud.
This clash of the titans came about after the disintegration of the Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao super-fight and the almost as exciting Mosley-Andre Berto bout. When the Pacquiao battle imploded and Berto was forced to return to his native Haiti because of the earthquake, both fighters where left twiddling their thumbs like a pair of dates that have been stood up.
It therefore seemed like an ideal time for them to end their on-going slagging match and simultaneously give increasingly disenchanted boxing fans a big fight to sink their teeth into. In many ways this is the ultimate second prize.
The only drawback is that it’s come so late in the day, with Mosley past his peak at 38 years of age, but by no means is he a shot fighter.
His recent destructive victory over Antonio Margarito proved there was life in the old dog yet. It reminded us of the Mosley of yesteryear, fast, aggressive and forthcoming. If he can take that to Mayweather in a controlled manner, we could have a classic on our hands
Neither fighter has been particularly active in recent times, fighting just the six fights between them in the last three years. However they have been against big names, Mayweather fought three of the best of his generation in the form of Oscar Del La Hoya, Ricky Hatton and Juan Miguel Marquez, while Mosley in that same period has taken on Miguel Cotto, Ricardo Mayorga and Margarito. All top pugilists and the only loss either of them suffered was when Sugar Shane was outpointed by Cotto in a career defining fight for the Puerto Rican.
The Cotto defeat and the previous double losses to Vernon Forrest and Winky Wright looked to have ended Mosley’s career, but he’s fought back from the brink and this is his last crack at big-time boxing. It’s a huge ask though, there is no tougher task in boxing right now than taking Money May’s scalp.
Typically humble, earlier this week former multi-weight champion Mayweather described himself as “Better than Sugar Ray Robinson, better than Muhammad Ali.”
It is fair to say that the ever bashful Mayweather does have one foot in legend status. Mosley would be another big notch on his gilded belt of superstars that have fallen under the former Olympian’s gloves. It’s not going to be straightforward though. In fact rewind seven years and Mosley was basically in Mayweather position, undefeated and comparing himself to the gods of the sport. Then Forrest came along and took away his mythical status with two slick displays.
What will be playing on Mosley’s mind will be his defeats to Wright. Wright is one of the best defensive boxers of his generation and Sugar Shane just couldn’t get to grips with his counter attacking style. Worrying then that arguably the only defensive boxer better than Wright is Mayweather. To stand any chance Mosley has to use what went wrong in those fights as the blueprint of what not to do against Mayweather.
It could be a thriller, Mosley has quick hands and he will try and work the body from up close, Mayweather however will be looking to keep him at arm’s length as always and pick him off from the outside. Everyone knows what to expect from Mayweather, he has mastered the technical aspects of the sport and will aim to out-box Mosley. He proved against Hatton that he can deal with all out attack and Sugar Shane has to be intelligent and controlled in his assaults.
Love or hate Mayweather you can’t deny the man has skills. He’s as easy to catch as a greased up ferret in a maze and should be awarded a PhD in the sweet science. Mosley has to do what no one has done yet and work out a way to catch him.
It’s ironic that after the Pacquiao fight was blown wide apart by Mayweather’s insistence that Pacquiao takes an Olympic style drugs test, he’s now lined up Mosley who has failed a drugs test in the past. Quite frankly though there can't be anybody who wants to hear about that drug testing debacle ever again.
Victory tomorrow night will surely mean Mayweather will just need to beat Pacquiao to ensure his legacy, he may well see Sugar Shane and “Pacman” as his way to exit the sport in style.
He’ll be taking it one-step-at-a-time though and at this stage he won’t be looking much further than his ring walk on Saturday night.
Rumours that he has requested the doors widened so he can fit his ego through have so far proved unsubstantiated.
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