Mayweather vs. Mosley: Will it mean anything in the end?
April 28th, 2010
By Joseph “The Mad Boxing Genius” Torres: For years, Shane Mosley and Floyd Mayweather Jr. have danced around each other without actually setting foot in the ring. For years, the effort to match the two men were attempted but failed miserably. But if boxing has proven anything, it’s to never say never in this sport. Mike Tyson versus Evander Holyfield was eventually finalized despite cancellations and years of going in separate directions. Mike Tyson versus Lennox Lewis had their obstacles too but it got done. A Mosley/Mayweather fight did not prove any different.
Regardless of how or why a Mayweather/Mosley fight was made for May 1st, the fight is finally going to happen.
On paper, this fight has the makings of a true classic. Both men are virtually the same in every way. Both have exceptional speed, skills and athleticism. Both are bonified Hall of Famers and are fighting in their best weight division of the 147lbs limit. There’s no catch weight, no one’s short on experience and to put it simply, there’s no excuse for this not to be one for the ages…accept one!
Boxing has always been the sport of kings because it pits one man against another man and the last one standing is the one who is stronger, tougher and simply better. Most fights at this level are designed to establish who the best truly is in the entire sport. However, there is an underlying issue that begs to question the legitimacy of this fight…Shane Mosley is a 38 year old veteran who hasn’t fought in 15 months!
As entertaining and competitive as this fight promises to be on paper, history shows when you have a fight that should have taken place years ago, you end up with a complete mismatch or a useless action fight. Take for example Mike Tyson versus Lennox Lewis. Had those two heavyweights fought years earlier, the fight would not only of been massive in terms of dollars and cents, but it would have been a bookmark for the sports’ legacy. Or more recently, the Bernard Hopkins /Roy Jones Jr. rematch where the only real excitement came when the final bell rang and the fans were spared more posturing than action.
Mosley has been accused of being over the hill more than once in his career. The most notable and recent time that there were signs that Sugar Shane wasn’t so sweet anymore was in his fight against Ricardo Mayorga. Shane was visibly having trouble in a very winnable fight. Some boxing experts, including this one, had Mayorga ahead going into the twelfth and final round. Luckily, Mosley being the warrior he is decked “El Matador” in twice forcing the referee to stop the fight in a last second knockout victory.
In his last fight against Antonio Margarito 15 months ago, he demolished a man who is considered to be the most avoided fighter in boxing at the time. Shane showed that he still had the stuff to knockout the usually very durable, world class Mexican. He tagged him often and ferociously en route to a 9th round stoppage. But I must reiterate that was 15 months ago.
If boxing matches at this level is supposed to establish clarity in determining who the best fighter is in real time, what happens if the all of these underlying issues start to play out?
Does over 15 months of inactivity put too much rust on Shane Mosley and hurt his performance?
Does Shane Mosley turn old overnight?
Although these underlying issues are what could possibly hamper the significance of this fight it’s also what makes it so intriguing. You have to wonder if Floyd wins under these circumstances, will he get the credit he craves? Does he even deserve it if he wins in this fashion? Will the fight to determine the best always lie with Mayweather versus Pacquiao? Or does Shane shock the world one more time?
One thing for sure is that regardless of all the negative factors that could make this mega-fight another dud, most boxing fans (and rightfully so), will bet their hard earned $50 plus on the PPV to find out!
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Tags: 47 Responses to “Mayweather vs. Mosley: Will it mean anything in the end?”
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this has come too late and as what floyd said it is all about timing.. he timed it well to giht mosley when he is old. fighting a 39 years old? wow just shows how great a ducker floyd is! he should be fighting fighter at his age but what would you expect from floyd, he will only fight anyone with his advantage, like marquez older and smaller and now an even older mosley..after this who will he fight? thomas hearns?.. then procalimed hiself fighter of the decayed? not decade but DECAYED!! YES
@DC
I respect your opinion about Mosley and Mayweather as fighters, but saying they both suck, to me, shows a lack of knowledge of boxing; which is probably why kevin assumed you were a Pacquiao fan.
Kevin…you look kinda cowardly when you sit behind your keyboard and call somoeone names. Think of a constructive argument. Name calling makes you look scared. You know you would never say that to someone’s face. You don’t seem to have much backbone.
Kevin…
why do you assume anyone who doesn’t like Shane or Floyd must be a Pacquiao fan?
relax dude.
@AFR-AM..does it mean to you that since floydie is undefeated his the best? what about evan calderon and joe calsaghe?…floydie is a great boxer but not the best of all…
It will mean a good pay day for both fighters and after all isn’t that what it’s all about all the time
Mayweather doesn’t have to fight anyone to secure anything.He retired for a reason(no real competition).The machine quickly hyped Manny so Mayweather came out of retirement to fight him.No historian will ever overlook this series of events.If you retire on top and undefeated and you return to the game to fight someone who is claiming the throne but has not fought you and on top of that has five losses(a tie is a loss in my book)that means you are still the best.Mayweather does not have to fight Paquiao,Paquiao has to fight Mayweather.The undefeated.
you guys keep insisting that pac should fight mosley. yeah mosley was desperate to get a big fight. pacquiao was already focused on cotto right after the clottey-cotto fight. remember cotto beat mosley.
@GEORGE….know your facts dude. pacquiao-cotto fight was under negotiations back then.
@alias….can you name one good reason why you hate pacquiao? not a personal reason but a logical one.
SHANE MOSLEY IS A JOKE.HE IS TRYING TO MAKE SOME KIND OF SENSE OUT OF HIS ONCE GOOD CAREER.FLOYD DO YOURSELF A FAVOR DON’T KNOCK THAT CHUMP OUT,PUNISH THAT CLOWN FOR THE WHOLE FIGHT SO HE CAN ALWAYS REMEMBER WHO GAVE HIM THE BIZNESS….LOL
I agree with you Joseph, this fight should have happened before Floyd supposed “retirement” when Mosley was at his prime. He wanted to retire as no 1 P4P and a Mosley fight during that time would ruin it. We all know that Floyd was forced into this fight as he would have preferred the likes of M Hatton and his mate Paul Mali….
What would it mean in the end. A bigger appetite for boxing fans to have the winner fight PACMAN to settle who is the best of them all.
ponder this, how broke would Mayweather be if ticket/ppv buyers chose who the proceeds went to? hahaha. Broke Broke Broke! Who’s the cash cow now? It aint floyd… someone (reporter) should ask Floyd. “What would your nick name be if ticket buyers chose which fighter the tickets/ppv money went to?” it would have to be Pretty Boy Floyd “Needs” Money Mayweather. lol THIS SHOULD BE THE NEW RULE! Allow the buyers to decide who they are paying to see. If I was paying to see a Sugar Shane fight, I would want my ticket money to go to his camp/promotions. Floyd wouldn’t be able to get fight like that. They would be better off putting 2 fighters together who had an equal following. Cuase then everyone who fought Floyd would be rediculously ritch, and Floyd would be broke. It wouldn’t make sense to the promoters and Floyd would be out of work. Promoters would then clean up the sport by finding likeable fighters to promote. And our kids would have better role models !!! yes. Where’s the suggestion box? New Rule: The COnsumer decides who get’s paid; when paying for tickets there should be a selection box for where the money goes, 1. Floyd 2. Mosley 3. Undecided (they can split these) Like American Idol. After the World Wide Vote; The boxer with the most proceeds is… whoever fights Floyd. Sorry Floyd sing your farewell song… hahaha… who’s the cash cow now? Let the world vote…
If Mayweather beats Mosley people will say Mosley is old but if Pacquiao ever beat Mosley they would say it’s phenomenal and one of the greatest things they’ve ever seen. Double Standard… oh but I forgot, Pacquiao ducked Mosley last year, fact.
It will mean a lot of chumps are gonna be out $59.99 at the end of the night!
People keep saying Shane will be rusty…fair…but what about Floyds rust? 2yr retirement and he’s last fight was a while ago so Floyd can have rust too.
And for those people still saying Floyd has to beat Manny because he’s the cash cow and P4P king sounds retarded. Floyd didn’t get beat to lose the P4P title and if Pac is the cash cow he should have fought Mosely but instead Roach says there’s not enough money! Obviously there was because Floyd got the money he wanted!!
pacquiao-clottey now that was boring
due to the caliver of this fight
ofcoarse it means something, ring magazine annouced that the winner of this fight would be the new P4p king in the ranks
it will mean something if floyd gets ktfo. but most likely shane will just be #41
This should be a great fight.
No hype man. Mosley is not that bigger than Mayweather. Skill beats size and strength any day. Be back here on Sunday morning with your excuses.
yeah dude i have to agree, these 2 geezers are washed up, maybe they can play checkers instead
floyed is gonna get whipped, just like everyone was wrong about holyfield tyson. its actually better to be an underdog and i notice when shane is considered an underdog he always comes up to the occasion. he is stronger than mayweather he is as fast as mayweather and i believe he is gonna knock may’s bigmouth out. also mayweather struggled in the first few rounds against zab, but zab sucks under pressure and mosely is a much better more consistent fighter than zab, so that in its self should let you know that there are weaknesses in his armor. all mosley has to do is use his jab constantly and set him up for a mid round knockout. every one as usual is cauht up in the hype.
Exactly!However, this is because lots of people don’t like Floyd as a person. They are taking this $hit to personal.
if mosley wins hes an all time great… if floyd wins shane was old or past his prime .. nothing new about this !!
“Old and kinda suck” One (Mayweather)undefeated and the other(Mosley) has 45 or so wins with only 5 loses. 4 of those loses were against much bigger and stronger fighters. These guys are good fighters dude.
DC> I don’t think so. I think this will be a good fight. Shane Mosley always comes to fight no matter who it is. He will force Mayweather to throw more that one or two punches at a time. As an official Floyd nutswinger fan, I do believe Mayweather will get a decision. I don’t think it will be boring.
@DC dude are you a f****** idiot both fighters are old and suck? WOOOOOOW so who doesnt suck tell me who you think is the best and if you say pacquaio youre even more ignorant then you proved in your last statement
Floyd has the best amateur fighting style of all time, hands down, I´m just wondering why he doesn´t use headgear?
Floyd nut swinging. You sound lonely.
Fighter: I can tell you why Mayweather knocked JMM down once, took ten round to KO Hatton. The reason is his style. Simple as that. Bottom-line he won.
you call yourself the “mad boxing genius” you gimp. this article is cow s
They’re still #2 and #3 … until they beat the the real cash cow and P4P’s best.
I think Mayweather will win the fight easily. Shane had one good fight in the last 5 or 6 years. I think Margarito was thrown off his game when they they discovered/removed the padding in his gloves. If they fight again today, I doubt the result will be the same. I’ve never been impressed by Shane Mosely. Even in his win against Oscar. I think he simply outworked Oscar as oppose to outbox him. My prediction, Mayweather in a decision. Bring on Pacquiao. Another easy win for Floyd.
@Rtcross. So you’re saying, comming off the biggest win of his carrer, and beating a younger, more agile Cotto, who was top ranked at the time, that Margarito was not a top WW. Marvin Hagler was not known for tremendous hand/footspeed, but he had other qualities that put him in the upper crust. Margarito may be easy to hit, but he also throws over 100 punches/round, and has…had a head like a steel wrecking ball. For all the greif he’s getting for being 38…that’s quite an accomplishment. Now Floyd, on the other hand, if he’s so much more superior, why did he only knock JMM down 1x, to Manny’s (a less skilled fighter) 3x’s? And why did he take 10 rounds to KO Hatton, and it took Manny (a less skilled fighter) 2?
It will mean a future match up with Pacman for the winner to become undisputed P4P King and a big fat paycheck (if that´s your thing).
I strongly disagreen with this article. It speeks only of Shane’s shortcomings, (which are debatable) and leaves out that Floyd fought JMM after a 2 year layoff. Does the writer love Floyd so much, that he gets a pass on beating a smaller, slower JMM…two years after inactivity?
Speculate all you want, but it’s customary for guys of this level, to fight once…MAYBE twice a year. But people are so smitten by Floyd, that they can only see reasons for his success, rather than looking at things for what they are. I REFUSE, to accept that JMM is a bigger threat in the WW division than Margarito, Plaster or not. Maybe as a lightweight (his natural fighting weight) he’s a force, but not amongst the bigger guys.
“Bottom line winner of this fight despite Manny Pacquiao’s recent accomplishments will be the new P4P King”
Where do people get these ridiculous ideas? Mayweather hasent fought half as good competition as pacquaio. Pacmans always been in there with the best while mayweather just uses his mouth to get out of proper fights. Mayweather shouldnt even be up there with pacman.
Next time proof-read your work! Accept vs. Except
shane will knock floyd’s mouth off!
You forgot to mention, Floyd hasn’t fought a legit welterweight in his entire career, its a megafight for that reason, it’s sad, but its true. People are going to see Floyd against a legit opponent at 147 for the first time. But you make a good point about the 15 month layoff, I think the rust factor only hampers Shane’s performance for the first 2 rounds, which in itself is a danger. However, I hope his sparring sessions have been efficient enough to rule it out in the ring – Only time will tell.
I DON’T CARE IF YOU CALL ME NAMES…HATE ME…AND PREDICT THAT I WILL LOSE…BUT ONE THING FOR SURE…YOU RESPECT ME… BECAUSE OF MY TALENT…AND THAT YOU WILL ORDER PAY PER VIEW TO WATCH ME DISPLAY MY BOXING SKILLS AGAINST AVATAR SHANE. HE DOESN’T STAND A CHANCE.
IN THE END…I WILL BE VICTORIOUS…THERE WILL BE ONLY ONE…AND THATS ME!!! I AM THE BEST THERE WAS…THE BEST THERE IS…AND THE BEST THAT’LL EVER BE… I AM ABSOLUTELY
PERFECT….THE RECORD SPEAKS FOR ITSELF…MY RECORD MATCHES MY PERFECT FACE…SOOOO PRETTY !!!!
Interesting article in that you don’t really make a case for any of the possible out-comes except a poor showing of Shane Mosley due to inactivity and age. The real problem in my opinion is that Shane hasn’t knocked-out a single boxer in many years. The Margarito win was big for Shane but Margarito is slow of foot and hand and was easy to hit, plus he didn’t have the plaster in his gloves to discourage Shane when he hit him, and he did hit Shane, just as they all do. Shane always gets hit by whomever he fights. Shane has speed of foot and hand which is good for him and Shane has power which is also good for him, but it has to be one or the other. To have power you have to be flat footed and to have speed you have to be on your toes. It has to be one or the other at any moment in time but not both. I suspect that it will be mostly speed with a few chances for power if he can get Mayweather on the ropes. To get Mayweather on the ropes and keep him there is going to take quite a bit of effort, which requires the use of energy. Once Mayweather is one th ropes and Shane begins to use his power the question becomes will he be able to land any punches of significants. Because Shanes power punches are wide and easy to see coming they will most likely be blocked but I do suspect he’ll get a few power punches in.
It’s more likely that Shane will be following Mayweather around the ring trying his dardest to get a solid punch in, something that will slow Mayweather down in order for him to get his promised knock-out. I repeat Shane has not knocked out any welterweight of significance except Margarito. Check the record. He has had some knock-outs at the welterweight level but the opponents were nobodies; Willfrdo Rivera, Willie Wise, Antonio Diaz, Shannon Taylor, Adrian Stone. One should be careful as to not Over-rate Shane and Under-rate Mayweather as welterweights. Regardless of their sizes the record shows that Mayweather has fought the better boxers. Let the record also show that whenever Shane fought a real good boxer, Forrest, Wright, De La Hoya, Cotto, Collazo his record is 2W and 5L and no Knockouts. Shane has a chance to win no doubt but to think that now that he’s with Nazim that somehow he fights at another level is just silly. Shane will do what he always does, fight as hard as he can and run out of gas in the late rounds hoping to hold on to a victory. Yes, the sugarman aways runs out of sugar. The one thing that helps this type of disorder is EPO but he can no longer use EPO. If he expects to have anything in the tank at the end means he has to pace himself which is something he doesn’t do well. Pace is something that Mayweather does well as he picks up the pace in the final rounds. Expexct a decision, Mayweawther 115-114 or 115 -113 something like that. a knockout would be a surprise even to Shane no matter what he says. It’s not likely with a top welterweight. Check his record.
YES, dont care much for Floyd to be honest even though he can be amazing to watch at times. Bottom line winner of this fight despite Manny Pacquiao’s recent accomplishments will be the new P4P King and that mean big money and the most respect which is what all true warriors crave in they’re souls. Despite what ever they’re mouths may say.
It don’t have too meen anything but a fight for the fans and money and thats all any boxer wants they say they want to be a champ they do but only for the money it brings them.