By Chris Williams: In Floyd Mayweather’s recent interview with HBO analyst Jim Lampley, Mayweather spoke of his love for boxing and that he wanted to a fight that made “business sense” for him.
The subject of Shane Mosley was brought up and Mayweather said “Shane Mosley is a good fighter. I wish him nothing but the best in his career.” By the way that Mayweather was talking, it appeared that he has no plans of fighting the 38-year-old Mosley soon or ever.
It’s unclear why Mayweather isn’t interested in fighting Mosley, because he is after all the best fighter in the welterweight division. It seems like a logical choice for Mayweather to take if he’s at all concerned with wanting to fight the best fighters in boxing.
Could Mayweather be turning his back on Mosley to somehow get back at him for upstaging him during his interview with Max Kellerman after Mayweather’s shut out 12 round decision victory over lightweight Juan Manuel Marquez two weeks ago? Could this be a revenge move on Mayweather’s part to somehow pay Mosley back for interrupting his interview with Kellerman?
There’s no question that Mayweather looked bad in the interview, first because of his unwillingness to answer Kellerman’s questions about him not making weight and then later when Mosley stepped into the interview. Is Mayweather in effect paying Mosley back for his disrespect by choosing not to fight him? Gosh, I really hope not because that would be a childish move on Mayweather’s part if he were to do that because he would not only be hurting Mosley, but he’d also be hurting himself and the sport of boxing, which he says that he loves.
If you love the sport, then the adult thing to do would be to see past Mosley’s behavior and get to the root of why he did it in the first place. Obviously, Mosley wants the fight because he’s getting up there in age and doesn’t have too many more years left before his career is over.
There’s nothing wrong in what Mosley did. If he had quietly asked for a fight, I still have doubts whether that would have worked either. Mayweather has mentioned recently that he approached Mosley twice in the past about fights, but on both occasions, Mosley wasn’t interested in fighting him.
So Mayweather is pretty much saying that Mosley blew his chance at a fight with him in the past, blown it for all times it seems because he spurned Mayweather’s overtures for a fight. In either case, this still sounds like Mayweather paying Mosley back with childish behavior. Because Mosley didn’t want to fight you in the past, you’ve decided not to ever fight him? Well, then you lose too, Floyd.
Not only that, but boxing fans lose. I don’t know how to look it other than to see it as some kind of petty revenge scenario, which is sad because it’s such a waste of time. Short of a fight against Manny Pacquiao, Shane Mosley is the best option there is for Mayweather whether he wants to admit it or not.
This is a fight that makes business sense. Unless Mayweather wants to drag Oscar De La Hoya kicking and screaming out of retirement or pull Ricky Hatton off his couch, take the beer out of his hands, and put him in the ring, Mosley is the best choice there is for Mayweather.
There isn’t another welterweight with the clout that Mosley has right now, and Mayweather will be wasting time if he sits around waiting for a fight with Pacquiao. Certainly, he needs to fight Pacquiao, but he has time to slip in one bout before that mega fight takes place. Who else to fight then besides Mosley? Are you going to fight another little guy, Floyd? What little one will it be this time?
Comments are closed.