By Jason Kim: In an article at AOL Boxing Fanhouse, WBA welterweight champion Shane Mosley (46-5, 39 KO’s) says “Then after I fight Floyd Mayweather, I’ll go ahead and fight Pacquiao.” Mosley, 38, is convinced that he’ll beat Mayweather on May 1st at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas. Mosley says “He [Mayweather] got pushed into this fight. He really didn’t want it. I can’t wait to get into the ring and sink my teeth in this fight.”
Mosley, of course, is talking about how Mayweather had little options after his fight with Manny Pacquiao fell apart during negotiations. Because Pacquiao chose a good opponent – Joshua Clottey – to fight on March 13th in place of Mayweather at the Dallas Cowboy stadium, it forced Mayweather to choose someone at least as good, if not better, if he didn’t want to take a lot of heat from both boxing fans and the Pacquiao camp.
As such, Mayweather opted to take the most dangerous fighter at welterweight that he could in 38-year-old Mosley. Mayweather, perhaps, could have taken an even more dangerous opponent than Mosley by fighting Paul Williams if he really wanted to impress boxing fans, but for some reason never took that step.
As it is, Mosley is clearly a better opponent than Clottey. You can’t argue against Mayweather’s choice unless you’re a huge Clottey fan and see his losses against Carlos Baldomir, Antonio Margarito and Miguel Cotto as a mere fluke.
Mosley thinks he’s going to beat Mayweather, and move forward to a fight against Pacquiao. The chances of Mosley doing that would seem unlikely at this point. Mosley has been out of action for a year now since his last fight last January against Antonio Margarito, and by the time that he steps foot in the ring against Mayweather in May, Mosley will have been out of action for 16 months.
If Mosley was a younger fighter like Mayweather, it might not matter much, but Shane is pushing 39. It will be asking a lot of himself to be able to come in from that long of a layoff at 38 to beat a talented fighter like Mayweather. But whatever the case, Mosley will very likely give Mayweather his best match in years. Mayweather has been involved with mostly one-sided fights for the past eight years. This one, at least on paper, appears to be a competitive match.
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