By Eric Thomas: According to the Los Angeles Times, talks between World Boxing Association welterweight champion Shane Mosley and Floyd Mayweather are going remarkably well, much smoother than the failed talks between WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao and Mayweather which collapsed recently for their failed March 13th fight. The adviser for Mayweather, Leonard Ellerbe, says “It’s like a breath of fresh air, and I’m sure you understand what I’m referring to.”
Mayweather and Pacquiao were in negotiations for well over a month for their planned mega fight, but the two were unable to reach agreement over the random blood tests that Mayweather insisted on. Pacquiao and his promotional team walked away from the talks rather than agree to have blood tests taken within the 24 day period before the fight.
Mayweather originally wanted the random blood tests to be conducted up until the fight, but gave in and offered the blood tests to stop at 14 days before the fight. However, Pacquiao and his team wanted them to stop at 24 days. Talks with Mosley, though, are going well as he has no problems taking the random blood tests. If a contact can be signed between the two, Mosley and Mayweather would be fighting on either May 1st or May 8th, at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Mayweather has fought once in the past two years, beating lightweight Juan Manuel Marquez by a 12 round decision in September. Mayweather dominated the fight and had little trouble with the smaller Marquez. Mayweather is hoping to get by Mosley so that he can stay alive for a potential bout against Pacquiao later in 2010.
However, even if Mayweather does beat Mosley, he will still have to revisit the random blood tests with Pacquiao. It’s unlikely that Mayweather will get his wish to have the blood tests taken all the way up to two weeks before the fight. And the same goes for Pacquiao, who wants to fight Mayweather.
He’s going to have to bend a little and agree to have blood taken from him within the 24 day window or else there probably won’t be a fight between him and Mayweather. Both fighters have to give in a little to make the fight happen. Ideally, they need to think for themselves and not be influenced by the trainers, friends and promoters who might want to take a harder line on this issue.
The Mayweather-Mosley bout figures to be a better fight than the Pacquiao-Clottey bout which takes place on March 13th. Mosley is perhaps the number #1 or number #1 welterweight in the division right now, and he’s a lot closer to the talent of Mayweather than Clottey is to Pacquiao. This doesn’t mean that the Mayweather vs. Mosley fight will do as well financially compared to the Pacquiao-Clottey fight, but it looks to be a better fight on paper because both Mayweather and Mosley are evenly matched compared to Clottey and Pacquiao.
Comments are closed.