Ariza: “I don’t think he’ll [Mayweather] get past Mosley”

By Dave Lahr: Manny Pacquiao’s strength and conditioning trainer Alex Ariza chimed in with his own thoughts about the May 1st bout between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Shane Mosley, saying in an article at The Telegraph, “I don’t think he’ll [Mayweather] get past Mosley. I think it’s even possible that Mayweather could come up with an injury or get the flu, because if that fight happens and Mayweather loses, he loses everything. He will then never fight Manny for the amount of money that was originally offered, and he will lose all his pulling power.”

It’s unclear whether Ariza honestly believes what he’s saying or if he’s just saying this coming across as saying something favorable about Mayweather. After all, many people in Pacquiao’s camp are less than pleased with Mayweather over everything that occurred during the failed negotiations. Mayweather and Pacquiao were never able to come to an agreement about the random blood testing for their March 13th fight.

Pacquiao then subsequently moved on and chose Joshua Clottey to fight on March 13th, and Mayweather selected 38-year-old Shane Mosley. Most boxing experts feel that the younger 32-year-old Mayweather will beat Mosley on May 1st. With Mayweather’s better movement, excellent hand speed, it’s difficult to imagine any other outcome than him beating Mosley by a fairly lopsided decision.

Ariza continues on the subject of Mayweather, saying “What does he [Mayweather] gain from beating Mosley – who is 38 years old, and who exposed Antonio Margarito’s obvious weaknesses in his last fight? Floyd will fiddle his way to a point’s victory if he defeats Mosley. He’ll run, build up a lead and run some more, and have Mosley running into gaps all night chasing him down.”

I’m not sure I really understand Ariza here. It seems like he’s saying two different things. How can he question what Mayweather would gain from beating Mosley while at the same time listing Mosley’s impressive accomplishment of beating Margarito in his last fight. This is a very strange interview. He’s also saying that Mayweather will beat Mosley, yet earlier in the same interview Ariza says “I don’t think he’ll [Mayweather] get past Mosley.” Was he not serious when he said?

Mayweather seems to come off better by choosing Mosley compared to Pacquiao, who’s facing Joshua Clottey. Last time I checked, Clottey had been beaten in his last fight and isn’t a title holder. Clottey also lost to Margarito. Actually, Clottey was dominated by Margarito. Mosley stopped Margarito. This tells me that Mayweather is facing the better fighter in Mosley.

So how is this supposed to be a bad thing? Should Mayweather have chosen Clottey then instead of Mosley? That would be like some kind upside down logic to me. Let’s take the guy that just got beat. I think Clottey is a good fighter, but let’s face it, he just lost to Cotto. Besides that, Clottey has been facing a mixed bag of competition through much of his career, and you really can’t compare the opposition he’s faced with that of Mosley.