By Niko Tricarico: Well, let’s examine what attributes he holds over little Floyd. First of all, Mosley hits harder. That’s a no-brainer. So, one for Mosley…let’s see what else, what else? He’s…he’s taller. That’s another thing. Mosley is taller than Floyd. There’s no getting around that one either. What else? He seems like a nicer guy. So, Mosley has a more pleasant disposition than Floyd. I guess that doesn’t really work for this list though.

The truth is that Mosley has a very slim chance at victory on May 1st. Over the course of his career he has demonstrated immense ineptitude’s when dealing with technically proficient fighters and there is no one more capable at exposing that flaw than Floyd Mayweather Jr. Mosley lost to Forrest twice, Wright twice, he was losing to De La Hoya twice before he was able to goad Oscar into a brawl, and he lost to Cotto. Forrest stayed tight and peppered Mosley with jabs, straight rights and upper cuts. Wright beat him with a jab and only the jab (why Mosley didn’t incorporate lateral footwork and head movement to offset Winky’s offense, especially in the rematch, is an absolute mystery). Oscar was beating him with the jab, but then again Oscar loves to mix it up and against Mosley he paid a heavy penalty for his lack of commitment to a sound game plan. And Cotto pretty much beat Mosley with the jab and straight rights too.

Mosley has no jab of his own to speak of; instead he dangles his left hand out in front of his opponent like a buoy in an ocean and then winds up with his right hand. Against Mayweather this is a mistake. When Mosley throws a punch, he leans back, twists his entire body, loads up and releases his fist like a sling shot stretched to the limits of its elasticity. When a puncher winds up like that against Mayweather he very calmly ducks, leans back or darts in with blinding speed hitting the aggressor with a quick left hook and then smothers the punch by keeping close to his opponent. His reflexes are too precise to be hit by a telegraphed punch. Mayweather will not be goaded into a brawl. He will not lose his cool. He can not be rattled, shaken or thrown off his game. He is too strong mentally and too confident in his ability. How does Mayweather beat a good fighter like Mosley so easily? The same way he beats everyone else…

1. The Straight Right Hand

He bends forward at the waist and widens his stance so that he can lean back onto his right foot if his opponent throws a punch. He then, like a spring loaded coil, throws his right hand, ducks underneath the counter and usually ends up somewhere behind his befuddled foe. If he’s not countering with it, he will often times lead with the straight right hand. This becomes more prevalent as the fight goes on and his confidence builds.

2. The Left Hook

As with the straight right hand sometimes he leads with the left hook and sometimes he counters with it. When he leads with it he lunges in, hits his opponent with the left, smothers the counter, then raises their head by pushing up under their chin with his forearm and smacks them with a right before bouncing back out of range. Mayweather is so fast on the draw and his reflexes so precise that he can throw the counter left hook after his opponent does and still make contact first. He did this against Hatton when he check hooked him into the ring post.

The way to beat Mayweather is not by coming forward and throwing hooks. He blocks looping right and left hands with hilarious ease. He cocoons himself in a shell and raises his elbows up deflecting punches as though a child were attacking him. In order to have any shot at beating him a better strategy would be to create angles and come up through the middle, which is why a good jab has proven effective against Mayweather.

But Mosley doesn’t have a jab does he?