By Sean McDaniel: In an interview with Boxing Talk, World Boxing Association welterweight champion Shane Mosley (46-5, 39 KO’s) thinks he won’t be effected in the least with the time off from boxing in his May 1st fight against the unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr. (40-0, 25 KO’s) at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Mosley, 38, will have been out of action for 16 months by the time he faces Mayweather in the ring.
However, instead of seeing it as a problem that might potentially affect him, Mosley says “I think that if anything, Mayweather is going to be a little rusty, because he fought a smaller guy in Juan Manuel Marquez, a lighter guy. It’s kind of like fools gold, you win a fight and you feel like you did something. He fought a small guy, now he’s going to fight somebody his size, and it’s going to be a totally different story. I’m ready to go; I’ve been training for a long while, for a long time.”
Mosley has to be at his best if he wants to beat Mayweather. Floyd isn’t someone that is easy to win rounds against, and it would seem that the only real chance that Mosley has of beating the 32-year-old Mayweather is if he can somehow knock him out. Say what you want about Mayweather, but he’s a defensive genius, hard to hit and even harder to win rounds against.
Mayweather moves constantly and isn’t someone that can be pinned down easily. Mosley does well against stationary fighters that stay in one place and allow him to get in and get with his fast shots. In a way, Mosley’s style of fighting is a lot like a bigger version of Manny Pacquiao, only Mosley mixes in better inside fighting than Pacquiao. However, Mosley and Pacquiao’s style of fighting doesn’t seem to work well against fighters that move a lot like Mayweather, and this could be a huge problem for Mosley on May 1st.
For Mosley to win, he’s got to have Mayweather standing in one place or pinned to the ropes for him to land with any consistency. The time that Mosley has been out of boxing likely won’t help him any against Mayweather, no matter how often Mosley says that it won’t. At his age, inactivity can’t be something helps him.
Mosley has grand ideas in 2010, saying “After I finish with Floyd Mayweather, then I can go ahead and get Pacquiao. I’m looking to get everybody in position.”
Mosley might have a much better chance of beating Pacquiao than Mayweather, because Mosley is bigger than Pacquiao, a better inside fighter, just as fast, and probably about as big a puncher. Pacquiao would be facing a mirrored image of himself, and it’s unclear how he would do facing his own style. Mosley would give him problems with his superior inside fighting, clinching and his bigger size. Mosley also is fighting at a higher level than Pacquiao’s recent opponents Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto. It would be a huge jump up for Pacquiao to face a talented fighter like Mosley.
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