By Dennis Broadhurst: When Shane Mosley and Floyd Mayweather square up on May 1st, I am pretty sure that Floyd will be the one who comes out on top. I think that Floyd’s defence and movement will stop Mosley from landing too much and his slick counter punching will get him the decision. However, I do think that against Manny Pacquiao, Shane would be just as dangerous.

We saw from the Clottey fight that Pacquiao can be hit by relatively slow fighters, Mosley is very quick and also powerful. Pacquiao can obviously dish out major punishment of his own and has shown that he takes a good punch too but if Mosly landed consistently on Pacquiao then he could bust him up and maybe stop him. Of course, if somebody attacks Pacquiao then they are at risk of getting themselves knocked out but Mosley has been facing bigger fighters than Pacquiao for years and could surely take some leather.

I think that Mosley would have to go out hard early in a do-or-die situation because as a big, powerful welterweight, he would have a good chance of stopping Pacquiao. Pacquiao would of course have a chance of hurting Mosley badly during the exchanges because of his speed and power. We will have to see what Mosley’s inactivity has taken out of him when he fights Mayweather.

Mosley would be 39 if he fought Pacquiao which is very old for a fast fighter but I do still think that he would have a chance. If Mosley just laid back and tried to box then Pacquiao would likely use his great stamina and youth to outwork Mosley over the course of the fight. I think Mosley’s best shot would be to hurt Pacquiao early by going after him and busting him up but he would probably not do that because of the risk attached.

The threat that Mayweather poses to Pacquiao is that he has brilliant defence and is a good counter puncher, something which Manny struggles with, however, we have seen that Mayweather can struggle with pressure and would likely be scared to exchange with Pacquiao because of Pacquiao’s speed and power. I think that Floyd could maybe fight too nervous a fight and end up losing a decision, or he may fight the fight of his career and outbox Pacquiao.

One thing I am certain on is that Mayweather is not going to stop Pacquiao, to do that he would have to eat too many punches and would maybe get stopped himself. This fight could go either way, constant pressure from Pacquiao resulting in a decision for him or Mayweather’s skill and defence resulting in a decision for him.

Both of these fights are winnable and losable for Manny but if he lost to Mosley it would be more likely by knockout or stoppage and it could destroy his legacy but if he was beaten by Floyd then it would be by a decision and he would admit being beaten by the better boxer on the night.

Pacquiao could win both of these fights, however, his speed, angles and power make him a hard fight for anybody and it would be likely that both fighters would get caught with a good few shots from Manny who could use his great fitness and offence to wear them down. One thing is for sure and that is that all three of these fighters are greats and no matter who wins in their fights, they will always be greats.