By Chris Williams: Floyd Mayweather (40-0, 25 KO’s) has been getting away on hand speed and quick reflexes alone for much of his career. Mayweather’s blazing hand speed and reflexes have made him what he is today. If you take away those assets or have them taken away by a smart fighter, Mayweather is pretty much a mediocre fighter. Shane Mosley (46-5, 39 KO’s) will be trying to neutralize Mayweather’s hand speed on Saturday night and exposing him as a fighter who is vulnerable when the action gets rough.

Will Mayweather be able to stand up to the pressure and pounding that Mosley is going to be inflicting on him Saturday night? We won’t know until the fists start flying, but I have a feeling that Mayweather is going to get utterly exposed by Mosley. Forget about Mosley’s age, I see this fight boiling down to who is the tougher fighter. Mayweather says he plans on taking the fight to Mosley, but I don’t buy that.

Mayweather is probably going to be looking to avoid contact as much as possible and focus on throwing pot shots. I think Mayweather will throw combinations in the form of left hooks if he can get Mosley out of position and vulnerable. But other than that, I think Mayweather is going to be moving and trying to stay away form the heat of battle rather than actively engaging and looking to match Mosley punch for punch.

I think Mosley will land the greater volume of punches and the harder shots. The only way I can see Mayweather winning this fight is if the judges are more impressed with his pot shots rather than the combinations that Mosley will be landing all night long. I’m hoping that Mayweather doesn’t run from Mosley, but I think he will. Mosley will be landing some huge shots early in the fight and I expect this to get Mayweather on his bicycle, causing him to run nonstop to keep from taking punishment. I don’t think Mayweather is going to want to risk getting hit.

He’s too much into trying to stay pretty and not take punishment. At 33, Mayweather is clearly not as fast as he used to be and seems to have lost a couple of steps in the last few years. It’s going to be interesting to see Mayweather perch himself in the corner, lean on the ropes and try the old shoulder foll like he often likes to do. I can see Mayweather taking bad punisment in the corner, and his shoulder roll making him look sad and slightly pathetic.

Those kinds of defensive tricks won’t work in this fight, I’m afraid, because Mayweather will have to fight Mosley if he wants to get the win. Mayweather won’t get any cheap wins throwing pot shots from long distance against one of his smaller and badly over-matched opponents. Mosley will have the size and power advantage and will be the quickest fighter that Mayweather has fought since his bout against Zab Judah. In the end, I see Mayweather taking a vicious beating and losing for the first time in his career. Mosley will expose him for lacking the toughness to battle the best fighter from a decade ago.