By Jason Kim: When boxing fans look at the clash between unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr. (40-0, 25 KO’s) and WBA welterweight champion Shane Mosley (46-5, 39 KO”s) a lot of people feel that the 33-year-old Mayweather will be able to win the fight based on his boxing skills and his elusiveness. It could turn out just like what people think it will be, but there’s a lot a good chance that Mosley will simply outwork Mayweather and be too tough for him in close like he was in his last fight against then World Boxing Association welterweight champion Antonio Margarito last year in January.
It could come down to whether the judges will recognize the 38-year-old Mosley for his better work rate or will they give Mayweather the nod for his occasional pot shots. I don’t expect for Mayweather to be throwing a lot of punches in this fight, not nearly as many as he did in his last fight against the smaller and older Juan Manuel Marquez last September. Mosley hits harder than Marquez, is bigger and is faster at the weight.
This makes Mosley a much tougher fighter to deal with compared to Marquez. Mayweather won’t to get hit all that much form Mosley once he tastes some of his power early in the fight. He’s going to want to keep circling, avoid getting hit and see if he can win the fight on the move like he did against Oscar De La Hoya. Mayweather hates to get hit, and unfortunately for him Mosley is a fighter that is good at connecting with a lot of his punches.
Unlike the taller and bigger 5’10 1/2″ Winky Wright, the 5’8″ Mayweather won’t be able to simply dominate Mosley from the outside using his jab and guard to control action. Mayweather will have to get his feet wet and not be afraid to get hit, because that is part of the deal in beating Mosley. No one beats him easily without taking a lot of punishment along the way. Mosley tends to throw a lot of punches in his fights and focuses on throwing multiple combinations when he lets his hands go.
He’s not like Mayweather, who throws one punch at a time rather than two and three punch combinations. Mosley may be the older fighter, but he’s trained to fight hard for 12 rounds and is in excellent physical condition in all of his fights. Mayweather isn’t used to fighting nearly as hard as Mlosley does, and prefers to have things go slowly so that he can rest and pick his spots. Mayweather might be the more accurate with his shots, but he doesn’t as many as Mosley, so his shots might not be enough to win the fight if Mosley stays busy in every round.
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