By Eric Thomas: Floyd Mayweather Sr. believes that Shane Mosley (46-1-1, 39 KO’s) can pull off an upset on Saturday night against Manny Pacquiao (52-3-2, 38 KO’s) if Shane can reach back to the kind of performance that he put in two years ago when he defeated Antonio Margarito by a 9th round TKO in January 2009. In an interview at fighthype.com, Mayweather Sr. said that Mosley would have a chance to win against Pacquiao under those conditions but that’s as far as Mayweather Sr. would go.

Mayweather Sr. wouldn’t say that Mosley would actually beat him if Mosley were to fight as good as he did against Margarito, only that he would have a chance. That’s not exactly a ringing endorsement of Mosley, and that’s for good reason. Mayweather Sr. is skeptical about what Mosley has left. He says he’s not sure that Mosley is the fighter that he once was two years ago. He’s says that if Mosley can get back to that level, he will have a chance in this fight.

The big question is whether Mosley can do that. Two years is a long time when you get up there in your late 30s. You can lose a lot in a short time, especially when you sit inactive for a year like Mosley foolishly did after stopping Margarito. Mosley didn’t fight against after that bout until taking on Mayweather Jr. last year in May. Mosley looked rusty in that fight and seemed to run completely out of gas after the 2nd round. Then in Mosley’s next bout in September 2010 against Sergio Mora, Mosley again looked bad in struggling to get a 12 round draw against Mora. It’s hard to see Mosley as the same fighter when he’s looking bad in not just one but two consecutive fights.