What will the critics say now, and is Manny Pacquiao next?
May 1, 2010 marked another great fight, where the anticipation and energy at the MGM Grand was electric, with fans not knowing what type of action to expect in the fight between Mayweather and Mosley. Both fighters entered the ring looking confident, Mosley looking focused coming to the ring, and Mayweather coming out to the Mighty O’Jays song “For the Love of Money.”
In the first round of the fight, both Mayweather and Mosley were feeling each other out, throwing a jab here or there, trying to get a read on each other. Round one turned out to be one of those rounds that could have went either way which leads us into the next round.
The second round had a lot of fireworks. Mosley caught Mayweather with a right hand and rocked Mayweather almost to the ground. You could hear crowds all over the world jumping out of their seats when Mayweather was stunned by Mosley’s devastating right hand shot, but Mayweather once again used his crafty skills to get out of the round, though on shaky legs and seriously on dream street. One good thing Mayweather did in the round was clinching Mosley and holding Mosley’s right hand so he would not get hit by the right again, after the second jarring blow.
The second round by may actually have been one of the best rounds of his career because even though he lost the round, he gained a lot of respect from fans who watched him get rocked and while clearly in serious trouble Mayweather manned up and even traded with Mosley to survive.
After the second round, Mayweather made his adjustments in the third, sticking the straight right hand in Mosley’s face and boxing him. This recipe that Mayweather’s corner told him to do after the second round turned out to be the biggest turning point in the fight.
By round four and throughout the rest of the fight, Mosley looked tired, confused, and uninterested in exchanging with Mayweather because Mayweather did an excellent job countering every time Mosley tried to throw something big. Mayweather was accurate, frustrating Mosley with his straight rights and left hooks. By the end of round four, Mosley had a look on his face that he could not break the defensive code of Mayweather.
When Mosley went back to the corner in round four, he was already breathing through his mouth, which is in indication that maybe Mosley used a little too much gas to try to get Mayweather out in the second round. Mayweather on the other hand, was breathing through his nose and looked like he could go walking through a park for the remainder of the fight. The two fighters did some periodic trash talking in the later rounds, causing some great entertainment for the crowd.
By round eight and throughout the rest of the fight, Mayweather started target practice on Mosley, so much so at times that Mosley was not throwing back. Mosley’s trainer Naasim Richardson warned him that he was going to stop the fight if Mosley continued not to throw punches. Mayweather continued the target practice borage of punches on Mosley’s head and body to close the show.
At the end of day Mayweather was too fast, too crafty, and too smart for Mosley. Mayweather weathered the second round storm by Mosley, to cruise to an easy unanimous decision, winning every round after the second round to prove to his many critics that he too can stand in and fight and be a warrior when he needs to be.
So what will the critics say about Floyd Mayweather, Jr. now? If the next assignment for Mayweather is Manny Pacquiao, the question will be was Shane Mosley the only hope for anyone beating Mayweather at 147 pounds?
