After losing the biggest pay-per-view fight in history Money v Mosley could provide the perfect silver-lining
When the catastrophic news emerged in January this year that Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather’s mega-fight with Manny Pacquiao was definitely off; despair gripped the boxing world. Fans were left reeling and shaking their heads in disbelief because a fight that so urgently needed to happen to put boxing back on top of the sporting Parthenon was unnecessarily shelved.
Debate will continue to rage about which camp was responsible for the failure to put the richest fight of all time together and it is perhaps fair to say that there is blame on both side. However, the contentious blood testing issue – for now – is irrelevant. Boxing has taken its knock out punch and a hard blow it was to take. But just when it seemed as though boxing was about to mourn in its darkest hour, light has emerged in the form of “Sugar” Shane Mosley.
When it was announced that a mentally fatigued Andre Berto had to pull out of his January 30th date with Mosley after the devastating Haiti earthquake had killed members of his family; hearts went out to Berto while eyes turned expectantly to the Shane. For other than Mayweather and Pacquiao, Mosley is the final big dog left standing in boxing’s current glamour division and following the Berto cancellation, ‘Sugar’ is single and ready to fight the top two pound for pounders.
With the greatest respect to all the other welterweights, it is only the trio of Mosley, Mayweather and Pacquiao who can lay claim to being the best in the world at 147 pounds and at this stage of their magnificent careers only a match between two of the three is worth watching if we are to determine who is the best (both in the division and on the pound for pound list).
After all, one look down the current 147 pound rankings behind the top three shows that Cotto is on the downslide after too many wars, Clottey was beaten by a bloody Cotto, Margarito is a shamed cheat, Paul Williams probably can’t make welterweight anymore (and didn’t look overly impressive surviving against Sergio Martinez) and the rest don’t yet have a significant scalp between them. Therefore, the imminent match up between Mosley and Mayweather is no doubt the silver-lining to the Pacquiao vs. Mayweather collapse. And what a fight it should be!
Mayweather was fast being labelled a ‘chicken’ with no heart after recently appearing to only take fights that he could definitely win (an accusation that increased in substance after the fight with Pacquiao fell through). But in Mosley, Mayweather faces a man with all the tools to beat him. Not only is Mosley a legitimate welterweight at the top of his game (and I can count on one hand the amount of those Floyd has faced), he is perhaps the first fighter Mayweather has met in the ring that can match him for speed. [Editor’s Note: Excluding Zab Judah, who minus his speed enters the ring with a few too many other issues].
At 38 years old, Mosley remains dazzlingly quick and has remarkably retained almost all of the speed and power he possessed in his youth as he illustrated on Margarito’s supposedly iron chin. Another huge problem for Floyd is that Mosley will not be scared by his opponent or overawed by a fight of this magnitude.
Mayweather likes to intimidate his opponents before the fight and take them out of their comfort zone (as he did when he wound up Hatton at their infamous weigh in) but Mosley has been at the top for over two decades and fought the very best at their peaks including Oscar De La Hoya, Ronald ‘Winky’ Wright, Fernando Vargas and Vernon Forrest. Mosley is the more experienced man and he sure as hell won’t be scared of Mayweather.
And perhaps the biggest concern of all for Mayweather is that Mosley will be perhaps the hungriest he has even been as a fighter. At 38, this will be Sugar’s last shot at the ‘Big Time’ and he knows that losing is not an option. Just imagine… a big, hungry, fast, experienced and strong-chinned opponent coming at Mayweather and we quickly realize the magnitude of the challenge on Pretty Boy’s hands.
As for Mosley, he too faces perhaps the toughest challenge of his career. Mayweather is a once in a generation fighter. He – like Mosley – is lightening fast and he has the added benefit of having perhaps the best defensive skills of any fighter in the last few decades.
Mayweather also has an unbeaten record and love him or hate him he has found a way to win every time he has stepped into a ring. This is because Mayweather has fantastic ring intelligence and knows how to steal rounds while making opponents fight at his distance and at his measured pace. Floyd has immense stamina and while we have seen Mosley tire in the late rounds, Floyd gets stronger and stronger as fights go on.
So who wins?
Mosley vs. Mayweather Early Prediction
The fact that this bout is so hard to call makes it a legitimately intriguing top level clash and a huge challenge for both. Mayweather has perhaps the slight edge in speed, defense and conditioning while Mosley has size, power and experience over his younger foe. I see Mayweather winning via a narrow split decision but the fact that most see it as close is why this is a great fight. The same though, can unfortunately not be said about the Pacquiao vs. Clottey match up.
Don’t get me wrong, Clottey – a top class welterweight – is one tough S.O.B and the fact that he is a former champion that has never been stopped or even put down says a lot about him. But let’s be honest, hands up if you think he will beat Pacquiao. Anybody home?
The relatively unknown fighter was beaten (all be it narrowly) by a bloody Cotto who was demolished by Pacquiao months later and he also boasts losses to Margarito and Carlos Baldomir. Yes, Baldomir, albeit by disqualification.
I like Clottey and I think he’s very good fighter but he is out of his depth at pound for pound level and merely an obstacle in the way of the fight that boxing wants to see: Pacquiao vs. the winner of Mosley and Mayweather.
So after years of battling in the welterweight division, there remain three kings and one throne. Let’s just hope that 2010 is the year that one proves himself the rightful heir.
