The biggest fight of 2010 — “Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather vs. “Sugar” Shane Mosley — is hours away. I’m super excited for this fight. It will be the biggest challenge in Mayweather’s unblemished career and another stiff challenge for Mosley. Personally, I’m hoping that Shane beats the crap out of Floyd…but I don’t see it happening. Although Shane has a decent chance, I think Mayweather safely boxes his way to a unanimous decision. Here’s why.
Age — Mosley is 38 years old. Although he’s smarter in the ring, he’s clearly a step slower than he used to be. His hand speed and foot speed aren’t what they were five years ago. Mayweather is 33 and much closer to his prime; he’s also one of the fastest and smartest fighters in the history of the sport.
Mayweather’s Jab — All of Mosley’s losses came against fighters with effective jabs — Vernon Forrest, Winky Wright, and Miguel Cotto. Some experts have argued that Mosley has trouble with tall and lanky fighters, which is certainly true in the Forrest and Wright fights. However, Cotto is a pretty…compact fighter that isn’t particular tall and doesn’t have a long reach. He was also able to use his jab to contain Mosley. Mayweather has an excellent jab and I can see him sticking it in Mosley’s face all night.
Mosley’s Win Against Margarito is Overrated — A lot of people have been pointing to this fight as Mosley’s “born again” moment. That’s a bunch of crap. Margarito is a slow, plodding, and uncomplicated brawler that was perfect for Mosley. It was a good win, but entirely overblown and made people forget about Mosley’s other recent fights. It took Mosley a long time to get rid of Ricardo Mayorga. He also went 16 rounds over the course of two fights with Fernando Vargas. Both Mayorga and Vargas were shot fighters when they faced Mosley. A prime Mosley would have gotten both of them out of there in a single round. Again, Mayweather is in his prime and his skills are top notch. He’s on an entirely different echelon than Margarito, Mayorga, or Vargas.
The Mayweathers Know How to Beat Mosley — I believe that Shane Mosley lost his second fight against Oscar De La Hoya. “The Golden Boy” landed more punches and out-boxed Mosley. De La Hoya’s trainer for that fight? Floyd Mayweather, Sr. Although Mosley’s trainer, Nazim Richardson, has been getting a lot of (well deserved) attention for his work with Mosley, a lot of people have forgotten that Mayweather, Sr. was part of the aforementioned De La Hoya camp. Although Mosley won the official decision, a lot of people thought he lost the fight. Either way, Mayweather, Sr. knows what it takes to frustrate Mosley.
Five years ago, I would have taken Mosley over Mayweather…possibly by knockout. That said, I can’t pick a 38-year old Mosley over Mayweather. I’d love to be wrong and I’d love to see Mosley inflict some permanent damage to Mayweather, but I can only see this fight ending in a unanimous decision for Mayweather. There will be some moments where Mosley’s speed and power will challenge Mayweather, but ultimately Floyd’s speed, smarts, footwork, and defense will allow him to pot shot his way to a win. I hate that guy.
Yeah, I don't see Sugar Shane landing very many hits on Mayweather. Money is just too damn fast. Money pisses me off with the shit he pulls, but I find it hard to go against the guy. He's good. One of the best ever. (though I know the arguments on this)
@smartguy Do you agree with Mayweather's opinion that he's better than Ali and Robinson?
Im really hoping that shane wins but if mayweather loses, we may not have pacquiao v mayweather.
@tokz_21 I believe the fight is tough to make either way. If Floyd wins, he'll say he deserves more than 50/50 for the Pacquiao fight. If Floyd loses, he has a rematch clause already in place.
@rpad
true. We'll never see pacquiao v mayweather then.
Hey it's free comic day! Did you pick up anything?
@Ray
No. Ali was a heavyweight. I don't think any of the other weight classes can put themselves above the best heavyweights.
How disappointing after that 2nd round. Mayweather should just retire if he's determined to keep the olympic style testing.
@tokz_21 Mayweather was masterful after the third round. He adapted and Mosley couldn't do much of anything after that.
@Fight
Wow, Money looked damn good.
@smartguy Indeed. I thought he would win, but I didn't think he'd dominate the fight. I had it 10 rounds to 2 for Mayweather, but what was really surprising is how much punishment he gave Mosley. I thought it would be Mayweather pot shots leading to a decision. Instead, there were a lot of sharp left hooks and fierce straight rights.
@Ray
I don't know if this fight or their other fight was more embarrassing for Mosley. I didn't see Mayweather taunt him, or not as obviously, this time around. Either way, he lost both times.
So from the comments here I gather that pretty boy is now 41-0, nice!
@Big Blak
yeah after the 2nd round it wasn't even close!
@ Tokz
Did they go the whole fight?
@Big Blak
yeah they went the whole 12. Shane rocked Mayweather in the 2nd and came real close to knocking him down in a flurry but after that he disappeared. Mayweather took over and dominated the rest of the fight.