WHAT STATEMENT WILL MAYWEATHER MAKE IN HIS FIGHT AGAINST MOSLEY?
By Jason Aniel
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 27 Apr 2010
San Francisco, CA?This biggest night in boxing in 2010, takes place May 1, 2010, when Welterweight titlist, Shane Mosley, takes on boxing superstar, Floyd Mayweather Jr., in a Welterweight clash. Momentum has been building since HBO?s 24/7 series began airing early April and the Promoters are expecting a historic night in Las Vegas. Mayweather will fight the biggest and toughest opponent he has ever faced at Welterweight. Mosley, riding off his impressive destruction of Antonio Margarito, will attempt to be the first fighter to ever beat Mayweather.
Mosley, at 38 years old, had his best performance in close to 7 years when he walked through Antonio Margarito to take the Welterweight title. However, that bout took place over 15 months ago and prior to that bout, Mosley faced a lot of questions on whether he is still an elite welterweight fighter. Remember, many believed Margarito would end the career of Shane Mosley and be the first stop of the fighter. Just prior to the Margarito win, it took Mosley 12 rounds to knockout the human punching bag, Ricardo Mayorga, and he faded late in a 12 round decision loss to Miguel Cotto in 2007.
Mosley needs to prove that the Margarito win was not a fluke and that he can remind the doubter of why he was the best pound for pound fighter in the world back in 2001.
For Mayweather, it?s business as usual as he will generate another monster PPV revenue and live gate at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas. Although his last fight against Juan Manuel Marquez was not a complete sell out, it did generate over 1 million PPV buys, which is an astonishing number for such a mis-match on paper. His fight with Shane Mosley, on the other hand, is a legitimate welterweight bout against two of the top 3 welterweights in the world. That means even bigger PPV numbers and in the end, more money for ?Money? Mayweather.
Breaking down the fight, it appears that the style match up favors Mayweather. In all of Shane Mosley?s defeats, he was simply out-boxed. The clearest evidence was his last lost against Miguel Cotto. When the two fighters brawled and went toe-to-toe, Mosley was getting the best out of Cotto. However, from the 7th round on, Cotto got on his bicycle and boxed Mosley from the outside. Mosley had no response to Cotto?s change of style and therefore lost the lead and fight by decision. Now, Shane takes on the best boxer and defensive fighter in the game in Mayweather. If Cotto can outbox Mosley, then there no question that Mayweather has the potential to box circles around Mosley.
However, an ?X-Factor? in Mosley?s favor is his new trainer, Nazim Richardson. Richardson was the mastermind who guided Mosley in his upset victory over Margarito. He was also the one who caught Margarito?s trainer adding an illegal padding on Margarito?s handwraps. Richardson was also the trainer who forced Felix Trinidad to re-wrap his hands multiple times back in 2001 when his fighter, Bernard Hopkins, scored an upset victory over Trinidad. The strong-minded and very vocal Richardson has been the star of 24/7 because of his insights on the fight and his fighter.
Mosley promises to make Mayweather uncomfortable all night and force the defensive fighter into a street fight. That will be a tough task because no fighter has ever dictated the pace or tone of the fight against Mayweather. However, one of the biggest mis-conceptions of Floyd Mayweather is that he is solely a defensive fighter. I would argue that Mayweather?s offensive is just as good as his defensive. Mayweather displayed some devastating combinations in his fights against Diego Corrales and Arturo Gatti. The problem is that Mayweather chooses stick defensive and not engage. That could be a product of moving up in weight and having a history of hurting his hands; or it could be no fighter has forced Mayweather to be offensive.
It will be Shane Mosley?s job to smartly force Mayweather to open up offensively and thus give Mosley openings to cause some real damage (whether that means he has to chase him or establish a solid jab all night). It would be great if Mayweather can open up and throw more combinations and make a statement by dominating Mosley over 12 rounds.
In any respect, this is another big night in boxing where the entire world will tune in and watch Mayweather and Mosley. The mainstream public will support the fight and all they want in return is simply a great fight, regardless of the outcome. History proves that both fighters can be exciting and provide great fights. But, like all of his fights, it?ll be up to Mayweather to determine if the event is worth the price or not.
I think on paper Mayweather should win the fight by decision. It could possibly be an easy win for Mayweather. Although Mosley is more than capable of pulling off the upset, the long layoff and the lack of success against counter-boxers will work against him. With that said, I?d love to be proven wrong and I won?t shed any tears should Mayweather lose, except for the fact that Manny Pacquiao?s 40 million dollar payday goes to waste.
FOLLOW THE FIGHT ON TWITTER
Philboxing.com will be covering the Mayweather-Mosley showdown live in Las Vegas. Along with fight updates on the site, follow my Twitter page for insights, tidbits, results, and pictures you can only give if you are there live. The site is www.twitter.com/sportnjordan
QUICK JABS
The Chris Arreola vs. Tomasz Adamek was the most exciting heavyweight fight in a long time. If anything, it clearly shows that the heavyweight division needs to get rid of the giant heavyweights, like the Klitschkos, in order to have much more compelling division to watch?There has been a movement to boycott the Mayweather fight in order to send a message to Mayweather, or to show support for Pacquiao. If there was a fight to boycott it should have been the Marquez fight, and that didn?t happen. There is no reason why any true fight fan should not tune in and watch this fight?Admittedly, should the fight score better numbers than Pacquiao-Cotto (1.25 million), then there?s nothing preventing Mayweather from not only insisting on blood testing but a bigger percentage in the pot in a potential fight against Manny Pacquiao.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Jason Aniel.
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