Beginning in New York on March 2, Floyd "Money" Mayweather and Sugar Shane Mosley will promote their May 1 showdown in earnest. Subsequent stops will take them to Washington D.C. on March 3, and Los Angeles on March 4.
Mosley, 39, had intended to fight Andre Berto on January 30, but Berto declared himself unable to fight when tragedy, in the form of a 7.0 magnitude earthquake, struck members of the Berto family in Haiti. Mayweather, 32, became available after negotiations with Manny Pacquiao's camp broke down over the insistence by GoldenBoy Promotions and Mayweather Promotions that Pacquiao undergo random blood testing.
Whatever the circumstances that led to this fight, it is a fight worth getting excited about due to it being virtually impossible to handicap. Most fights present a typical, if not stereotypical matchup--boxer versus puncher, boxer versus brawler, puncher versus puncher, and so on. In this fight it can be safely predicted that Mayweather will be the boxer. Mosley isn't so easily pinned down.
Shane Mosley: Power Puncher
Mosley has speed, he became famous for his speed, but he wins fights with his punching power. As a lightweight, Mosley was known as a fearsome body puncher and before his first loss, to the late Vernon Forrest, he had gone 38-0, with 35 of those wins by knock out. Moving up to154 took some of the snap off his punches and some of the shine off his armor, but a return to 147 and a KO win over Antonio Margarito a year ago returned Mosley to powerhouse status.
At his advanced age, how much speed does Mosley still have? It's difficult to gauge his hand speed against a notoriously slow fighter like Margarito, or against a brawler like Nicaraguan wild man, Ricardo Mayorga, (who gave Mosley fits for most of their fight) and the boxing skills that Mosley possesses haven't been on prominent display since his decision victory over Luis Collazo in 2007. There's little doubt that Mosley can summon any weapon in his arsenal for brief periods, and that would likely be enough against most opponents, but will it be enough against Mayweather?
Floyd Mayweather is Predictable
Mayweather is the predictable one in this fight. Chances are that he will do as he always does and let the fight come to him. He will block and parry Mosley's punches for the first four or five rounds, occasionally dropping in a left hook or straight right of his own, but he will, essentially, give away some early rounds. This tactic usually works just fine as it allows him to gauge his opponent's speed, power, and reflexes and use that knowledge to walk away with seven or eight rounds of a fight.
Can Mosley Force Mayweather to Fight?
Can Mosley force Mayweather to fight in desperation, abandoning any hope of controlling rounds six through twelve? Will Mayweather's defense and speed be enough to frustrate Mosley for twelve rounds? These are the prominent questions leading up to the fight, but there is one more question, a more basic, more brutal question: Will Mayweather make Mosley pay when Mosley leaves himself wide open up the middle as he often does when throwing combinations?
The outcome of this fight lies squarely on Shane Mosley's shoulders
Bill Scherer - Bill Scherer has written for RingSports.com and TigerBoxing.com, enjoyed a stint as the Managing Editor for FightTube.tv and is a United ...
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