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MAYWEATHER MUST GET OFF HIS ‘SUGAR’ FREE DIET By Oliver Suarez PhilBoxing.com Wed, 20 Jan 2010  A fight that has been in great demand for so many years might finally be on the horizon as Mosley and Mayweather Jr. may be set for a collision course. There was a time when both were considered perhaps as the two most talented and complete boxers in the world. Back in 1999, Shane Mosley was the undisputed lightweight champion and Mayweather was dominating everyone in the junior lightweight division. As dominating as Pacquiao is today, Mosley was almost as dominant during his lightweight days and could be the considered the second greatest fighter of the division right after Roberto Duran. Shane had lightning fast hands, quickness, and unbelievable punching power. He was knocking guys out left and right. In fact, Shane was so dominant that a number of people had him ahead of Roy Jones Jr. as the best pound for pound fighter at the time. One can argue that if he didn’t choose to move up in the 154 lbs. division where suffered a few setbacks, that he might be considered the best pound for pound fighter today. Mayweather Jr was also head and shoulders above his peers in the junior lightweight division as proven by his record and KO ratio during his tenure in the junior lightweight division. At that time, Mayweather Jr. fought the best his division had to offer and dominated. Unfortunately, during that time, Oscar De La Hoya, Roy Jones Jr., Felix Trinidad and Shane Mosley were still in their prime, so he never got the attention that he deserved. In 1999, Mayweather Jr. was still a young and hungry fighter who was eager to prove himself, and wanted to fight Shane, but the latter chose to move up to the welterweight division and fight Oscar De La Hoya. No one can blame Shane as Oscar was one of the best boxers and the most popular boxer at the time. The Oscar fight provided Shane the exposure he needed and the biggest pay day of his career. On the other hand, Mayweather continued his success as he moved into the higher weight divisions still in hopes of landing a fight with the top fighters during that time such as Oscar De La Hoya, Shane Mosley, and Kotsya Tszyu. Many people may often criticize Mayweather Jr. for avoiding the toughest fighters, but it wasn’t always like that. At one time, he was in the same position as Shane is right now, a dangerous fighter that was desperately seeking the attention of the best fighters at the time. In 2006, Mayweather Jr. once again voiced his desire to face Mosley, but the latter wanted to take some time off with his family and wanted more time to prepare for a possible fight with Mayweather Jr. Mosley’s choice to defer the fight with Floyd then paved the way for the latter to face Oscar De La Hoya. Since then, fans of each fighter often accused the other for ducking their man. The truth is that the timing was just never right. But now is the perfect time for both fighters to step in the ring and face each other. It’s the perfect opportunity for Floyd to fight a legitimate welterweight and dispel the perception that he is afraid to face the toughest opponents. For Shane, it provides him the opportunity to prove to the world that he is truly the welterweight king and all roads to the top of the division must come through him. So Floyd make it happen and get off your ‘Sugar’ free diet and make a great ‘semi-final’ fight to complete boxing’s version of the Final Four. Top photo: Floyd Mayweather Jnr (L) and Sugar Shane Mosley (R) altercate atop the ring after Mayweather's win against Juan Manuel Marquez in September last year. Editor's Note: PhilBoxing.com would like to give a warm welcome to Oliver Suarez as its newest contributor. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Oliver Suarez.  |
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