Last time Floyd Mayweather agreed to something like the fight he is about to announce against Shane Mosley, it didn’t work out exactly as planned. Then again, neither did the Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight, right?
This was Plan B all along, Mayweather vs. Mosley, just like the Mayweather camp said during the failed Pacquiao talks. They couldn’t make the single most desirable fight in boxing. So, at some point this week, they will announce one of the most long-sought fights instead.
To those who relentlessly insist Mayweather picks the lowest-hanging fruit for opposition, despite ample years of contrary evidence, here is yet another answer.
To those who questioned why Mayweather balked when Mosley confronted him during a mid-ring interview after his September comeback victory, here is your pipe-down response: Mayweather vs. Mosley, May 1, presumably in Las Vegas.
Mayweather-Pacquiao couldn’t be made because of Pacquiao’s fear of needles and blood work — forget, momentarily, the tattoos and a bloodsport career — so it’s on to Mayweather-Mosley.
There won’t be a competing fight on March 13, Mayweather vs. Fill In The Blank, in a pay-per-view showdown against Pacquiao vs. Joshua Clottey, as had been threatened.
Instead, consumers in a balky economy may have to decide whether to buy a Mayweather fight or a Pacquiao fight, although in that effort, Mayweather landed the first solid counterpunch between them. The Filipino star raced to complete the Clottey fight when Mayweather talks fell apart. Mayweather took just a few days more, sought out one of the top pound-for-pound fighters, and made a match with years of anticipation behind it.
To the casual boxing fan who only will pay $50 to watch one fight or the other, the choice is obvious.
The Mayweather-Mosley conclusion also serves as keenly timed interruption to Tuesday’s press conference in Dallas, where Pacquiao-Clottey will be announced formally.
Mosley, meantime, has a fight next week. He challenges Andre Berto, the undefeated World Boxing Council welterweight champion, Jan. 30 on mainstream HBO.
This formula has invaded Mayweather’s career before. It had a profound effect on a misguided public perception about how he chooses opponents and helped produce a notable bit of history behind Mayweather-Mosley.
In 2006, Mayweather attempted to fight Zab Judah for the unified welterweight championship, which Judah possessed. They scheduled the fight for April. Judah, meantime, lost a January upset against unheralded Carlos Baldomir.
Mayweather-Judah went ahead as planned.
That summer, Mosley scored a career-defining victory in his second fight against Fernando Vargas. In the ups and downs of Mosley’s brilliant career — including a pair of wins over Oscar De La Hoya, but also two losses each to Vernon Forrest and Winky Wright — it was a long-sought moment of rediscovery.
At that moment, Mayweather-Mosley was as obvious as Mayweather-Pacquiao today.
But in the mid-ring interview after the fight — where the most important developments in their rivalry seem to occur — Mosley declared that he would take a vacation instead.
Mosley became persona non grata with Mayweather, who quickly was offered $8 million to fight Antonio Margarito. Mayweather declined and Margarito’s promoter, Bob Arum, slammed him for being fearful. (For anyone who followed the Mayweather-Pacquiao talks, this sounds familiar.) Mayweather instead took $8,000,001 to defeat the lineal welterweight champion, Baldomir, who followed the Judah upset by blitzing the late Arturo Gatti.
Through some very good spinning by Arum, a big percentage of the boxing public only remembers that Mayweather fought a guy coming off a loss (which Arum co-promoted), then turned down an $8 million fight (in favor of a fight for $1 more).
Mosley reemerged on Mayweather’s radar when he overwhelmed Margarito in a ninth-round stoppage last year.
Mosley is 38 and nit-pickers will focus on that fact. But he hasn’t lost his daunting speed. Mayweather will be 33. There isn’t much difference.
There also isn’t much difference between Mayweather-Pacquiao and Mayweather-Mosley. The former will get made eventually, and the latter right now.
As boxing alternatives go, this response was as comprehensive as they come.
