NEW YORK — Floyd Mayweather Jr. took strong exception to Shane Mosley grabbing his hand as their face-to-face pose got too close for comfort Tuesday afternoon.
Mosley promised after the news conference to announce their heavily hyped welterweight title fight that it won’t be Mayweather’s only unusual reaction to Mosley putting his hands on him. The humble Mosley confidently assured anyone who would listen that the undefeated Mayweather made a huge mistake by accepting a fight against him and ending negotiations to face Manny Pacquiao because of a disagreement over random pre-fight drug testing.
Mosley, who admitted during the BALCO investigation to unknowingly using designer steroids “clear” and “cream,” agreed to random testing. He disagrees, though, with oddsmakers who’ve installed Mayweather as a 3-1 favorite May 1 in Las Vegas.
“May 1st symbolizes something,” said Mosley, a three-division champion from Pomona, Calif. “After this fight, there won’t be no [talk] that, ‘It’s the clear. It’s this. It’s that.’ It’s going to be clear [after] that [beating] I’m about to give to him. May 1st symbolizes May’s first loss.”
Mosley (46-5, 39 KOs, one NC) also gave credit to Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs) for facing him. Mosley didn’t expect that to happen after the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight fell apart two months ago. Mosley’s Jan. 30 fight against unbeaten Andre Berto (25-0, 19 KOs) was canceled because Berto needed to concentrate on relief efforts in Haiti, where at least eight members of his family died in an earthquake Jan. 12.
“All work is easy work,” Mayweather said. “I don’t care what opponent you get. You go get them and there’s always an excuse [why I won]. When I beat them, they say, ‘He was too small.’ When I beat them, they say, ‘He was too slow.’ When I beat him, they’re going to say he was over the hill. There’s always an excuse.”
Oscar De La Hoya, who twice was outpointed by Mosley and once by Mayweather, thinks Mosley, 38, will knock out Mayweather, 33. Mosley is a partner in De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions.
“I fought both fighters and I already know what’s going to happen,” De La Hoya said. “I already know there’s going to be a knockout. I already know, and it ain’t going to be pretty.”
De La Hoya’s use of the word pretty was a play on the nickname Mayweather used for much of his career — “Pretty Boy.” The five-division champion from Grand Rapids, Mich., embraced the nickname “Money” as he gained more mainstream fame by beating De La Hoya, participating in “Dancing With the Stars” and appearing in television commercials.
Richard Schaefer, president of Golden Boy Promotions, predicted Tuesday that the Mayweather-Mosley match would break boxing’s pay-per-view record of 2.44 million buys. Mayweather’s split-decision win over De La Hoya in May 2007 established that mark.
Mayweather’s handlers were much more certain about another number — Mayweather’s 41st victory.
“There’s a difference when you’re talking about [beating Mayweather], and it looks different on the outside,” said Leonard Ellerbe, Mayweather’s adviser. “But when you get in there, it’s a whole different ballgame. Forty [opponents] have talked about it, and 40 have gone down the same way. It’ll be no different come the first of May.”
