Muhammad Ali was sitting ringside at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and he must have been thinking that Floyd Mayweather Jr had stolen his act.
Mayweather destroyed a legend in Shane Mosley in a welterweight bout in the early hours of yesterday and if he could do something similar to Manny Pacquiao, no one could deny him the place in history he desires.
Ali started off calling himself pretty and ended up being The Greatest; Mayweather began as the Pretty Boy and now calls himself Money ? perhaps a sign of how standards have changed. But for all the money and all the hype, there is no denying Mayweather?s God-given talent.
Mayweather, like Ali, has the odd ability to make bullying look cool. He matches a bad-boy persona with a warm smile and Ali?s flashing fists. With Mayweather at his best, you can only feel sorry for the opponent.
Mosley was a three-weight world champion who had twice beaten Oscar De La Hoya. But at 38, no matter what he retained, it was not enough to cope with the speed of Mayweather.
Vegas bookmakers are never keen to be generous to their captive gambling audience, but the 1-4 they offered on a Mayweather win looked sensational value, if such an odds-on price could ever be considered value.
Still, while the result was never really in doubt, nothing should detract from Mayweather?s performance. Often criticised for a safety-first counter-punching style, Mayweather, 33, went after Mosley from the start and ran into trouble in the second round, when he was rocked by a lashing right hand.
But the very best are often graded by how they cope with adversity. Mayweather, a five-weight world champion, held on, but was soon on the offensive again. Mosley, his fellow American, did not get another chance. It was a combination of pride and courage that allowed him to last the distance. Bashed from pillar to post, the speed and accuracy of Mayweather?s work was breathtaking. Two judges made him a winner by 119-109, one by 118-110.
The performance also underlined the importance of arranging a bout with Pacquiao. Ali had Joe Frazier, Ken Norton and George Foreman, Mayweather?s legacy needs a legitimate threat. They had been due to meet in March, only for negotiations to fail because of Mayweather?s insistence on random blood-testing. He is not yet prepared to soften his stance on the issue.
?If Manny takes the [blood] test, we can make the fight happen,? Mayweather said. ?If he doesn?t, we don?t have a fight. If the fans want to see that happen, I want to make it happen, but we have to have a level playing field. If every athlete is clean in the sport of boxing, take the test.?
Not that there will be any talks about a Mayweather-Pacquiao bout any time soon as Pacquiao embarks on his final week of campaigning before the Filipino congressional elections on May 10. Despite his hero status, Pacquiao has a tough task taking the Sarangani congressional seat against Roy Chiongbian, whose family have dominated politics in the region for years and own one of the country?s largest shipping lines.
