Although I was displeased that Mosley-Berto was cancelled, I’m elated about the prospects of a potential matchup between Floyd Mayweather and Sugar Shane Mosley. The fight with Pacquiao didn’t work out for Floyd, but a bout with Sugar Shane is the next best thing and this match will allow Floyd to dispel all the critics and the naysayers. I know people are thinking, “Floyd won’t fight Shane,” but I beg to differ. With pressure from HBO as well as the public, Floyd almost has no choice, but to take the fight.
There is a chance he could go in another direction and wait for a possible fall showdown with Manny Pacquiao and opt to fight Kermit Cintron, who according to reports that occurred prior to the cancellation of Berto-Mosley, has the inside track on the bout, but that’s also a taxing fight since Cintron will be one of the most physically imposing fighters that the Pretty Boy has ever faced. Nate Campbell’s name was also in the mix, but the public would reject that fight since Nate hasn’t re-established himself following his poor performance against Timothy Bradley last August and the match would be a financial catastrophe for Golden Boy Promotions since they would have to guarantee Floyd an eight figure pay day in a seemingly non-competitive bout. Campbell is a good fighter, but it doesn’t seem like he has the size to compete at 140 much less 147. Plus he’s almost 38 years old and has five losses on his record.
And if Floyd elects to fight a lower caliber opponent and wait for a possible fall clash with Pacquiao, Mayweather would be maneuvering his career around Manny Pacquiao’s which would mean that indirectly, Bob Arum would be controlling Mayweather as well as the direction of Golden Boy Promotions and both Mayweather and GBP CEO Richard Schaefer are too smart and too prideful to let that happen.
Just look at what happened to Mosley, he wasn’t persistent in his request for a fight because he was hoping that match-ups with both Mayweather and Pacquiao would materialize and now he hasn’t fought in over year and doesn’t even have a fight scheduled.
So that leaves Golden Boy and Mayweather with the Mosley bout in a hall of fame match up that should have happened in 1999 when they were both in their twenties. In 1999 Mosley had been the IBF 135 pound champ since he had beaten Phillip Holiday in 1997 and Mayweather had already established his credentials as one of the top pound for pound fighters in the sport with his disdainful destruction of Genaro Hernandez and then a two round dismantling of the streaking Angel Manfredy. At the time Mosley was looking for a big fight that would earn him the recognition and financial rewards that his talent and performances merited and after clearing out the 130 pound division’s top fighters Mayweather was too.
Even Floyd Senior who was still working with Junior at the time stated, “We shouldn’t have fought Manfredy so soon, now there’s no one left to fight.” There was one match up and it was Mayweather-Mosley. The problem was that Mosley had fought as an amateur at 139 pounds and was having trouble making the 135 limit. So instead of moving up to 140 pounds where he probably would have dominated, Sugar Shane pulled a Roberto Duran and jumped into the 147 pound division in search of a bout with the Golden Boy and won the WBC welterweight title in June of 2000 with a decision victory over De La Hoya.
Today people like Doug Fischer at Ringtv.com berate Floyd for not taking the fight with Mosley, but Mayweather wanted the fight in the 1999. Shane is the one who went to 147 pounds in order to fight the Golden Goose. After moving up to Welterweight in September of 1999, Shane never fought below the welterweight limit and Floyd didn’t move up to 147 until the fall of 2005. Floyd’s detractors aren’t without merit because since 2006, the climate has been right for the fight, and Floyd has seemingly side-stepped Mosley, picking and choosing the opponents that made him the most money with the least amount of risk. Now that Mosley has re-established himself as one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world with the victory over Antonio Margarito last year and because Mayweather’s is perceived as being at least partly responsible for the breakdown in negotiations with Pacquiao, which have been a well publicized embarrassment for the sport, Floyd is in a position where he almost has to take the fight or he’ll face the financial repercussions as well as negative public sentiment associated with not making a fight with either Pacquiao or Mosley. It seems like most fans blame Floyd for the raucous that occurred in the Pacquiao negotiations, but I don’t and there is a large minority that still support Pretty Boy Floyd, but if a Mosley-Mayweather bout fails to materialize, the writing on the wall will be very clear and it will read that Mayweather never wants to fight the best and doesn’t have the confidence in his ability to strive for greatness the way in which Manny Pacquiao has.
Also Mayweather-Mosley would have a number of political repercussions that would positive for both Golden Boy and Mayweather. By making Mayweather-Mosley, they could upstage Arum up by putting on a fight that is bigger than any fight Sheriff Bob can put together for Manny. The fight would also appease Mosley since he’s been waiting over a year for a big fight and has openly voiced his frustration with Golden Boy. Plain and simple, Mayweather-Mosley would be a win-win situation for everybody involved. Mosley would get a super-fight, Golden Boy would be the chief promotional firm behind a mega-fight without Arum’s involvement, and Floyd would secure one of those rare twenty million dollar plus paydays.
And it seems like the parties involved are going in the logical direction. In an article at yahoo sports that was written by longtime columnist Kevin Iole, Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer commented, “What we are going to try to see is if we can pursue a fight with Floyd Mayweather. I had some talks and we’ll see how that goes. What I’m going to be doing in the next 24 hours is to work nonstop to see if we can put that fight together.” Then in an article written by ESPN insider Dan Rafael at espn.com, Mayweather’s advisor, Leonard Ellerbe commented, “Our condolences go out to Berto and his family because that is the human side of this. Everyone is talking about us making a fight with Mosley, but Floyd wants people to know that his prayers — all of ours — are with Berto. But he also wants people to know that he is ready to fight Mosley. That’s the fight he wants more than anything. And Floyd has instructed me and Al to make the biggest fight possible. We will be talking with Richard. Floyd against Shane is the biggest fight in boxing right now that can be made.”
Folks, this fight may not be Pacquiao-Mayweather, but it sure is the next best thing and its going to happen because the fight with Pacquiao didn’t.
