Scanning through Floyd Mayweather Jr’s. track record, it’s no hard to conclude that Sugar Shane Mosley is the most credentialed and credible foe that he will ever have faced.
Cebu City, Philippines – Following the collapse of the pound-for-pound showdown between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr., the two current hottest boxing combatants parted their ways, finding themselves substitutes in Joshua Clottey of Ghana for the Pilipino fighting phenomenon and Sugar Shane Mosley for Mayweather. In Clottey’s case it is perceived by the majority that he offers slim threat against the current pound-for-pound king, while Mosley a former pound-for-pound title holder himself is being seen to be more serious of an adversary for the undefeated Mayweather.
Many boxing analysts are getting inclined towards Mosley because of his equally blinding speed that could possibly break into the seemingly opaque defense of Mayweather. Furthermore, Mosley throws his punches at great frequency; once gaining momentum, his punches race against each other like falling mangoes but whose impacts are like that of free-falling coconuts. Moseley’s hands hold descent power sufficient to be able inflict pain on his unfriendly and self-centered fellow American.
But flashing back to Mosley’s defeats, a general pattern can be observed; his conquerors fought him by utilizing defense as their mean weapons. Most notable of which is the fight against Winky Wright who like Mayweather was a wizard at defense. With Wright’s hands like steel bars strongly welded to his face down to his beltline, Mosley’s high frequency bullets were bouncing back, and sensing lull from his attacking opponent, Wright would fire single shots cannon of himself, occasionally sending Mosley to the canvas. And perhaps, studying the blue print provided by Wright on how to beat Mosley, Miguel Cotto with excellent punching timing and defense, was able to offset Mosley’s speed and went on to win via unanimous decision. In addition, prior to his debacle against Wright and Cotto, Mosley had been humbled by the late Vernon Forrest twice, with defense and well-timed left straights that left Mosley crumbling on the corner.
Come May 1 against Mayweather, Sugar Shane Mosley (46-5-1, 39 KO’s) will have his artillery fully loaded as he will be facing the unquestionably finest fighter in the defense department currently, far superior that those defensive fighters that Mosley fought and lost. Mosley appears to have a problem with defensive fighters, plus his fighting sharpness now seemingly on the decline at 38 years of age, the undefeated Mayweather (40-0-0,25KO’s) is certainly not an easy proposition for the popular resident of Pomona, California.
But in fairness to Sugar, Mayweather the best defensive fighter that he is, will be squaring off for the first time against a fighter whose talent is far superior than the late Diego Corrales, Carlos Baldomir, Jose Luis Castillo, and the declining Oscar dela Hoya and others who had tried and failed to push Mayweather’s 0 to 1. Nonetheless, the first Castillo fight was perceived by many observers to be a gift victory for Mayweather. In that fight, Castillo applied persistent pressure, thrusting Mayweather on many occasions to the corner, where Mayweather’s trademark glossiness and shoulder – roll defense diminished, thus hitting him with a couple of finer shots before he was able to thwart Castillo’s firing momentum by hugging.
Can Mosley be able to replicate and improve Castillo’s handiwork? It is conceivable that he can. It appears therefore that with unrelenting application of hard and rapid pressure, he being the first to humble Mayweather, 32, is reasonably possible. But in as much as the first Castillo fight is providing Mosley better hints on how to beat Mayweather, Mayweather himself has learned from it on how to avoid defeat – it makes this fight for Mosley’s WBA World Welterweight crown appealing.
