Floyd Mayweather Survives Early Scare, Dominates Sugar Shane Mosley (Bring on Manny Pacquiao !!)

Side-stepping jabs and ducking would-be knockout blows, Floyd Mayweather Jr. had the look of a boxer who couldn't be touched.

Shane Mosley awoke the crowd--and Mayweather--with a second-round punch that caused Mayweather to grab hold of Mosley to keep from falling. But the self proclaimed "best boxer ever" recovered to box an otherwise flawless bout, not allowing Mosley to land any other significant blows and defeating him by unanimous decision in their much anticipated 12-round welterweight matchup on May 1 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Mayweather was his usual impressive self, totaling scores of 119-109, 119-109 and 118-110 from the three ringside judges. Mayweather, 33, was quick, decisive and accurate, landing several punches against an older fighter historically known for his quickness but a fighter who appeared drained after the first four rounds. Mosley, 38, surprised with his early flurries but failed to land any more significant blows as Mayweather repeatedly shrugged off his attempts with ease.

Now, anticipation will once again turn to a potential match between Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao--if the two men are able to strike a deal. Mayweather and Pacquiao, arguably the two best boxers in the world, had a match set before talks broke down over Pacquiao's unwillingness to take a drug test prior to their bout.

"If Manny Pacquiao can take a blood and urine test then we have a fight," Mayweather said when asked about the potential bout following his defeat of Mosley. "If not, no fight."

Mayweather improved his lifetime record to 41-0 while Mosley dropped to 46-6. Mayweather will take home over $22.5 million in earnings from the bout while Mosley will bank just over $7 million.

More details here :

http://blackstarnews.com/news/135/ARTICLE/6506/2010-05-02.html

Fighter In His Prime Reduces A Champion To Pedestrian Status

by Distinio Lois, Jr.

After all of the profanity-laced trash talk at the press conferences and on H.B.O.’s 24/7, last night, at the MGM Grand Arena, Las Vegas, we saw the DaVinci of Boxing, Floyd Mayweather paint a defensive and offensive masterpiece on Sugar Shane Mosley from the third round onwards.

His boxing gloves that proved without a shadow of a doubt that Mayweather is the best of the modern day fighters in any weight division. In the second round after the warm up first round, Mosley landed a right hand punch that staggered Mayweather.

The audience was screaming in shock at a possible early knockout loss by Mayweather who was seriously hurt and almost knocked down. Floyd showed ability to take a punch and mentally regroup as Mosley furiously threw punch after punch trying to end the fight early to no avail. Surprisingly, Mosley looked exhausted after that second round. It was downhill for him from there.

It seemed that in the third round the fight actually began. Mayweather displayed for all of the world to see, including the celebrity packed live audience, his superior boxing skills, his strong will to survive, dismantling and weakening all of Mosley’s power and speed with straight hard right hand punches—sometimes four in a row. Then there were the body shots, and of course the forever present jab, keeping Mosley from launching any offense of his own.

As the rounds progressed Mosley, 38 years old, with a 46-6 record including 39 k.o.’s, seemed to age right before our eyes fighting desperately, trying to catch up to the speedy Mayweather. There was panic in the Mosley corner as Nazim Richardson, Mosley’s trainer, was actually begging him to “fight back.” During the ninth round break he gave Mosley instructions, and had Mosely repeat them back to him; the fighter’s response was barely audible, and very incoherent. What a sad scene that was.

By the 10th round, still absorbing punishment by Mayweather, Mosley just jabbed from a safe distance and when he was hit by Mayweather, he grabbed, holding on, and praying for the clock to run out. At that point I was certain that Referee Kenny Bayless was considering stopping the fight since it had become so one-sided; it was brutally embarrasing for a future hall of famer, earned $6.5 million, a huge payday for him, while Mayweather was paid, $22.5 million.

In the last round, Mosley fought back desperately, in order to prevent the referee from stopping the onslaught. Judges, Adelaide Byrd, and Dave Moretti, both scored it 119-109 , and Judge Robert Hoyle scored it 118-110 all for Mayweather. I scored it 118-111 for Mayweather, scoring the first round which in my opinion was a “feel out” round, even.

So who is next for Mayweather, 41-0, 25 k.o.’s? Mayweather said at the ring post fight interview with Larry Merchant, that he was willing to fight Pacquiao if he submitted to the increased drug testing conducted by the U.S.A.D.A. agency. If Pacquiao refuses again, then there will not be a fight. That is very sad since this is the fight that the world awaits; otherwise Mayweather may have run out of opponents in the 147 pounds category and may be obligated to move up to the junior middleweight level.

At that weight level he will have ample competition including Cory Spinks, Alfredo Angulo, Kermit Cintron, and maybe newly crowned conqueror of Kelly Pavlik, Sergio Martinez. The only other legitimate 147 pound challenger Mayweather could face is 147 pound WBO Champion Andre Berto; Berto may be a few years away from facing an icon like Mayweather.

Mosley admitted that after hitting Mayweather with that right hand in the second round, he could not untrack himself and cope with Mayweather’s speed.

Sugar Shane Mosley still has his WBA Crown because Mayweather refused to pay the sanctioning fees, stating that he fights only for money not belts. Since he is still a world champ, Mosley after a long rest could fight Berto who still owes him a contract that was cancelled due to the tragic earthquake in Haiti in which Berto lost many family members. Boxing is indeed full of surprises, and the surprise here is that trash talk prevailed.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.