Photo © Tom Hogan – Hoganphotos/Golden Boy Promotion
Welterweight Fight – Saturday in Las Vegas
Floyd Mayweather Jr. (41-0, 25 KOs) UD 12 Shane Mosley (46-6, 39 KOs)
Scores: 119-109, 119-109, 118-110
Though it pains me to say it, Floyd Mayweather Jr. is the best boxer in the game right now. Not only that, he has to be mentioned, and placed, in the pantheon of all-time great fighters like Sugar Ray Leonard, Ali, Fraizer, Hearns, Duran, etc. Saturday night, with the eyes of the world focused in on his exploits, Mayweather cashed the checks that his mouth had been writing for years as he eviscerated the warrior that was Shane Mosley in a virtuoso performance.
Mayweather has always been a special talent, hell; he makes it a point to repeat this in each and every interview he does, but after Saturday night I have to begrudgingly agree. I have never been a fan of Mayweather’s out of the ring antics. My issue is not so much the cockiness, hell, if your good at what you do, it’s not really bragging is it? But, it’s the belittlement of people that makes me turn away in disgust. I’m not wired like Mayweather, so I can’t explain what goes through his head as he spouts on and on about how he is God’s gift to the world. But, what I can agree with him on is his God given talent when it comes to boxing. To put it simply, few can do what Mayweather makes look effortless. The man is a surgeon in the ring, dissecting his opponents with timing, feints, and a laser accurate right hand. All of which left Mosley a shell of the fighter we know and love. Against Mayweather, Mosley fought scared and timid. While some detractors will point to Mosley’s advanced age as reason for the loss, and as a tool to discredit Mayweather’s accomplishment, the fact is that this win is one of Mayweather’s most impressive. The way in which he tamed a once ferocious lion in Mosley is the stuff of greatness, and we should all be quick to recognize such a feat.
Of course, now the drum must be beaten for the fight of all fights, a Pacquiao-Mayweather battle that would be met with so much hype that boxing would once again be catapulted into the forefront of the global sport scene. Will the fight happen? You have to think that the staggering amount of money that would be guaranteed would soften the negotiation line, but when two alpha personalities involved you almost foresee the fight crumbling into ash at the negotiating tables. Of course, this being boxing nothing is ever set in stone, and as such, hope forever springs eternal.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
