It's April and like most that enjoy Boxing at the highest level I too am excited by the fact that Mayweather vs Mosley is approaching. If you're a fight fan of a certain age you've been wanting this showdown for years, you even tucked it away in your "it will happen too late file," next to Hopkins and Jones. Thanks to the timeless wonder that is Mosley, the fight is not only viable but some could say the winner enters a possible battle with Manny Pacquiao as the recognized "man" at 147. We will argue and debate the merits of both champions for the next month and some of us in the media will become notorious "flip floppers." I stand guilty as charged; I've flipped more than John Kerry in the last month and on all social media platforms! Since you, the fan, deserve more, deserve men of conviction and knowledge who can provide perspective, I've come up with a solution to this dilemma of faulty "Intel" and conviction. And trust me, I'm doing this because I love ya'll -and also because the only person I can think of who can match me for hot air is me.
Remember a slugger like Cotto was able to outbox Shane and make him look ineffective in cutting off the ring. Cotto! How in the world is Shane going to play high speed chess with the Bobby Fischer of Boxing?!? How Martin? Floyd is the deluxe version of everything Shane tried to be; not only is Shane's suit “off the rack," but his ideas on how to attack Mayweather may be just as unimaginative. The only thing Shane will provide Floyd with is a platform to show the boxing world that he can get nasty and put a tough guy out of his misery. If Cotto is accurate enough to bust him up with combinations, Floyd is sure to paint a masterpiece on Mosley with relative ease.
Floyd likes to take an opponent's losses and chime that this figure is the number of "ways" to beat him. Shane's loses may add up to 5, but only 3 men beat him and none of them utilized a passive-aggressive style. Winky Wright and Vernon Forrest, 5' 11" and 6' 0" may have boxed but they came forward behind stiff jabs and gave Shane something to think about when he got aggressive. They showed him they were the bigger men, so how does a guy who took 10 rounds to dispatch a smaller foe (Hatton) running at him with his chin stuck out have the "stones" to come forward on Shane? Even Oscar, (5' 11") in 2003 in my opinion beat him -but I'd take that version of Oscar to beat Floyd! Miguel Cotto came forward, engaging Mosley and putting his punches together but by the end of the evening was doing his own Boricua version of the shoulder roll. Factor in Floyd's "scheduling" and you have a great talent who is mentally unprepared to deal with resistance and that ain't good against a genuine tough guy like Mosley.
Genius is so captivating that it engraves a unique "signature" style into our psyche and when the geniuses evolve -we find it hard to see them as they are. When Jordan was winning with post-up fade always, we still assumed he dunked on everybody. When Ali started standing flat-footed and hitting harder, we still believed he stung like a bee. It's natural and it takes a while to wash off. Floyd Mayweather is not as mobile as he was at 135 and 140 and the idea that he can avoid Shane Mosley and just "outbox" him is based on a 2001 fight we all recorded in VHS. He is a better boxer, but Shane is the better "fighter" and there will be moments on May 1st when Floyd will have to fight his way out of a jam, and that's exactly what Mosley is counting on. Remember, one man "had" to take this fight and the other man "wanted" this fight, and inspiration beats obligation every time.
Remember a slugger like Cotto was able to outbox Shane and make him look ineffective in cutting off the ring. Cotto! How in the world is Shane going to play high speed chess with the Bobby Fischer of Boxing?!? How Martin? Floyd is the deluxe version of everything Shane tried to be; not only is Shane's suit “off the rack," but his ideas on how to attack Mayweather may be just as unimaginative. The only thing Shane will provide Floyd with is a platform to show the boxing world that he can get nasty and put a tough guy out of his misery. If Cotto is accurate enough to bust him up with combinations, Floyd is sure to paint a masterpiece on Mosley with relative ease.
Floyd likes to take an opponent's losses and chime that this figure is the number of "ways" to beat him. Shane's loses may add up to 5, but only 3 men beat him and none of them utilized a passive-aggressive style. Winky Wright and Vernon Forrest, 5' 11" and 6' 0" may have boxed but they came forward behind stiff jabs and gave Shane something to think about when he got aggressive. They showed him they were the bigger men, so how does a guy who took 10 rounds to dispatch a smaller foe (Hatton) running at him with his chin stuck out have the "stones" to come forward on Shane? Even Oscar, (5' 11") in 2003 in my opinion beat him -but I'd take that version of Oscar to beat Floyd! Miguel Cotto came forward, engaging Mosley and putting his punches together but by the end of the evening was doing his own Boricua version of the shoulder roll. Factor in Floyd's "scheduling" and you have a great talent who is mentally unprepared to deal with resistance and that ain't good against a genuine tough guy like Mosley.
Genius is so captivating that it engraves a unique "signature" style into our psyche and when the geniuses evolve -we find it hard to see them as they are. When Jordan was winning with post-up fade always, we still assumed he dunked on everybody. When Ali started standing flat-footed and hitting harder, we still believed he stung like a bee. It's natural and it takes a while to wash off. Floyd Mayweather is not as mobile as he was at 135 and 140 and the idea that he can avoid Shane Mosley and just "outbox" him is based on a 2001 fight we all recorded in VHS. He is a better boxer, but Shane is the better "fighter" and there will be moments on May 1st when Floyd will have to fight his way out of a jam, and that's exactly what Mosley is counting on. Remember, one man "had" to take this fight and the other man "wanted" this fight, and inspiration beats obligation every time.
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