Mayweather-Mosley Recap

In what ended up as an unexpectedly one-sided contest, Floyd “Money” Mayweather dominated “Sugar” Shane Mosley, winning a unanimous decision tonight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, NV. Mosley stunned and disoriented Mayweather twice in round two and seemed to be getting the early advantage, but Mayweather came right back in the next round and showed why he’s the best pound-for-pound fighter in the business.

I had Mosley winning the first two rounds based upon him coming out and setting the tempo, fighting aggressively as he needed to do to have a shot at emerging with the win. From there on out, I gave every round except the 8th (which I had as a 10-10 draw) to Mayweather. For some reason Mosley backed off in round 3 and was unable to regain the early momentum he had established.

From the third round on, Mayweather was clearly the stronger, faster, superiorly conditioned, better balanced, and more aggressive boxer in this contest. Mayweather has always been a superb defensive fighter, but tonight I saw a strength and technical display from this guy that I have yet to see in any of his previous contests. He backed up his words with a force and speed for which Sugar Shane had no defense.

I thought Mosley looked done at the start of round 8 and throughout round 9, finally losing his legs late in round 10. I didn’t think he had anything left in the 11th but hung in there and was able to finish out the fight.

When they were able to land, Mosley’s punches had very little impact on Mayweather. From about the middle of the fight on, Floyd seemed to sit back and absorb Shane’s small flurries and respond with more damage in one punch than Mosley provided with three. Far too often for Mosley’s liking, Mayweather was able to snap his head back with right jabs and left hooks that landed flush on Mosley’s mug.

As a fan, it was good to see Shane finish the fight even though it was tough to watch him be completely outclassed in the latter rounds. I don’t think he has anything left to prove in this business, and if this was his last fight, he went out a champion.

Mayweather’s career, on the other hand, is heading in a far different direction. I admittedly entered this fight with questions about his ability to respond to a seasoned fighter like Shane Mosley who was expected to present him with an offensive aggression, the likes of which he had yet to encounter. Could he withstand Mosley’s offense, and would he put forth enough himself to stay undefeated? The answer was a resounding yes, and if/when that Mayweather-Pacquiao gets signed, you’re going to be watching unquestionably the fastest four hands in boxing. If you had asked me before tonight’s fight who would win a Pac Man / Money matchup, I’d have leaned a little toward Pacquiao. No more. Pacquiao is obviously a stronger, quicker fighter than Mosley, but I think Mayweather can and will hurt him if those two meet. My early call would be a Mayweather unanimous decision, but unfortunately, it looks like we’ll have a while to debate this hypothetical contest for the ages.

Back to tonight’s highly anticipated contest, the better fighter emerged victorious and took another authoritative step towards establishing himself as one of the sport’s all-time greats. For what it's worth, I scored it 118-111 Mayweather with him winning all but the first two rounds and splitting the 8th. It was a privilege to watch, and I look forward to what Floyd “Money” Mayweather has in store for us his next time out.