Let's re-examine Mayweather vs. Mosley for a sec.....

[TitoFan]

Yesterday I was talking boxing with a good friend of mine, who's also a HUGE boxing fan, and has a lot of inside knowledge, having boxed a bit himself. We were talking about a lot of fights and fighters, when the subject got around to the infamous Mayweather-Mosley fight. That's when my friend said: "That fight must've been fixed. Mosley had to be paid off." Of course, I brushed him off, because I love boxing dearly and prefer not to think of it in those terms. But something about the conversation took me back to the fight itself.

The fight started well enough, with pretty good action. And then came the second round..... BOOM!! Mosley buckles Floyd's knees with a hard right hand. The beginning of the end, right? Wrong. I don't know WHAT THE HELL happened to Mosley after that, but he became a shell of his former self. No only did he not capitalize on that shot... but he completely changed his fighting style. He became defensive, more passive, and allowed Floyd to dominate the rest of the fight. WHY?!? He had Floyd right where he wanted him. Sure... credit to Floyd for coming back from the shot... but what happened to Mosley?

People said... and I was one of them... that the Mosley that destroyed Margarito would've beaten Mayweather that night. And don't get your panties in a bunch, PBF fans. I'm not comparing Mayweather to Margarito. I'm just saying I've NEVER in my life seen such an abrupt change in a fighter smack in the middle of a fight, (especially after he had just stunned Mayweather), as I saw in Mosley that night. Other than the Tito fiasco against Winky (shudder) that has to be one of the most frustrating fights for me ever. Mosley had him in his sights... and just let him go. Yeah, yeah, yeah... Mayweather obviously had a lot to do with that. But nobody can tell me that Mayweather is THAT much better than Mosley. And if Mosley truly aged THAT MUCH during the fight... he should've hung up the gloves right then and there. Question is: Which Mosley are we going to see against Pac?

[Gandalf]

Mosley started cautiously, then landed the money punch and shot his load trying to follow it up. Tbh I just don't think he has that much left in the tank. He is an old fighter. In these weight categories, he is an ancient fighter. He has his power, but after that big punch he was going for broke and Mayweather recovered very quickly. A younger Mosley would have put him away, but a Mosley at 39 couldn't sustain it and that's why the fight was over. Mosley couldn't pull the switch against Mora either and Mora just got beaten by Vera, a guy that has lost 4 of his last 5. It bodes ominously for Mosley against Pac.

He is an old man in boxing terms and I think that is all there is to it.

[Andre]

Yesterday I was talking boxing with a good friend of mine, who's also a HUGE boxing fan, and has a lot of inside knowledge, having boxed a bit himself. We were talking about a lot of fights and fighters, when the subject got around to the infamous Mayweather-Mosley fight. That's when my friend said: "That fight must've been fixed. Mosley had to be paid off." Of course, I brushed him off, because I love boxing dearly and prefer not to think of it in those terms. But something about the conversation took me back to the fight itself.

The fight started well enough, with pretty good action. And then came the second round..... BOOM!! Mosley buckles Floyd's knees with a hard right hand. The beginning of the end, right? Wrong. I don't know WHAT THE HELL happened to Mosley after that, but he became a shell of his former self. No only did he not capitalize on that shot... but he completely changed his fighting style. He became defensive, more passive, and allowed Floyd to dominate the rest of the fight. WHY?!? He had Floyd right where he wanted him. Sure... credit to Floyd for coming back from the shot... but what happened to Mosley?

People said... and I was one of them... that the Mosley that destroyed Margarito would've beaten Mayweather that night. And don't get your panties in a bunch, PBF fans. I'm not comparing Mayweather to Margarito. I'm just saying I've NEVER in my life seen such an abrupt change in a fighter smack in the middle of a fight, (especially after he had just stunned Mayweather), as I saw in Mosley that night. Other than the Tito fiasco against Winky (shudder) that has to be one of the most frustrating fights for me ever. Mosley had him in his sights... and just let him go. Yeah, yeah, yeah... Mayweather obviously had a lot to do with that. But nobody can tell me that Mayweather is THAT much better than Mosley. And if Mosley truly aged THAT MUCH during the fight... he should've hung up the gloves right then and there. Question is: Which Mosley are we going to see against Pac?

Maybe exactly the same one, if he cant do it early and Manny takes his best shots and comes back even harder himself.

[TitoFan]

Mosley started cautiously, then landed the money punch and shot his load trying to follow it up. Tbh I just don't think he has that much left in the tank. He is an old fighter. In these weight categories, he is an ancient fighter. He has his power, but after that big punch he was going for broke and Mayweather recovered very quickly. A younger Mosley would have put him away, but a Mosley at 39 couldn't sustain it and that's why the fight was over. Mosley couldn't pull the switch against Mora either and Mora just got beaten by Vera, a guy that has lost 4 of his last 5. It bodes ominously for Mosley against Pac.

He is an old man in boxing terms and I think that is all there is to it.

If that's the case, and you make a good argument... then Mosley is roadkill for Pac. But the aging happened quickly, because the Mosley that destroyed Margarito was awesome. He didn't just use power...... he used guile, movement, and speed.

[Gandalf]

Mosley started cautiously, then landed the money punch and shot his load trying to follow it up. Tbh I just don't think he has that much left in the tank. He is an old fighter. In these weight categories, he is an ancient fighter. He has his power, but after that big punch he was going for broke and Mayweather recovered very quickly. A younger Mosley would have put him away, but a Mosley at 39 couldn't sustain it and that's why the fight was over. Mosley couldn't pull the switch against Mora either and Mora just got beaten by Vera, a guy that has lost 4 of his last 5. It bodes ominously for Mosley against Pac.

He is an old man in boxing terms and I think that is all there is to it.

If that's the case, and you make a good argument... then Mosley is roadkill for Pac. But the aging happened quickly, because the Mosley that destroyed Margarito was awesome. He didn't just use power...... he used guile, movement, and speed.

You know, I hate the idea of that because I think Mosley is a nice guy and I have loved watching him fight over the years. The idea that he is roadkill is extremely depressing. But there is no escaping it, he has aged. He was out for a good 18 months after Margarito and for an older fighter that is an eternity. It isn't all that quick and he wasn't looking all that hot prior to Margarito either. I thought he looked quite poor against Mayorga until the stoppage and of course Cotto beat him, though I thought that was a fight that could go either way.

Mosley looked really good againt Margarito, but we mustn't underestimate the turmoil that must have been in Margarito's mind with the handwraps. It is also well documented that Margarito was boiling down like a lunatic just to make weight. They didn't take Shane seriously and that's probably another reason they tried to wrap the hands.

Mosley has that as a late career peak, but then a Mayweather beat down, a Mora drab draw and now another fight against the best. There will be no excuses from Pac and Mosley is simply another year older at 40. I am scared for Mosley, I really am.

[Taeth]

Fixed? Give me a break, I am not even offended, but it seems so obvious the reason Mosley wasn't able to do what he did in the second round afterwards. But there was no way that Mosley was gased after the second round that is retarded, he unloaded a lot of power punches against Margarito and didn't fatigue, he finished much stronger against Mora, and his pressure continued to build that whole fight, it was jsut a poor style match up.

The reason he couldn't get anything off, and watch the fight again is because Floyd's style wasn't allowing him to. Shane likes to gage your distance with a few weak jabs then come in with something hard, but anytime he tried to find his distance Floyd was peppering him with the jab. FLoyd never let him find his rhythm, and like Emmanuel Steward was saying all night, it was a matter of Shane having worse coordination, worse balance, he's never been the complete fighter Floyd is. I think the same can be said when comparing him to Ray Leonard as well. Shane is a great athlete with really good boxing skills, but he isn't an intuitive boxer.

Watch the fight again, FLoyd made a mistake and got caught by a heavy flush right hand, and he was hurt following onslaught when he was hit by a hook to the temple, but you can tell when Mosley is gearing up to throw something and Floyd either iniated with his own offense which froze Mosley or he would move away defensively. YOu can see that FLoyd is almost moving defensively before Mosley even starts his attack, its because once he settled down, Shane was predictable for him.

Pacquiao doesn't fight with that kind of nuance, he is very good at what he does, and he throws punches from angles and overwhelms opponents with speed, power, and output, but to be able to really freeze a guy you need to make them feel like they can't get off. Floyd made Shane feel like he couldn't land big on the outside once Floyd was more alert, and he also wasn't letting Shane set up a boxing rhythm by really enforcing his jab when Shane started throwing his.

I honestly don't understand how people think Mora would just be a cake walk for Mosley, look at their styles. Mosley is coming in on a quick defensive fighter trying to throw bombs, but Mora has enough durability to survive one punch, and its hard to connect clean. The more you try to assert your offense the more he can find a home for his jab and counter punching. Mosley would have had trouble with Mora stylistically at any point in his career he never did well against anyone with that style.

[Gandalf]

Taeth, Shane Mosley is an extremely old man in boxing terms, could it not be just that Mosley is old? He looked crap prior to Margarito and has looked crap since. Could it not simply be that he waits too long and cannot pull on the trigger? The man is 40 years old for christs sake.

Let's not pretend that a 30 year old Mosley could not have competed merrily with Floyd, he could have, but the shell that we have today has nothing. Even Oscar fought far better against Floyd. Mosley was breathing heavy against Cotto after 3 rounds, he did the same against Mayweather. It has nothing to do with adapting, Mosley is old.

If Mosley could somehow stop Pac in his tracks I will rejoice, but let's not pretend that Mosley at 40 offers anything different.

[TitoFan]

Taeth, Shane Mosley is an extremely old man in boxing terms, could it not be just that Mosley is old? He looked crap prior to Margarito and has looked crap since. Could it not simply be that he waits too long and cannot pull on the trigger? The man is 40 years old for christs sake.

Let's not pretend that a 30 year old Mosley could not have competed merrily with Floyd, he could have, but the shell that we have today has nothing. Even Oscar fought far better against Floyd. Mosley was breathing heavy against Cotto after 3 rounds, he did the same against Mayweather. It has nothing to do with adapting, Mosley is old.

If Mosley could somehow stop Pac in his tracks I will rejoice, but let's not pretend that Mosley at 40 offers anything different.

Yeah... Mosley IS old. I hate that too, miles, 'cause I too like him a lot. He's always been a classy good guy in the world of boxing. Has given us a lot of exciting fights as well. We tend to think that, because the fat cows of the heavyweight division fight into their 50's, that other divisions can do that as well. But it's just not true. We try to hang on to our heroes and make believe age doesn't affect them... but deep inside we know better.

[Gandalf]

Taeth, Shane Mosley is an extremely old man in boxing terms, could it not be just that Mosley is old? He looked crap prior to Margarito and has looked crap since. Could it not simply be that he waits too long and cannot pull on the trigger? The man is 40 years old for christs sake.

Let's not pretend that a 30 year old Mosley could not have competed merrily with Floyd, he could have, but the shell that we have today has nothing. Even Oscar fought far better against Floyd. Mosley was breathing heavy against Cotto after 3 rounds, he did the same against Mayweather. It has nothing to do with adapting, Mosley is old.

If Mosley could somehow stop Pac in his tracks I will rejoice, but let's not pretend that Mosley at 40 offers anything different.

Yeah... Mosley IS old. I hate that too, miles, 'cause I too like him a lot. He's always been a classy good guy in the world of boxing. Has given us a lot of exciting fights as well. We tend to think that, because the fat cows of the heavyweight division fight into their 50's, that other divisions can do that as well. But it's just not true. We try to hang on to our heroes and make believe age doesn't affect them... but deep inside we know better.

It angers me, they could have fought Mosley 3 years ago. But only now do they fight him. I've got many fights wrong before, but I really hope that this is another. This more than most.

[TitoFan]

Taeth, Shane Mosley is an extremely old man in boxing terms, could it not be just that Mosley is old? He looked crap prior to Margarito and has looked crap since. Could it not simply be that he waits too long and cannot pull on the trigger? The man is 40 years old for christs sake.

Let's not pretend that a 30 year old Mosley could not have competed merrily with Floyd, he could have, but the shell that we have today has nothing. Even Oscar fought far better against Floyd. Mosley was breathing heavy against Cotto after 3 rounds, he did the same against Mayweather. It has nothing to do with adapting, Mosley is old.

If Mosley could somehow stop Pac in his tracks I will rejoice, but let's not pretend that Mosley at 40 offers anything different.

Yeah... Mosley IS old. I hate that too, miles, 'cause I too like him a lot. He's always been a classy good guy in the world of boxing. Has given us a lot of exciting fights as well. We tend to think that, because the fat cows of the heavyweight division fight into their 50's, that other divisions can do that as well. But it's just not true. We try to hang on to our heroes and make believe age doesn't affect them... but deep inside we know better.

It angers me, they could have fought Mosley 3 years ago. But only now do they fight him. I've got many fights wrong before, but I really hope that this is another. This more than most.

Are you talking about Pac? 'Cause remember, he's only recently been coming up in weight. No way Pac fights Mosley 3 years ago. If you mean Floyd... then yeah, that fight could've happened a long time ago, and the results could've been MUCH different... in Mosley's favor, of course.

[Gandalf]

Taeth, Shane Mosley is an extremely old man in boxing terms, could it not be just that Mosley is old? He looked crap prior to Margarito and has looked crap since. Could it not simply be that he waits too long and cannot pull on the trigger? The man is 40 years old for christs sake.

Let's not pretend that a 30 year old Mosley could not have competed merrily with Floyd, he could have, but the shell that we have today has nothing. Even Oscar fought far better against Floyd. Mosley was breathing heavy against Cotto after 3 rounds, he did the same against Mayweather. It has nothing to do with adapting, Mosley is old.

If Mosley could somehow stop Pac in his tracks I will rejoice, but let's not pretend that Mosley at 40 offers anything different.

Yeah... Mosley IS old. I hate that too, miles, 'cause I too like him a lot. He's always been a classy good guy in the world of boxing. Has given us a lot of exciting fights as well. We tend to think that, because the fat cows of the heavyweight division fight into their 50's, that other divisions can do that as well. But it's just not true. We try to hang on to our heroes and make believe age doesn't affect them... but deep inside we know better.

It angers me, they could have fought Mosley 3 years ago. But only now do they fight him. I've got many fights wrong before, but I really hope that this is another. This more than most.

Are you talking about Pac? 'Cause remember, he's only recently been coming up in weight. No way Pac fights Mosley 3 years ago. If you mean Floyd... then yeah, that fight could've happened a long time ago, and the results could've been MUCH different... in Mosley's favor, of course.

Roach did suggest that the Pac/Mosley fight could happen but only if Mosley came down to a wondrous weight of 142 pounds. A long time ago, and of course Roach never wanted Manny to go anywhere near Mosley at the time.

[Master]

After those right hands Mayweather was forced to fight at his best. When he fights at his best, no body comes close and he won the next 10 rounds with absolute brilliance. In fact those right hands probably did enough to save Shane being stopped later on because Floyd wanted to but those shots must have taken a lot to recover from and Floyd probably did not have it to step it up a little to stop Shane later on.

[Cressa121]

I saw a good video that broke down the adjustments Mayweather made after the 2nd round. Mosley hurt Mayweather with the left to the body followed by a right hand to the head, as Mayweather was open to that combination through his normal defensive stance. After Mayweather was hurt, Mosley shot his load trying to follow up and Mayweather landed some sneaky bodyshots to further take the wind out of him. Every time Mosley went for that same left to the body right to the head combination again, Mayweather would counter Mosley's left with a left hook, which stopped Mosley throwing/landing the right hand again. Couple that with Mosley's age (i.e being shot) and that's why he didn't follow up. Nothing really suspicious about it imo.

I hope Mosley does well against Pacquiao, I really don't want to see him take a one sided beating and possibly get stopped. At the minute that's how I see it going, but I would love to be wrong so we get a competitive fight.

[fan johnny]

Or perhaps what you saw were the affects of Mosley being off the EPO?

[Mr140]

I am a huge Mosley fan but lets face it he relied on his god given ability to much. Thats the reason he never became a complete boxer and the only reason he not like Jones is because of his chin.