OK - here are my thoughts on the matchup itself. It's hard for me to break down, because both Mosley and Floyd are such unique fighters. I can't think of anybody that Mosley has fought who fights Floyd's style. His only recent fight against a slickster-type was against Collazo. He's decent fighter, but he's no Floyd Mayweather.

I looked back through boxrec to see if there were any names on Floyds list that are stylistically like Mosley. Zab Judah is the closest. They obviously aren't a perfect comparison, but it's closest we got. They are both boxer-punchers with fast and hands and quick feet. Zab is a southpaw and touch faster, probably, and Shane is orthodox, bigger and tougher, certainly.

My first reaction is that Mosley doesn't have a chance. 39 have tried and failed, and he's fought great fighters of all styles. Floyd is too fast, too elusive, too good a counterpuncher. Floyd may not be known for his jab now, but once upon a time, he had a damn good one and he's great mover. While we know the blueprint for giving Mosley a hard time, Floyd is so good he many not need to follow that blueprint to win. Nobody has even come close be beating him since Castillo, and Floyd became a better and smarter fighter since that fight and he won a rematch convincingly, showing that he can learn to overcome a style that was troubled him. He proved again he could beat that style by beating Hatton. Shane on the other hand, lost both rematches with the fighters that beat him. He made both fights much closer the second time around, but he still came up short. This is open and shut for Floyd, right?

So I have to ask the age old question, how do you beat Floyd Mayweather? Not only has he never been beaten, nobody has come close since Castillo. Why not use Castillo I as a blueprint? I don't think it works. Clearly Floyd learned some lessons about fighting swarmers. He beat JLC clearly the second time around. Hatton has his moments, but he still ended up getting stopped. So maybe a bigger (but equally fast) version of Hatton with a granite chin could take him the distance in a competitive fight. Well, that's basically what Oscar tried to do with him. He didn't fight exactly like Hatton, but he tried to swarm and bully Floyd, but he just ended up getting pot-shotted all night and rolling and countering when Oscar got him on the ropes. The result was a competitive fight, but a clear win for Mayweather.

Now I gotta get creative. Who else has had small amounts of success against Mayweather who didn't try to swarm him? Has anybody won a few rounds off him without swarming? Only two guys and only one against the current, fully evolved PBF. One was Emanuel Augustus back, who used his awkward, unconventional, and slick style to give Floyd a bit of a puzzle to solve. That was back in 2000. Recently only Zab Judah, for three or four rounds had had any success. Still, Zab made Floyd look human for four rounds. This makes me believe that Mosley can make a very good fight with Floyd. While Mosley has never fought anybody like Floyd, Floyd hasn't been up against somebody with the combination of handspeed, size, power, and chin of Mosley. He's fought faster, he's fought bigger, he's fought some big hitters but never has he fought somebody that has all of that together.

Like Lyle said, Mosley is good against brawlers, but he's also beaten Oscar, who has a decent jab. Vargas also has a decent jab, but I would consider him a boxer-puncher with a brawlers mentality and a suspect chin. We know that having a good jab is the key to beating Mosley, somehow he overcame Oscar who has probably as good a jab as Cotto. What was the difference? Forrest, Winky, and Cotto all have better rights than Oscar. Oscar's jab is a big naked because he's overly reliant on the left hook. It's not just he jab. It's having a good 1-2 that beats Mosley.

I'm not sure that's a good sign for Mosley. Even though he's not classic 1-2 boxers, Floyd is a two handed fighter. Even if he's not jabbing his left hook is excellent and his cross is the fastest in the business. Stylistically, he's not open the Shane's overhand right because he rolls it and counters off it. His defensive hand position with his right makes him almost immune to the left hook. The most effective punches against him I've seen are Oscar's jab, (which he stopped throwing because he Floyd was countering over it with rights) and Judah's straight left (but Judah was mentally week and fell apart once those stopped landing he he started getting countered). Shane will never quit, but he has gotten frustrated.

I think that if anybody has the tools to get to Mayweather, it's Mosley. I just don't think Cotto has the speed. I see the tools, but I can't figure out the gameplan. Not for the life of me do I know how Shane should try to break down Floyd. However, in Mosley's favor, is Nazim Richardon. Nazim has made Shane start to jab again, and he would need it have a prayer at Mayweather. If anybody can come up with a gameplan, it's Richardson. If Nazim has trained Shane for the Cotto fight, I think there would have been a different result.

I'm not sure Mosley can win, but I'm convinced that Mosley would be Mayweather's toughest fight to date and if anybody can beat him, it's Shane. It would be close, entertaining, and worth the 54.95.