Quote Originally Posted by cold26 View Post
New Poster and I find this thread very interesting. I will say this, Mosley v Mayweather should've been made a long time ago. But as it stands I'm excited the fight was made. A few points about the combatants:

Mayweather will have an advantage in both hand speed and defense. Mayweather is a very smart fighter and technically sound. He knows when to move, he rolls right hands well and has gotten better at standing in front of his opponent and trading while making them miss.

Mosley will have an advantage in power and we've seen Mosley in with bigger and more talented opponents. Realistically, this is not the same Shane Mosley of his prime fighting days. Fortunately for him, he's got a much better cornerman in Richardson than he ever enjoyed with his father Jack. This could lead to Mosley fighting a much smarter and more disciplined fight.

As far as the two guys most recent fights, I don't put much weight in what they've done against previous opponents. I will however say that Shane has clearly fought bigger, and better opposition than Floyd. IMO, even at his advanced age Shane is the best opponent Floyd has stepped in the ring against. I can't really say the same for Shane.

I will caution those that are basing how this fight will play out based on what these guys have done in their most recent fights to be careful. These guys are totally different fighters from each others most recent fights. Shane hasn't fought a guy like Floyd ever. And Floyd has never fought an equal talent of equal size ever.

The fight IMO will be won in the center of the ring. That in a nutshell is why Floyd should be favored. He is the younger, fresher fighter and he should be able to move and make Shane chase him. (Something no 38 year old fighter wants to do) But Shane has enough boxing saavy, stamina and will to do what it takes to beat Mayweather. This would be to use his jab and force Mayweather to trade. As I see it Mayweather likes to fight at a very slow pace. You generally won't see Mayweather throwing many more than 35 to 40 punches per round. And remember, this is against many fighters that are not naturally his size. This IMO gives Mosley a better matchup than he had with busy fighters like Wright, Forrest, etc. These guys were willing to use their jab, trade, and clinch, hold and frustrate the smaller man. In this fight, there is no size advantage they're essentially the same size and always have been. They've just been in different weight classes for other monetary reasons.

Like I said earlier, this fight should've taken place a long time ago but it is what it is. It was a better fight for both of these guys to determine their place in history than any fight currently on their resume. They were both Lightweights at their best and good enough to beat Welterweights of their era but they weren't really welters. Call it a hunch, but I've always had this sneaky suspicion that Shane was just too tough for Floyd. If Floyd boxes and befuddles Shane with speed and movement I wouldn't be shocked. But something in me tells me that Shane knows he can whip him. I guess we'll see.
Very good post. Welcome to the forum.