SIGNORELLA PREVIEWS MAYWEATHER VS. MOSLEY!
April 29th, 2010 By John Signorella
“SUPER FIGHT” BOXING RETURNS!
Millions around the world will be in anticipation of a memorable battle when pugilist genius legends and future hall of fame inductees Floyd “Money” Mayweather Jr. (40-0, 25 KOs) and “Sugar” Shane Mosley (46-5, 39 KOs) wage war for top “Pound for Pound” supremacy in a welterweight (147) showdown at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, NV, Saturday at 9 PM ET, live on HBO PPV.
LOVE’ EM OR HATE’ EM, NOBODY’S BEATEN FLOYD
Before his first true test at top level competition against former champion Diego Corrales, Mayweather emerged on the boxing scene destroying his first 24 foes with 18 wins by way of flashy knockout. During his dismantling of the warrior spirited scrapper Corrales (W TKO 10), Mayweather commanded the show and demonstrated a virtuoso of brilliant artistic assault. Floyd then went on to easily defend his title two more times before earning a controversial points decision victory in a “life and death” struggle to the finish against veteran brawler Jose Luis Castillo. Immediately thereafter, the boxing public demanded a rematch and Mayweather met and dominated Castillo eight months later (W UD 12). Over his next nine bouts, Mayweather took on formidable opposition, highlighted by a knockout win over gladiator fan favorite Arturo Gatti (W TKO 6). Because of the ease in which Mayweather blasted out his seemingly over matched adversaries, outcry from the boxing world ensued for Mayweather to step up and face a more dangerous and bigger fighter, which brought life to one of the richest fights in the history of the sport. In an intriguing bout on paper, Oscar De La Hoya accepted Floyd’s challenge. The fight failed to live up to expectation, and saw Mayweather win a close boxing exhibition against a seemingly faded once great champion (W SD 12). In the aftermath of the Oscar encounter, Mayweather pursued one of boxing’s biggest attractions Ricky Hatton for a mega fight. In a “back and forth” closely contested bout, Mayweather nailed an overly aggressive Ricky Hatton with a perfectly timed “check hook” which handed Hatton his first defeat and knockout loss (W TKO 10). After a brief retirement, Mayweather commendably came out of a two-year hibernation to easily outpoint one of the sports best competitors; Juan Manuel Marquez.
CLOSER LOOK AT “MONEY”
Mayweather brings an enormous amount of attributes to the dance. Floyd possesses exceptional hand and foot speed, accompanied by superb youthful reflexes and tremendous defensive movement. Mayweather’s from a family of decorated fighters and from this has obtained a proven brilliant boxing IQ which has garnered him consideration to one of the best fighters to ever step into a boxing ring.
MOSLEY’S ROAD TO BECOMING SUGAR SWEET
Shane Mosley exploded on the scene recording an outstanding perfect 34 victories with 32 knockouts before facing Oscar De La Hoya. In a career defining fight for Mosley, he and De La Hoya fought at an excruciatingly violent pace, and typified their act of madness with a memorable 12th round of reckless abandonment to the finish. Mosley proved to be the better man, winning a split decision handing Oscar his first true defeat. In the wake of his newly found super-stardom, Mosley successfully defended his titles three times before meeting a prime and hungry Vernon Forrest. Forrest shockingly handled the smaller Mosley with ease and managed to send him to the canvas twice in round two. The courageous Mosley was able to get up and fight valiantly to the finish. Losing the bout on all scorecards, Mosley won the admiration of fight fans world wide. Six months later, Mosley and Forrest would do it again, and a better version of Mosley surfaced on that night, however the result would read the same (L UD 12). Being the competitive enforcer that he his, Mosley regrouped and returned to earn a pair of wins, most notably against old rival Oscar De la Hoya (W UD 12), but in postmortem, Shane would then go on to be upset in a couple of scraps against defensive wizard Winky Wright (L UD 12, twice). Removed from the aforementioned setbacks to Wright, again, Shane would bounce back, and mark the return of the Mosley of old by scoring two consecutive back-to-back TKO wins over former belt holder Fernando Vargas (W TKO 10, W TKO 6). After dispatching of Vargas, and winning his next fight, Shane went onto face Miguel Cotto. In a closely contested scintillating war of action fighters, Mosley dropped a unanimous decision to Cotto. Always a good sportsmen, Mosley didn’t make excuses or complain about the unfavorable verdict and fueled another comeback. In his next bout, Shane knocked out madman thug Ricardo Mayorga with a blistering hook in the 12th round. Mosley is coming off his most impressive win in years by pounding the hell out of boxing’s latest feared bad boy Antonio Margarito.
CLOSER LOOK AT “SUGAR”
Mosley brings action, intensity, passion, heart and drama to the show. Despite his advanced age, like his counterpart, Shane has great hand speed, but unlike his opponent, has serious power that can turn your lights out at any moment, especially in the late rounds. In facing some of the best fighters of the past 20 years, Mosley also enjoys a highly keen boxing IQ and has been celebrated as one of the sports best fighters for the nearly a dozen of years.
SIGNORELLA WANTS TO KNOW: “WHO R U PICKING?”
Signorella’s Pick: Mosley, TKO 10
John Signorella
Rooting for Mosely to win.
Won’t buy the PPV.
There have been very few PPV fights that have lived up to the hype and worth the extra $50 on the cable bill. Very few. Hopefully this fight will live up to the hype and expectations. But with Floyd involved – I’m not so sure.
Has the undercard been announced?
Saul “Canelo” Alvarez vs Jose Miguel Cotto
i am afraid that may 1st would be the jinxed day for my idol floyd. MAY 1st = Mayweather’s 1st KO!
Gutsy call Signorella. Personally, I cant see Mayweather ever getting TKO’d unless he gets cut, he’s just too good defensively. As far as my prediction, my heart says Mosely but my brain says Mayweather. I will say Mayweather in a close unanimous decision.
Mosley KO in 9 … Money Mayweather never faced a dominate elite fighter untill now.. Be ready for Pacman-Mosly not Pacman-Mayweather
I’m going to go big here and say Mosley, KO 9.
FMJ UD, but hoping to be wrong.
Who was this welterweight who claims to be the best boxer ever by having a perfect record of 40-0? and claim that he better than Ali and Sugar Ray Robinson?
Well lets examine if his record is really close to those boxers who’s name were mentioned in the Hall of Fame.
George Foreman was 40-0 when he was defeated by Muhammad Ali. Not bad.
Larry Holmes went 48-0 before losing to Michael Spinks. Even better.
Rocky Marciano retired at 49-0, with 43 knockouts.
Julio Cesar Chavez won his first 88 fights (yes, 88) before he finally suffered a draw against Pernell Whitaker.
Packy McFarland lost his first fight. But he went ahead and won his next 98 fights.
Willie Pep won his first 62 fights, lost one, then won his next 72 bouts. That put him at 134-1, at that point.
The officially awarded greatest of all time, Sugar Ray Robinson, was 128-1 in the prime of his career. He finished his career at 173-19 with 108 KOs.
Which record do you think is far better than the other? 40-0 (Floyd Mayweather Jr.) or 134-1 (Willie Pep)?.
Not only did These Hall of Famers have outstanding records, they built their tremendous stacks of stats without cherry-picking their opponents. The afore-mentioned pugilists fought everybody that was willing to step into the ring with them.
Who was that other guy again? Oh yeah, Fraud “The mongoloid” Gayweather, The Greatest self Proclaiming Boxer Ever after Ali. The Man who belongs to a family of “Hustlers” (in Drugs, Gunfiring, Battering Woman, etc) and a mind poisoner (great deciever).
I go with Shane, KO between 10th and 12th round. Yes, I agree that Mosely has the ability to alter his gameplan too and can also read Floyd as the fight progresses. But Nazeem is the key in this fight. He will give Mosely the edge to beat Floyd.
It’f funny that both Floyd and Shane both cheated in their last fights to be where they’re at, at this fight.
Floyd cheated against Marquez by purposely coming overweight, against contract rules.
Shane cheated against Margarito by having used EPO Steroids/Hormones in their fight, and got away without detection.
Just imagine…if Mayweather wins he will match Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.@ 41 ~ 0 so I guess they are both better than all the greats. ROFLMFAO
@Das, you got something against Mongoloids?
FMJ UD 12 but am hoping Mosely can somehow pull it out
This is one of the worst undercards ever…golden boy should be ashamed of themselves. Everyone says no one cares about the undercards . The reason why no one does is because they always suck! last solid undercard fight on a PPV? Jorje Arce vs Hussein Hussein seems like a lifetime ago. Don’t even remember what the main event was.
Brain says Mosley by UD. Heart wants Mosley by brutal KO. Early.
On Pep vs Floyd, Pep. No hesitation.
@Das…….Good Information and I thought I knew Boxing….I agree with everyone who has picked Mosley…I do not see how Mayweather can win this fight…He ducks and dodges all real competitors/opponents and he is not even a Real Fighter — How can you be a Real Fighter and THe Greatest Boxer (self proclaimed) when you duck people?? Instead of Fighting an Undefeated Miguel Cotto (which every1 wanted to see) — He Retired!! Instead of facing Antonio Margarito (who was calling him out constantly) he FIRED his promoter BOB ARUM & fought Carlos Baldomir in a Snooze Fest & instead of just fighting Manny Pacquiao out the Blue he wants him tested for Steroids…(What) Was’nt you the same one saying that Pacquiao been knocked out twice and Marquez beat him twice and blah, blah, blah…This DUDE avoids people — this is the only time that I am actually seeing him step up and fight a Real Fighter..Mosley KO in whatever round..
Outstanding post, Das.
Das, while i do admire your research ability, i definitely tend to disagree with your line of reasoning. maybe it’s because i’m in my thirties, but i definitely don’t buy into this “no one can be greater than robinson and ali” mess. sure robinson, pep, and mcfarland fought and won a zillion times. but saying that is akin to satan quoting only the first half of a scripture. any logical argument about historical records must be dissected under the same microscope we use now. it was VERY common at those times to face the same boxer 6 or seven times in your career. Even after beating them decisively. Could you imagine floyd beating corrales like a drum six more times. Or floyd fighting zab or castillo 5 times in our current era. He’d be crucified worse than he is now. Not only that, but when we talk about floyd not facing 40 quality fighters in a row, the same must be applied to the “old timers”. Brace yourselves, but please someone, without looking….name 30…..no, name just 20 championship level fighters that sugar ray robinson faced. Not title challengers, but true championship level prize fighters. And don’t go quoting any bert sugar interviews. We laugh at jones jr. fighting cops and firemen, but a lot of guys back then had no business being in the squared circle. We often saw champions fighting twice a month or more. that speaks volumes about the level of competition, that you don’t feel you need much time between fights to prepare. Especially when a good number of past champs were known to be known men about town. (NO HE DIDN’T) Yes, i did. if i fought my cousin chooty beeks 6 times after i already pummeled him, the next six times would not get any better unless i tripped over my bike or a tree stump…..anyway. don’t get me wrong, i don’t think floyd is the GOAT or a nice guy, but i think that someone needs to present a better argument than “he didn’t fight 200 guys”. I definitely think that if someone thinks he is the GOAT, then they have a valid argument. I do also think that floyd kind of validated his statement by saying that if YOU don’t think you’re the GOAT, you have no business prize fighting. boxing has come a long way since those days. Case in point: Would i say that kobe or lebron are better than jordan. YES! I think if jordan uses the same skill set now that he used to dominate back in his hey day, he would find himself on the wrong end of lebron’s testicles. I guess it all depends on what constitutes the parameters of your GOAT list. BTW, Mosely could dominate this fight if he overwhelms floyd with a combination of power and speed. He would have to step out of himself and be a stronger version of PAC as far as punching volume is concerned. I think the size difference will be a non factor as we’ve seen floyd’s ring generalship neutralize a tall fighter’s advantage.
[One "Mexican Assassin" vs. another "Mexican Assassin"! Like two hookers stepping off the corner to front at the intersection (Trinidad v. Vargas, rd. 12).] [Old-middle age v. Middle-middle age. Too much pride, too much humility; so much intensity, so much comedy!] [$55=tragedy. $5 more than last century's fight (DLH v. Trinidad)? Acceptable inflation.] [Fight poster: Who R U Picking? Pick a flat nose. Whose nose IS flatter? Mosley's looks beaten. Mosley looks beaten. Is he ready to lose? He's definitely matured that ability (Mosley v. Cotto, post-fight). Was once a "daddy's boy" about it (Mosley v. Forrest 1).] [Rightful underdog? Rightfully!] [Will Shane win? What's possible and what's probable? Possibly, yes; probably not.] [Eyes starting to look paunchy. Floyd's look crisp. What is Shane looking at? All roads lead to a loss. Can't beat Floyd twice. Couldn't beat Winky twice. Win and he loses. Lose, and he loses.] [Stupid to fight Money for money! (DLH v. Mayweather)] [Floyd doesn't care(Mayweather v. Corrales). He'll humiliate and make you raise his hand (Mayweather v. Marquez)] [Noone wants to hear Shane on Pacquaio after a win. They want Merchant asking Floyd about Manny.] [This big fights gonna retire you, Shane, so sorry (DLH v. Pacquiao). Then you and Oscar will be in Floyd's corner wearing suits during the intros for Mayweather-Pacquiao.] [Won't be any suspense when Buffer reads the results. No '115-113s with a stray 116-112' to be heard. Shane will be clapping congratulations way before Buffer gets to Floyd's name.]
Mayweather: 117-110 UD, drops Floyd once with a body shot
Mosley by KO 10 rounds. Double jab by Mosley gets him in close and the looping overhand right that Mosley will throw will find a home, not the straight right hand that Floyds previous victims threw. Mosley will vary his attack and at times Floyd will be forced to lead offensively but Floyds jab to the body will not be enough.
Mosley will catch Floyd in the 6th, winning the round putting him ahead one on the cards, Shane will then finish him in the 8th or 9th. Cant wait to see the expression on Floyd’s face in his corner, moments before he goes down.
Everytime Floyd has a fight the Floyd haters say “he’s gonna get it this time.”
“He’s never faced a fighter of this callibure.” They always lose.
Let’s name the guys who were supposed to give Floyd the fight of his life.
Diego Corrales…. Castillio(?)…….Gotti….. Oscar Delahoya…. Zab…. Hatton…. blah blah blah. Same old song. Mosley can win but I doubt it. He’s gonna come at floyd to hard and force floyd to fight causing his defense to cause a ko in the 6th or 7th. Bet
silly predictions. that steroid user pacquiao wont take test because he knows he will be exsposed as a steroid user.to hell with that lying cheater
He might take the tests according to ESPN News reports earlier tonight. I wouldn’t hold my breath, but maybe. It’s possible.
This weekend’s card was OK, but I’m glad I didn’t pay the $55.