LOS ANGELES - When Shane Mosley swaps knuckles with Floyd Mayweather on May 1, he'll be trying to pull a Neil Armstrong or a Zac Sunderland.
What does moon soil feel like underneath your boots? Nobody knew.
There is an increasing number of boxing types who believe Mosley can win, based on overall skill, maturity (he's 38), the facebreaking punching power he showed Antonio Margarito, and athletic ability.
"Shane can knock out anything that's 147 pounds, I don't care if it's a farm animal," said Naazim Richardson, his trainer, as the Pretty-Sugar media tour hit downtown L.A. on Thursday.
"I don't care about those 40 guys that Floyd beat. He wasn't fighting Shane Mosley."
But Mayweather hasn't found anyone who can beat him.
You can sniff at his choices. You can point to the 15 guys he didn't knock out.
You can't find the blueprint for defeating an undefeated man, and that is why Mayweather is the book favorite for what probably will be the most heralded fight of 2010.
Oscar De La Hoya is a good place to start, because he's 0-3 against these contestants. Of course, Mosley works with him at Golden Boy Promotions, and Oscar told the surprisingly large crowd at L.A. Live that he already knew what would happen, "and it's not going to be Pretty
In the lobby of a nearby restaurant, De La Hoya talked of Mayweather's deception and difficulty. There have been few boxers who have put together such a winning streak without sowing fear.
"The key is that you can't go in there thinking it's going to be easy," De La Hoya said. "Because it looks easy on TV. He can offset your punches, he's a master at that. He's a master at the roll-shoulder defense. But the great thing is that Mosley can match all that. They have a perfect game plan but they have to stick with it."
Which a certain East L.A. heavyweight and current skyscraper owner did not do, back in 2007.
"You have to throw the jab, and I quit throwing the jab," De La Hoya said, thinking of his loss by decision, in the fight that set the record for pay-per-views. "It was easy. I thought it was easy, for half the fight."
He was asked how many of Mayweather's victims went back to the hotel room and beat up the pillow, regretting the chance they blew.
"I'm one of them," he said.
Mayweather's defensive sophistication and hand speed are not fully appreciated because of his many-faceted larynx and quicksilver mouth. His skill at irritating opponents right out of their character is unmatched among today's fighters. Don't think Mosley is immune because he has experienced so much. De La Hoya's fight with Mayweather was his 43rd.
"I was so angry with him, I wanted to knock him out so bad," De La Hoya said. "He wants you to go into the ring like that. Then you fall into his trap and he makes you pay."
Richardson thinks Mosley is "too mature" for that. "You can't get caught in this rah-rah-rah," he said. "Mayweather's gonna play to the barbershops. The young, hip-hop guys.
"But what could happen is this stuff could get you motivated in the wrong direction. You can't let Floyd win all these little battles. Because Floyd lives in Floyd's world. And in Floyd's world, if he pulls you into an argument here, or at the press conference, or at the weigh-in ... well, in Floyd's world, he's already 3-0 against you. Now you get in the ring, and he's comfortable. He says if I beat you three times I can beat you the fourth time. And that's a mental, relaxed state he puts himself in.
"You gotta let him know, you're dealing with a real dragon here. If you're great, you're gonna find out how great you are tonight. You're going to be getting up off that canvas, to prove you're great."
Actually Mayweather was fairly diplomatic Thursday, talking up Mosley's credentials, saying that he likes glamour fights because they "test my skills."
It was Mosley who said that "May first" would be "May's first," as in first loss.
Roger Mayweather, Floyd's uncle and normally outspoken trainer, was quiet, too. Someone asked him how training was going and he shrugged.
"We've done it so long," he said. "It's like it always is. Floyd's the same. He can do anything he needs to do. It's going to be easier because Shane is going to come to him. But if Floyd had to go get him, he could do that."
No, Mayweather is not unbeatable. We just haven't seen any indisputable visual evidence.
mwhicker@ocregister.com
Source: ocregister.com
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