Floyd Mayweather too much for Shane Mosley from third round on -- Washington Post

By Gene Wang, Washington Post

LAS VEGAS -- In a career filled with memorable performances, Floyd Mayweather put together another for the ages by thoroughly dismantling Shane Mosley in their non-title welterweight fight in front of 15,117 fans at the MGM Grand on Saturday night.

In winning by unanimous decision, Mayweather was not seriously challenged after the second round and continued to make the case for himself as the best pound-for-pound fighter now and perhaps of all-time. He was too quick, too resilient and too resourceful for Mosley, who won just that one round on two of the judges' scorecards and the first and second rounds on the other.

Now the boxing world waits to see if and how soon the undefeated Mayweather (41-0, 25 KOs) can get a deal completed to fight Manny Pacquiao in what surely would be the most highly anticipated prize fight in several years.

Immediately following the fight, spectators began yelling, "Pacquiao," and during a postfight interview in the ring, Mayweather was asked about that possibility. He remained noncommittal about a fight that appeared set to happen until negotiations between the sides broke down in January over drug testing requests by Mayweather's camp.

The buildup to Mayweather-Mosley led many in the boxing establishment as well as the casual fight fan to believe this fight could be on par with some of the transcendent non-heavyweight clashes from generations ago. It was, however, a far cry from Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Thomas Hearns or Leonard-Marvin Hagler.

Mayweather, 33, instead turned this into a rout from the third round forward. Some of his most inspired fighting came in the fourth when he landed consecutive rights to the head of Mosley and in the fifth with several right jabs and a solid left.

Then Mayweather continued to assert his will with a right cross in the sixth round that snapped back Mosley's head. Clearly shaken from that and previous blows, Mosley, 38, was unable to mount a counterattack the rest of the match and frequently had to cover up just to avoid further damage.


"I think we could have pressed the attack a lot earlier," said Mayweather, who was stunned momentarily by a hard right from Mosley in the second. "It's a contact sport. You're going to get hit. When you get hit, you just suck it up and keep on fighting."

At the end of a convincing seventh round in which he connected cleanly on two right crosses, Mayweather looked back toward his opponent's corner and nodded as if he knew the fight was his.

Then in the eighth, Mayweather left no doubt. That's when Mosley (46-6, 39 KOs) threw Mayweather into the ropes, drawing a warning from the referee. Mosley appeared to let down his guard for a moment following that sequence, and Mayweather landed a shot to the head. Stunned by the blow, Mosley looked at Mayweather and said, C'mon dog."

The rest of the right from there was all but a formality, as Mosley showed his age and Mayweather showed more excellence of execution.

"I still feel really good, but my neck was tight," said Mosley, whose last fight was a commanding victory over Antonio Margarito on Jan. 24, 2008. "I think the long layoff hurt me."

Source: washingtonpost.com