Mayweather leaves no doubt vs. Mosley -- New York Post

By GEORGE WILLIS, New York Post

LAS VEGAS -- For a moment, it looked as if Floyd "Money" Mayweather had met his match. A thunderous right-hand from Sugar Shane Mosley had landed squarely on Mayweather's chin, turning his legs to instant jelly.

Mayweather, unbeaten and the self-proclaimed best fighter ever, was in trouble. Mosley pounced delivering a flurry of power punches. But instead of being the end of Mayweather, it was the end of Mosley, the last time he threatened in the non-title welterweight bout.

Mayweather dominated the next 10 rounds with his quickness and overall boxing genius, earning a unanimous decision before a sellout crowd at the MGM Grand. Two judges scored the bout 119-109, while another had it 118-110. The Post saw it 117-111 for Mayweather.

No longer can Mayweather's excellence be questioned because of inferior competition. Mosley, the reigning WBA welterweight champion, couldn't deal with Mayweather's movement, hand speed and defensive skills. Mosley's crucial mistake was trying to out-box the boxer. Instead of putting pressure on Mayweather, Mosley tried to match him with counter punches and combinations, hoping to land an occasional big punch. Bad strategy.

Mayweather (41-0, 25 KOs) is the master of that game and slowly wore down Mosley, who threw fewer and fewer punches as the fight went on. By the end of the bout, Mayweather was the aggressor, stalking Mosley around the ring, blinding him with his quickness. Mayweather landed 208 punches in the fight compared to 92 for Mosley.

"I did what the fans came here wanted to see, a toe-to-toe battle," Mayweather said. "That's not my style, but I wanted to give them that kind of fight and I knew I could do it. I went over the game plan with my dad [Floyd Sr.] and Uncle Roger while sitting around the house. They told me to box and then lay on the attack. I think we could have pressed the attack a lot earlier and I think we could have got the knock out."

Mayweather, a 3½-to-1 favorite, entered the ring escorted by the real O'Jays singing "Money, Money, Money." Mayweather certainly earned plenty of that in the much-anticipated pay-per-view bout. His pockets are now stuffed and his legacy adds a major highlight.

Mosley, fighting for the first time since January 2009, had his chance in the second round. He first hurt Mayweather early in the round when he landed a quick right hand. As the crowd began to chant "Mosley, Mosley," he responded by rocking Mayweather with another right hand to the head. Though he shook his head as if to say he was fine, Mayweather's unstable legs gave him away.

A short left hook by Mayweather cooled Mosley's attack, and a little holding helped him to survive the round.

"It's a contact sport and you're going to get hit," Mayweather said. "But when you get hit, you suck it up and keep on fighting. That's what I did.

Mosley thought the long layoff hurt his timing.

"I caught him with a big right hand and I tried to move around, but he was too quick and I was too tight," Mosley said. "After I landed the right hand, I thought I needed to knock him out and I needed to do it sooner or later. I couldn't adjust and he did."

Mayweather said he'll agree to fight Manny Pacquiao next if the Filipino agrees to random drug testing as Mosley did. "I'm willing to take it and [Pacquiao] should, too," Mayweather said. "If Manny takes the test, we can make the fight happen. If he doesn't, we don't have a fight."

george.willis@nypost.com

Source: nypost.com