By MARK WHICKER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
LAS VEGAS – If there is a Hall of Fame for Backhanded Compliments, Naazim Richardson enshrined himself on Thursday.
Richardson, who trains Shane Mosley, was explaining how Floyd Mayweather Jr. could be so artful inside a ring and so juvenile outside it.
"Everybody here has got an uncle who is a pure idiot, but he can fix the hell out of a carburetor," Richardson said. "Your dad won't let nobody touch the car but him. And he's the dumbest guy on the floor, but when he gets up under that car, he's a genius.
"You got to respect the genius. I respect the genius that is in the ring."
It will take all of Mayweather's internal combustion to beat Mosley Saturday night at the MGM Grand, in one of those crossroads fights that makes you swipe your credit card, fire up the grill, call up the neighbors and once again pay attention to the boxing industry which, like the newspaper industry, is entering perhaps the seventh decade of its death spiral.
Richard Schaefer, the CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, firmly believes Mayweather-Mosley will break the pay-per-view record of 2.4 million set by Mayweather and Oscar De La Hoya in 2007.
Mayweather is hoping for 2.4 million and one: "Let Manny Pacquiao put up the $69.95 and watch it on his couch," he proclaimed.
Pacquiao-Mayweather was supposed to beat the record, but that fight collapsed under Mayweather's insistence that Pacquiao take blood tests. Mosley, who was named in the BALCO investigation, has taken and passed seven.
Mosley gave Antonio Margarito a monstrous beating, but that fight was Jan. 25, 2009, or two Super Bowls ago. He hasn't boxed since.
Richardson worries that the rust will prevent Mosley from starting strong – "and you can't have a slow start against a fast rabbit," he said. "The tortoise and the hare is a great story, but we know it's bull."
He sighed.
"The reason the layoff was difficult is Shane Mosley," he said.
"We sent Shane on vacation. He went to Colombia. If I go to Colombia I'm not sure I'm getting out of the car. But he sent back pictures."
Richardson noticed a large person in one of the pictures, posing with Mosley.
"Did they give you a bodyguard down there?" he asked.
"Naw, I've been down here sparring," Mosley replied.
"You're on vacation, man."
"Naw, but they have a gym down here, and they don't have any ropes, and they have a cement ring mat."
Then Mosley came back and packed up 10 boxes of gloves and equipment and shipped it to the Colombian gym.
"But that's just Shane Mosley," Richardson said, shrugging. "He's a Viking. He wants to leave his enemies on the battlefield."
Richardson had the same reaction when Mosley wanted to fight middleweight Winky Wright: "Why don't you go ahead and fight the Klitschkos?" And Wright beat Mosley twice.
Still, Richardson believes Mosley is unbeatable at 147 pounds.
"As a welterweight, Mayweather hasn't fought a welterweight who is a world champion," Mosley said.
Richardson also believes Mosley's refusal to lose his pre-fight cool will also translate into a stoic performance in the ring.
"You see the press conference yesterday," Richardson said. "Floyd was acting like Shane. So we've won that battle. Besides, all great fighters use deception. Bernard Hopkins was all gangster until he got in the ring and then he was a technical fighter. Shane gives you the smile like he wants to sell you car insurance. But he's the first guy who has the IQ and the athleticism to do this."
Although Golden Boy has promoted this fight on the basis of polarization, a consensus has formed around Mayweather. "Shane has problems with speed and movement and he likes guys to come to him, so it's going to be difficult," said Freddie Roach's, Pacquiao's trainer and thus no advocate of Mayweather's.
Others say Mosley will be the first to bash Mayweather's ribs and slow down his legs.
But it would be easier to visualize if we only had some snapshot, some precedent, some instance of Mayweather staggering. Even Richardson admits he's never seen Mayweather get rocked by a significant combination.
A 40-0 record is rarer than you think. Since 1900, only three fighters were 40-0 when their careers ended: Rocky Marciano, Joe Calzaghe and flyweight Ricardo Lopez.
It also brings a mythic veneer. Mosley has prepared to win. Mayweather knows nothing else.
"But when I saw Muhammad Ali lose, I realized anybody could," Richardson said. "Besides, Shane was 38-0 at one point himelf. The Mayweathers talk about Ray Robinson being the best. Well, he lost, too (to Jake LaMotta).
"And Robinson was 40-0."
So was Felix Trinidad when he lost to Hopkins, whom Richardson trained.
One thing about geniuses, and idiots. They don't recognize probability.
Contact the writer: mwhicker@ocregister.com
Source: ocregister.com
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