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Recently, Mosley's Been A Little Misleading About His Fight With Mayweather

Published

13 years ago

April 19, 2011

Recently, Shane Mosley 46-6-1 (39) has been saying that he'll look a lot better against Manny Pacquiao 52-3-2 (38) next month than he did Floyd Mayweather last year because Manny will engage him more than Floyd did when they fought. In other words Mosley is insinuating that Mayweather didn't win by fighting him straight up. And if you buy Mayweather ran from Mosley when they fought you must have missed the fight or don't know what you were watching.

Since Mosley was shutdown and out-thought and fought by Mayweather he was held to a 12-round draw by Sergio Mora in his next bout four months later. Ironically, in Mora's next fight he lost a split decision to Brian Vera 18-5 (11). Shane has blamed Mora practically being a middleweight and a defensive first minded fighter as the reasons why he wasn't impressive during the fight. And although that may be partly true, I believe it's more the case of how Mosley has regressed as a fighter.

Before Mosley's high profile bout with Floyd Mayweather in May of last year both fighters were subjected to Olympic style blood and drug testing. In the dressing room before going out to the ring the night of the fight, Mosley looked like an empty package shadow boxing and warming up. And it's my belief that Mosley had to give up a lot more blood for the testing before the fight than Mayweather did. No, I cannot prove it but with the suspicion being around Mosley more than Mayweather in regards to fighters using supposed performance enhancing drugs, that's what my instincts tell me. And when it comes to the behind the scenes goings on in professional boxing, I trust my instincts.

What I can speak to with impunity is what transpired over the course of the 12-rounds Shane and Floyd spent in the ring against each other. After a somewhat uneventful first round, Mosley almost put Floyd away with a right hand during the second round. Mayweather survived the round and seemed to be recovered by the bell ending it. Starting in the third round and all the way through the 12th and final round, Mayweather was in control of the bout. For 10 straight rounds Floyd out thought and fought Mosley – and he didn't do it by running and using the circumference of the ring in order to avoid engaging with him.

Actually, Mayweather stood right in front of Mosley and beat him with his jab. Once Floyd saw that he could stymie and disrupt Mosley's offense with just a jab, he picked it up and mixed in some one-twos. On top of being neutralized offensively, Shane was frozen mentally and physically. With him not being sure if it was smarter to try and lead or counter, Mayweather cut loose and gave him more to think about. And a lot of that had to do with Shane's physical decline as a fighter. In actuality, there was no reason for Mayweather to fight Mosley the way Roy Jones did Antonio Tarver during their rubber match. And that's what's so disappointing about Mosley saying he'll do better against Pacquiao than he did Mayweather because Manny won't avoid fighting him the way Mayweather did.

The fact is Mayweather did try to fight Shane. And for whatever the reason was, Mayweather stood right in front of him and got the better of it. It didn't matter what Mosley did or tried, Mayweather controlled the bout from a physical vantage point for the last 10 rounds. In fact he looked like the bigger and stronger fighter. Even when Mosley became desperate and attempted to impose himself physically over Mayweather, he looked unsure and out of sync.

Since he's turned pro Mosley has been a great ambassador for professional boxing. He's always been more than willing to fight the best available even when it wasn't the best move for his career business wise. It's great to see him getting his two biggest paydays at the end of his career. However, it's dishonest for him to reiterate that he matches up better with Pacquiao because Manny will engage him unlike Mayweather. If you really think about it, Pacquiao engaging him will probably be the reason why there's a good chance he'll be subjected to the worst beating of his career.

As of 2011 Manny Pacquiao's style is much better suited to thump Mosley more than Mayweather's was/is. On the other hand Mayweather is much better equipped to deal with Pacquiao than an almost 40 year old Mosley. At this stage of the game both Mayweather and Pacquiao can better Mosley via boxing, counter-punching or attacking him.

I don't think anyone would dispute that Shane Mosley was one of the two or three greatest lightweights since Roberto Duran ruled the division circa 1972-78. But if you buy that Shane looked so flat against Mayweather because he couldn't find him, you've been mislead or didn't see the fight. Mayweather held his ground and fought Mosley and got the best of it. Pacquiao will also be able to hold his ground and out fight him on May 7th.

Frank Lotierzo can be reached at GlovedFist@Gmail.com

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Frank Lotierzo

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2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

8 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

The WBC World Super Featherweight title bout between Francisco Vargas and Takashi Miura came on one of the biggest boxing stages of 2015, as the bout served as the HBO pay-per-view’s co-main event on November 21st, in support of Miguel Cotto vs Saul Alvarez.

Miura entered the fight with a (29-2-2) record and he was making the fifth defense of his world title, while Vargas entered the fight with an undefeated mark of (22-0-1) in what was his first world title fight. Both men had a reputation for all-out fighting, with Miura especially earning high praise for his title defense in Mexico where he defeated Sergio Thompson in a fiercely contested battle.

The fight started out hotly contested, and the intensity never let up. Vargas seemed to win the first two rounds, but by the fourth round, Miura seemed to pull ahead, scoring a knock-down and fighting with a lot of confidence. After brawling the first four rounds, Miura appeared to settle into a more technical approach. Rounds 5 and 6 saw the pendulum swing back towards Vargas, as he withstood Miura’s rush to open the fifth round and the sixth round saw both men exchanging hard punches.

The big swinging continued, and though Vargas likely edged Miura in rounds 5 and 6, Vargas’ face was cut in at least two spots and Miura started to assert himself again in rounds 7 and 8. Miura was beginning to grow in confidence while it appeared that Vargas was beginning to slow down, and Miura appeared to hurt Vargas at the end of the 8th round.

Vargas turned the tide again at the start of the ninth round, scoring a knock down with an uppercut and a straight right hand that took Miura’s legs and sent him to the canvas. Purely on instinct, Miura got back up and continued to fight, but Vargas was landing frequently and with force. Referee Tony Weeks stepped in to stop the fight at the halfway point of round 9 as Miura was sustaining a barrage of punches.

Miura still had a minute and a half to survive if he was going to get out of the round, and it was clear that he was not going to stop fighting.

A back and forth battle of wills between two world championship level fighters, Takashi Miura versus “El Bandido” Vargas wins the 2015 Fight of the Year.

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Jan 9 in Germany – Feigenbutz and De Carolis To Settle Score

Published

8 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

This coming Saturday, January 9th, the stage is set at the Baden Arena in Offenburg, Germany for a re-match between Vincent Feigenbutz and Giovanni De Carolis. The highly anticipated re-match is set to air on SAT.1 in Germany, and Feigenbutz will once again be defending his GBU and interim WBA World titles at Super Middleweight.

The first meeting between the two was less than three months ago, on October 17th and that meeting saw Feigenbutz controversially edge De Carolis on the judge’s cards by scores of (115-113, 114-113 and 115-113). De Carolis scored a flash knock down in the opening round, and he appeared to outbox Feigenbutz in the early going, but the 20 year old German champion came on in the later rounds.

The first bout is described as one of the most crowd-pleasing bouts of the year in Germany, and De Carolis and many observers felt that the Italian had done enough to win.

De Carolis told German language website RAN.DE that he was more prepared for the re-match, and that due to the arrogance Feigenbutz displayed in the aftermath of the first fight, he was confident that he had won over some of the audience. Though De Carolis fell short of predicting victory, he promised a re-vamped strategy tailored to what he has learned about Feigenbutz, whom he termed immature and inexperienced.

The stage is set for Feigenbutz vs De Carolis 2, this Saturday January 9th in Offenburg, Germany. If you can get to the live event do it, if not you have SAT.1 in Germany airing the fights, and The Boxing Channel right back here for full results.

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Articles

2015 Knock Out of the Year – Saul Alvarez KO’s James Kirkland

Published

8 years ago

December 29, 2015

The Sweet Science

On May 9th of 2015, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez delivered a resonant knock-out of James Kirkland on HBO that wins the 2015 KO of the Year.

The knock-out itself came in the third round, after slightly more than two minutes of action. The end came when Alvarez delivered a single, big right hand that caught Kirkland on the jaw and left him flat on his back after spinning to the canvas.Alvarez was clearly the big star heading into the fight. The fight was telecast by HBO for free just one week after the controversial and disappointing Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao fight, and Alvarez was under pressure to deliver the type of finish that people were going to talk about. Kirkland was happy to oblige Alvarez, taking it right to Alvarez from the start. Kirkland’s aggression saw him appear to land blows that troubled the young Mexican in the early going. Alvarez played good defense, and he floored Kirkland in the first round, displaying his power and his technique in knocking down an aggressive opponent.

However, Kirkland kept coming at Alvarez and the fight entered the third round with both men working hard and the feeling that the fight would not go the distance. Kirkland continued to move forward, keeping “Canelo” against the ropes and scoring points with a barrage of punches while looking for an opening.

At around the two minute mark, Alvarez landed an uppercut that sent Kirkland to the canvas again. Kirkland got up, but it was clear that he did not have his legs under him. Kirkland was going to try to survive the round, but Alvarez had an opportunity to close out the fight. The question was would he take it?

Alvarez closed in on Kirkland, putting his opponent’s back to the ropes. Kirkland was hurt, but he was still dangerous, pawing with punches and loading up for one big shot.

But it was the big shot “Canelo” threw that ended the night. Kirkland never saw it coming, as he was loading up with a huge right hand of his own. The right Alvarez threw cracked Kirkland in the jaw, and his eyes went blank. His big right hand whizzed harmlessly over the head of a ducking Alvarez, providing the momentum for the spin that left Kirkland prone on the canvas.

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez went on to defeat Miguel Cotto in his second fight of 2015 and he is clearly one of boxing’s biggest stars heading into 2016. On May 9th Alvarez added another reel to his highlight film when he knocked out James Kirkland with the 2015 “Knock Out of the Year”.

Photo by naoki fukuda

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