Mosley, not Mayweather, is worthy of fan appreciation

Nice article from the Ring. :good


The more I hear Floyd Mayweather’s mouth, the more I appreciate Shane Mosley.

It’s not that I don’t appreciate Mayweather at all. I do appreciate some things about the former five-division titleholder, who I consider, along with Mosley, to be among the best fighters I’ve had the privilege of covering in the late 1990s and this decade.

I think Mayweather’s overall ring generalship -- his balance, positioning, footwork, hand-eye coordination, head and upper-body movement, timing, punch accuracy and fluidity during a fight -- is a thing of beauty.

I understand the fans who celebrate Mayweather because of his superb skill and ring prowess, but I don’t agree that technique alone is enough to elevate a prize fighter to the top of the sport.

Professional boxing is more than technique, folks. (If technique is all you care about maybe figure skating should be your sport, not boxing.)

Boxing isn’t just about what a fighter does in the ring, it’s also about who he fights.

Mosley, who has always challenged the best fighters in the weight classes he occupied, gets it. Mayweather doesn’t.

The more we hear from “Money May” in the buildup to his July 18 comeback fight with Juan Manuel Marquez, the more we hear about who he won’t fight.

Manny Pacquiao, who earned universal recognition as the sport’s pound-for-pound No. 1 fighter after Mayweather “retired” last summer, appears to be on that list.

So is Mosley.

Mayweather tried to explain why the reigning pound-for-pound king and the sport’s best welterweight were not on his radar during a recent interview with ESPN’s Brian Kenny.

In that interview, which can be found on ESPN.com’s boxing page (http://espn.go.com/boxing/), Mayweather said a showdown with Pacquiao would be “hard to make” because he and Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum “have a problem.”

Mosley was dismissed as a future opponent because he has “five losses” and is “not a pay-per-view attraction,” according to Mayweather.

Mayweather’s disrespect was enough to make the normally affable and reserved Mosley fire back.

“Floyd’s delusional,” Mosley said from his home in La Verne, California on Friday. “He talks about his pay-per-view numbers but everyone knows that it was Ricky (Hatton) and Oscar (De La Hoya) who brought in the fans and sold those pay-per-view buys. Before he fought De La Hoya his numbers were so disappointing HBO didn’t want him to fight on pay-per-view anymore.

“The fights with Oscar and Ricky, and the 24/7’s he did on HBO before those fights, got his name out there but I don’t think it made him more popular with boxing fans. I don’t think he’ll ever be as popular as he thinks he is until he really fights the best.”

Early in his career, when he campaigned in the 130- and 135-pound divisions, Mayweather did fight the best. He beat the likes of Genaro Hernandez, Diego Corrales, Jesus Chavez, and Jose Luis Castillo displaying once-in-a-lifetime talent and athletic gifts that were on par with Mosley’s abilities at lightweight.

Somewhere during his transition from lightweight to junior welterweight and welterweight in the middle part of the decade, Mayweather’s focus shifted from proving his potential greatness to protecting his undefeated record and making as much money as possible.

It can be argued that it worked out for him, as he made a small fortune fighting Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton in 2007, but it’s a damn shame.

Imagine the welterweight round robin that could have taken place over the last four years if Mayweather shared Mosley’s mettle.

Who knows? Maybe their battles with Miguel Cotto, Paul Williams, Antonio Margarito, Joshua Clottey, Zab Judah, Kermit Cintron -- and ultimately against each other -- could have equaled or even rivaled the excitement that Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, Wilfred Benitez, Roberto Duran, Pipino Cuevas, and Carlos Palomino created in the 147-pound division in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

However, while Mayweather and Mosley possess comparative skill and talent, their mentalities are as different as night and day.

“If they cut my bald head open, they will find one big boxing glove,” hall-of-fame former middleweight champ Marvin Hagler once said. “That’s all I am. I live it.”

The same could be said about Mosley; he’s 100-percent fighter.

I wish I could compare Mayweather to Leonard, but I can’t (and nobody else should.)

After establishing his hall-for-fame credentials by taking on Benitez, Duran (twice) and Hearns in a 2-year span, he challenged Hagler, the undisputed middleweight champ, after being out of the ring for 3 years.

Mayweather, who stepped away from the sport as the welterweight champ, is returning from a 1½-year “retirement” to fight the LIGHTWEIGHT champ.

“Mayweather’s fighting one of the best in Juan Manuel Marquez but he’s not fighting the best in his weight class,” Mosley said. “If he can’t come down a few pounds to meet Marquez halfway that means he’s a full-bodied welterweight. So, why’s he picking on a lightweight?

“If he’s a welterweight and he’s the best, as he claims, then he needs to prove it by fighting the number-one welterweight, and that’s me.

“I proved it by knocking out Antonio Margarito who knocked out Miguel Cotto. Mayweather can’t say he’s the best welterweight or the best fighter, pound for pound. He pulled himself out of the game for a year. Fighters like me and Manny Pacquiao stayed in the game and earned our place in it. If he wants to come back and reclaim his so-called throne he has to beat us.

“If he thinks he can fool the public, he’s wrong. This fight (with Marquez) is not going to do the numbers he thinks it is, and if it does, it will be the Mexican fans supporting Marquez.

“Floyd doesn’t have fans.”

The reason, Mosley says, is simple:

If we cut open Mayweather’s head, we won’t find a boxing glove. We’ll find a wad of cash.

“Floyd fights for one thing, money,” Mosley said. “He doesn’t fight for the fans the way I do, or the way Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez do.

“That’s the difference between me and Mayweather. I’m not fighting for money. I’ve been in the game a long time, longer than Floyd, and I’ve made money, but that’s never been what drives me.

“I fight for the love of the sport and I fight for the fans.”

Mosley said he wanted to fight Margarito because the Mexican mauler was recognized as the best 147-pound fighter in the sport. Now he wants to fight Pacquiao and Mayweather, to prove that he’s the best fighter, pound for pound, in the game.

“I held that title (pound for pound) once,” he said. “I was recognized as the sport’s best fighter in 2000 and 2001. I want to be the first former pound-for-pound king to come back and be recognized as number one again after eight or nine years.

“If I get a fight against either or both, I’ll prove that I really am the best, and I won’t walk away from the sport like Floyd did. I’ll defend my title.”

Against who?

“I’ll fight anyone the fans want me to fight,” Mosley said. “I mean that. I really do fight for the fans. If I’m recognized as the pound-for-pound best I’ll let the fans vote on who I should fight next. I don’t care who it is. If they want me to fight Cotto again, I’ll do it. If they want me to fight Andre Berto or Paul Williams, I’ll do it.

“I just want to let the fans know that I’m worthy of their recognition.”

I’ve known Mosley, who turns 38 in September, for 15 years. I think appreciate him now more than ever.

It’s not too late for Mayweather, who I once tabbed as a future “great”.

Mosley agrees.

“Mayweather’s an awesome boxer,” he said. “The reason he isn’t embraced by fans is that he blatantly tells them that he’s only fighting for the money.

“He could have fans, real fans, if he really challenged himself. He wouldn’t have to rely on the other guy to bring in the fans and the pay-per-view numbers if he challenged himself.

“If he fought me, we would both bring in fans and the fight would be tremendous.”