Bernard Hopkins weighed in at 156 pounds vs. Oscar De La Hoya. If he really, really, I mean really wanted to, he could've made the LMW limit just to show he can do it. And despite many expecting him to look slow and drained, he knocked out De La Hoya. Hopkins, although physically very gifted, always had a perfect conditioning team behind him, think about jumping from Taylor to Tarver, from Calzaghe to Pavlik. If the Pacquiao-Mosley fight will get made, here's a note: do be fooled by the PacMan-DLH fight and all the reports of fighting weight drained - it's never going to happen with Shane. First thing is genetics, get over it, Mosley simply has better control of his body than De La Hoya. 2nd and most important thing is: Brother Nazim Richardson! :happy Nazim is an excellent tactician, but doing the training camp with him might have the most benefits on the physical side. Mosley looked slow and aged vs. Mayorga at 154, but looked incredibly strong and faster vs. Margarito at 147, after his first camp with Richardson. So if you are Shane Mosley and ready to take the risk of fighting Pac somewhere at 143-144 pounds, the most confident you'll ever feel is doing it with the great Nazim Richardson. Mosley is taking a calculated risk here. Very smart move, and PacMan might find Sugar too big, too strong, too powerful, too everything. Remember where you heard it first!
Oscar first of all can't handle a southpaw. Secondly he's been a part time fighter since the 2nd Mosley fight. And 3rd he waiting till after the unofficial weights to rehydrate. Thats a trifecta of suckiness. Add to that the best fighter in the sport on the other side of the ring and you have the total beatdown that we witnessed. Mosley may have lost a little bit of speed but he's been doing consistantly well against top class opponents. Nothing like Oscar.
Agree, Mosley might be over the hill, but what he did very well is to adapt to his current capabilities. He sits on punches more, sacrifying speed for power, he's now a different kind of beast. We still shouldn't forget he struggled vs. Mayorga (who was 170 fight night) and that slow Margarito's style suited Mosley very well, but regardless of the opponent, Shane was in excellent physical condition and had one of the best strategist behind him, so if there's anyone who could pull off the dangerous weight loss and still fight A+, is Shane and Richcardson.
