Mayweather ready to step in with Mosley

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By Clive Bernath: Floyd Mayweather Jr has confirmed he is ready to step in and face Shane Mosley following the withdrawal of Andre Berto.

Mosley was due to face Berto in Las Vegas on January 30 but Berto, 25-0-(19), who was born in Miami but fought for Haiti in the 2004 Olympics, pulled out of the biggest fight of his career after losing many family and friends in the recent Haiti earthquake tragedy.

Mayweather Jr is keen to enter into negotiations with Mosley and his promoter Golden Boy Promotions but his advisor Leonard Ellerbe made it clear that first and foremost his thoughts and prayers are with Andre Berto and the people of Haiti at this sad time.

Talking to ESPN.com following Berto’s withdrawal Ellerbe said: "I know everyone is rushing to make this fight with Mosley, but I want people to know that Floyd feels awful for Berto and his family for what they and their country are going through.

“Mosley is available, that’s the fight that Floyd would love to make. It’s no secret that Floyd has been trying to make a fight with Shane for the last 10 years.

"Our condolences go out to Berto and his family because that is the human side of this. Floyd wants people to know that his prayers -- all of ours -- are with Berto. But he also wants people to know that he is ready to fight Mosley.

Ellerbe added: “That’s the fight he(Floyd) wants more than anything. And Floyd has instructed me and Al [Haymon, Mayweather’s other adviser] to make the biggest fight possible. Floyd against Shane is the biggest fight in boxing right now that can be made."

Following the well documented collapse of Mayweather’s March 13 ‘Super Fight’ with Manny Pacquiao to decide the world’s No.1 pound for pound fighter it makes perfect sense for Mosley to step in and battle it out with Mayweather.

‘Sugar’ Shane, too, has been chasing a showdown with Mayweather Jr for years and made it perfectly clear in the ring after ‘Pretty Boy’ soundly out-pointed Juan Manuel Marquez last September that he desperately wants to face Mayweather.

Negotiations for major fights are never easy. Far too often the egos, inflated financial values of fighters and the politics within the sport invariably prevent the big fights from happening but the way the worldwide recession and the dearth of genuine top world class performers now means the egos have been parked up at the door in favour of commonsense.

Mayweather Jr has been constantly criticized following the collapse of the Pacquiao fight for running scared of any legitimate challenge so what better way of answering his critics than facing ‘Sugar’ Shane Mosley?

January 19, 2010