What the hell happened to Mosley?

The once triumphant underdog resided himself to walking home with his head hung in shame and his tail between his legs. Shane Mosley has had a long career, and his fair share of losses, but I’ve never seen him so tense, petrified to throw a punch, a sitting target for the faster, stronger Mayweather. Mosley did not show up for the fight, and after an electrifying round two where Mosley nearly toppled Mayweather with a crashing right hand, Mosley seemed to give up, his energy slowly leaving him, his arms rubber, his hands reduced to balls of lead. The crowd watched in agony as Mosley took 10 rounds of brutal punishment, while Mayweather landed straight right after straight right with ridiculous ease. Truthfully, I gave up on Mosley after round 4, and the rest of the fight I just begged him to do something. Anything. Mosley’s trainer Nazim Richardson joined me in my pleads, demanding that Mosley get back in the fight, trying desperately to invoke Mosley’s warrior spirit which was nowhere to be seen on that night. No, my pleads, Nazim Richardson’s words of encouragement, and even the deafening chants from the crowd could do nothing as Mayweather hammered the nails into the coffin of Sugar Shane Mosley’s career with his perfectly timed straight right hands.

I doubt that I’m the only one who noticed it, but there was a sense of familiarity in the Mayweather vs Mosley fight on May 1st. It reminded me of a fight that took place not too long ago between Oscar De La Hoya and Manny Pacquiao. Both the Mayweather vs Mosley fight and the De La Hoya vs Pacquiao fight took place at welterweight after both Mosley and De La Hoya enjoyed stints in the heavier middleweight division. Both fights showcased hall of fame caliber fighters being brutally thrashed by younger, stronger, faster boxers. Both fights signaled the end of an era, and the timely retirement of a legend. Mosley and De La Hoya enjoyed classic bouts against each other, with Mosley emerging the victor both times, and now both are boxing promoters under De La Hoya’s Goldenboy Promotions. It is too early to tell if Mosley is ready to retire, but the strings of fate are certainly pulling Mosley in that direction. I admire De La Hoya’s decision to retire gracefully after his one-sided loss to Manny Pacquiao, but I have a feeling that for a fighter like Mosley, retirement is a thought worse than death. Perhaps he can take comfort in training his son Shane Jr. who is an aspiring boxer.

So back to the initial question: What the hell happened to Mosley? There are countless possible reasons for his pitiful performance on Saturday night, and I will go through some of the possible reasons.

1) Mayweather’s defense was too much: A very probable cause for Mosley’s lackluster performance. While not always apparent, the beauty of Mayweather’s style isn’t all about straight right hands and left hooks, but it’s what he does to set them up. Whether it’s his shoulder rolls or his illegal use of his elbow to control the heads of his opponents in close, Mayweather’s speed and counter-punching style is enough to frustrate and neutralize some of the best boxers out there. While this is most likely a large part of the reason why the fight was so one-sided, I don’t believe Mayweather deserves all the credit.

2) Mosley is too old: Another possible cause which is easy to resort to, but not necessarily true. In January 2009, Mosley showed a dominant performance over the WBA welterweight champion Antonio Margarito, showing that he still had his trademark tenacity, spirit, and powerpunches to boot, and unless he miraculously aged 10 years in a year and a half, it seems unlikely that this is the only reason why Mosley wasn’t himself on Saturday. Inability to pull the trigger is a tell-tale sign that a boxer is over the hill and perhaps this loss will mark the beginning of a steep decline for Sugar Shane.

3) Mosley over-trained: Most fighters will hold training camps a month or two before the fight and they will use this time to work on techniques and conditioning, ensuring that they are in their peak condition by fight night. Mosley however was initially scheduled to fight young prospect, WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto on January 2010, but the fight was canceled after Berto lost several family members in the earthquake in Haiti. Following the collapse of the Berto fight, Mosley went after Mayweather, and scheduling two training camps so soon together, may have caused Mosley to peak too early and not be in top shape for the fight with Mayweather. The random Olympic style drug testing leading up to the fight may have made it even harder for Mosley to make weight and stay in peak condition.

4) Pressure: It’s easy to look at Sugar Shane Mosley and judge him for his lackluster performance, but it is certainly something else to be him. There might just have been too much riding Mosley’s shoulders that night, and the once spirited underdog collapsed the pressure. He needed to prove to himself that he wasn’t too old to compete with the upper echelon of the sport. He wanted to silence the skeptics and the critics who counted him out, as an old has-been. He wanted to silence Mayweather for all the nasty remarks he had been hurling around at press conferences. Countless fans were counting on Mosley to end Mayweather’s tyrannical reign as the king of boxing, and it felt as though that thunderous right Mosley landed in round 2 was a triumphant release of all these pressures. For one glorious moment, Mosley saw a glimmer of hope, a release from the mountain of pent up frustration, a chance of victory, but in one short round, Mosley would find himself on the receiving end, watching helplessly as Mayweather wrenched control of the fight, leaving Mosley to collapse under the mountain of pressure.

5) Mayweather’s pressure: This is an aspect of boxing and combat sports in general that is often neglected by the average fan. If one has never been faced with a tough opponent in a physical confrontation, it is difficult to imagine or describe the “pressure” that boxers face. Most often, when people think of ring “pressure” it comes in the form of one boxer constantly pressing forward, while the other boxer is forced to move back. While this is indeed one kind of pressure, there is another kind of pressure which is exerted by skilled boxers. This kind of pressure is stifling and mind-numbing, and it creates a kind of tunnel-vision, making the ring appear smaller than it is, seemingly limiting ones options. To any common bystander, it may look baffling as to why a boxer is being hit by punches he should be able to avoid, and oftentimes, it is this pressure that is the cause. In the case of Mayweather, his pressure causes opponents to stand in front of him and fight him at his pace. Rather than using the entire ring, circling with jabs to the head and body, opponents strangely find themselves standing in front of Mayweather, fighting to his strengths, succumbing to hard counter-punches. Oddly, I’ve never known Mayweather to exert all that much pressure, but then again, I’ve never been in the ring with him.

Verdict
It was most likely a combination of all the aforementioned reasons, but how much of each reason is of course subject to debate. Perhaps Mosley over-trained and was fatigued from the blood testing and then found himself powerless against Mayweather’s pressure and became frustrated when he couldn’t crack Mayweather’s defense. Maybe Mosley was just scared of being knocked out. Maybe Mosley traded his dignity for a fat paycheck. Everyone can have their theories, and Mosley can give the answers people want to hear, but no one will ever know for certain what happened behind Mosley’s crystal blue eyes on Saturday night. Do I think Mosley should retire? Perhaps. Do I think Mosley can still win fights? Most certainly. Do I think Mosley can compete with the top echelon of boxers? No, not really. Not unless he wants to find himself on the receiving end of another brutal beatdown.

The bottomline is fight between Mayweather and Mosley was a disappointment on so many different levels. The fans who were expecting a great action fight were left watching a hopelessly one-sided thrashing. Nazim Richardson was left watching his meticulous gameplan unravel in the hands of a fighter unwilling to adhere to the gameplan. Mayweather finally came out of his shell and pressed the offense, only to find his opponent unwilling to fight, resulting in another “boring” Mayweather bout. Mosley’s children watched their father, the once proud warrior, stumble out of the ring, heavy-hearted and with his spirit broken. Possibly, worst of all, Mosley suffered 10 rounds of humiliation and frustration, unable to pull the trigger, unable to put up a decent fight, unable to be himself. Each time Mosley missed a punch or was hit flush with a big right hand, he seemed to shake his head, telling himself to try harder, telling himself he was better than that, refusing to believe that it was time to hang up the gloves. But after 10 humiliating rounds, all Mosley was left with the sixth loss of his career and a deep sense of bitter disappointment.

Mayweather vs Mosley

The upcoming fight between Sugar Shane Mosley (38 y/o, with a record of 46 wins, 39 by knockout, 5 losses, and 1 no contest) and Floyd Mayweather (33 y/o, with a perfect record of 40 wins, 25 by knockout, and no losses) should prove to be interesting. Though Mosley is going into the fight as a 5-1 underdog to the ever popular and confident Mayweather, I believe that it is too soon to count Mosley completely out.

Mosley the Underdog

In January 2009, Mosley was a 4-1 underdog going into his fight with Antonio Margarito who was the WBA Welterweight champion at the time. Margarito was coming off an 11^th round decimation of Miguel Cotto, the same Miguel Cotto that Mosley lost to prior by unanimous decision. Mosley entered the fight, recently hearing about his wife’s decision to file for a divorce and as a 4-1 underdog, but to the surprise of many skeptics and critics, Mosley annihilated Margarito over 8 brutal rounds, pounding the iron-jawed champion with hard shots to the body and vicious hooks upstairs. The fight was stopped by a brutal TKO in the 8^th round, with Mosley becoming the new WBA Welterweight champion, silencing the critics and doubters. He looks to do it again on May 1^st against Floyd Mayweather.

Game plan

In terms of a game plan, Nazim Richardson, Mosley’s trainer who trained him for his fight against Margarito, has alluded to the fact that too many fighters have resided themselves to chasing Mayweather in order to crowd him and turn the fight into a brawl, and that it may not be the best tactic against Mayweather. Jose Luis Castillo, in his first encounter with Mayweather, demonstrated this tactic well and nullified Mayweather’s slick boxing skills by turning the fight into a brawl, with Castillo landing far more power-punches overall than Mayweather. Since then, many fighters have tried to use the same brawling tactic against Mayweather with minimal success. Many fans can remember the bout between Ricky Hatton and Floyd Mayweather where Hatton attempted to press forward and swarm Mayweather, unfortunately falling victim to numerous pop shots and hard counters on his way in. Another bout that may come to mind is the fight between Oscar De La Hoya and Mayweather in which De La Hoya fought well initially, utilizing his good jab. However as the fight progressed, De La Hoya abandoned the game plan was goaded into a brawl, ultimately losing a split decision.

It seems natural to assume that brawling Mayweather is the only way to beat him, as his slick defense and boxing intelligence is superb, allowing him to stand in front of fighters, block or dodge any punches, and in turn land hard counters, lead right hands, and lead left hooks at will. But time and time again, boxers have tried to box Mayweather with mild success and they have tried to brawl Mayweather, more often than not getting torn apart by Mayweather’s perfectly timed counter punches. So how does one go about defeating the defensive master?

Breakdown

In order to get a better assessment of the situation it’s necessary to look at the strengths and weaknesses of the two fighters.

Mosley’s Strengths: good hand speed, power in both hands, good stamina, good chin

Mosley’s Weaknesses: ineffective jab, exposes himself when he throws power shots, in general, keeps his shoulders relaxed and hands a little lower than normal, exposing his chin and temples.

Mayweather’s Strengths: great hand speed, excellent timing, good chin (arguably), great defense

Mayweather’s Weaknesses: Susceptible to straight shots down the pipe.

What Each Fighter Must Do to Win

Mayweather doesn’t really need to do anything in particular to win. He just needs to fight the same way he fights in every fight, relying on his tight defense, well-timed counter punches, leading Mosley into lead left hooks and straight right hands. This is assuming that Mosley fights how he usually does, pawing with his jab to set up his big right hand hand shot, following up with a flurry of hard hooks and straights. While Mosley can box when he wants to, he has been known for approaching his opponent rather straight on, with his gloves low, which adds to his power but also leaves him open for a counter-punch. The big punch to watch out for will most likely be Mayweather’s left hook which is arguably faster than Mosley’s and will probably hit first if both fighters throw at the same time.

Mosley must do much more to win, as no one has ever beaten Mayweather in the ring, so there is no real proven game plan on how to defeat him. In my opinion, Mosley needs keep the fight in the center of the ring (contrary to common belief), and rotate to the left, using a sharp left jab to pepper away at Mayweather. By moving to the left, Mosley will avoid Mayweather’s speedy left hook, and Mayweather will not be in position to throw a good right straight. The jabs serve a dual purpose of scoring points with the judges as well as disrupting Mayweather’s timing. If Mayweather chooses to tighten his guard and fight in the pocket, Mosley can either continue to jab away, or go for some hard body shots. I believe Mosley’s power is strong enough to wear down Mayweather’s guard, but not completely break it, as he did to Margarito. I feel that Mosley needs to concentrate on hitting Mayweather in the body because Mayweather has proven very difficult to hit in the face flush (on the few occasions I’ve seen Mayweather his clean, it is usually while he is moving back or at least stationary, lessening the impact of the blow). Mayweather also received a rib injury during sparring, prior to his last match with Juan Manuel Marquez, and I believe that might indicate that he is not used to taking hard shots to the body. By going downstairs early in the fight, Mosley may be able to slow down Mayweather just a fraction of a second, which is all it takes for him to land a hard left or right hand. Mosley is slightly taller than Mayweather, so his chopping right hand May be able to come down over Mayweather’s elevated left shoulder, but this is an incredibly risky shot, which would leave Mosley wide open to eat a counter right uppercut.

If Mosley opts to take a safer approach, I believe that, rather than going for power shots, Mosley can stay on the outside and pepper away with his longer jabs. While the chances are slim, if Mosley can accurately bait Mayweather into throwing a lead right hand and counter with his own uppercut, he may be able to stun Mayweather just enough to land some good hard shots which is all it takes to turn the tide of the match, as demonstrated in Mosley’s match with Margarito. Despite the fact that Mosley was dominating the action, it wasn’t until he grazed Margarito with a counter uppercut followed by a vicious left and right, that Margarito truly had his fate sealed.

The main things Mosley has to do is keep up his intensity, keeping the fight at his pace, utilize his jab, rotate to the left, mix up body shots and head shots, and not get goaded into a brawl.

Mayweather just needs to do this thing, as usual.

Prediction

If things went ideally for Mosley, I see Mosley beating Mayweather by split decision or unanimous decision, with Mosley taking the first 2 or 3 rounds, Mayweather speeding up and taking the next 4-5, and then Mosley finishing strong.

What will most likely happen is that Mosley will start off sticking to his game plan, catching Mayweather with a couple good shots every round, but it will be Mayweather who will dictate the pace and utilize his defense to land the cleaner, more accurate shots. In the later rounds, Mosley will become frustrated, charging in with his head high, eating counters for the last couple rounds, leading Mayweather to a tough, but unanimous decision victory.