So there was quite a big fight that took place in Las Vegas last night. Undefeated 'Prettyboy' Floyd Mayweather took on fans champ 'Sugar' Shane Mosley.
Mosley has built a legacy by taking on the champs at their best and losing a few, but winning a lot of them and making a LOT of fans in the process. He had 4 defeats going into the fight compared to Mayweather's unblemished record.
It was by far the biggest fight of the year so far and the MGM Grand was packed.
Floyd started well, keeping his distance and nicked the 1st round with a few jabs. However in the 2nd round the fight came alive!
Mosley caught Floyd and had him hanging onto the midriff of his older opponent. The ref split them and Mosely caught Floyd again with a right hook to the side of the head. Floyds legs buckled and he looked to have taken a knee, but amazingly he caught himself just before touching the canvas and managed to stay on his feet.
The crowd were deafening sensing that their hero was on the verge of a career defining victory and forcing what could be a career ending defeat for Mayweather.
However somehow, implausibly (but not impossibly) Floyd stayed up and covered, ran and clung on till the end of the round.
It seemed that Sugar Shane had missed his chance as Floyd had managed to see out what was probably the toughest moment of his professional career. In the 3rd round, normal service was resumed and Floyds superior speed and amazing counter attacking style prevailed.
His pride had clearly been hurt when he was forced to cling on in the 2nd round and he came out swinging in the 3rd round. Never had Floyd been so aggressive early on in a fight. But he had weathered the storm and was now back on top; it seemed Mosley was back to square one trying to find any chink in the armour of possibly the most able fighter of his generation.
As the fight progressed Mayweather kept control, comfortably winning every round from then on. Mosley was a beaten man well before the fighters embraced at the final bell. Probably a lesser fighter would have been pulled out of the fight around round 8 or 9 when it was clear he could offer nothing in response to Mayweathers superiority. However he soldiered on and even managed a final challenge in the dying seconds of the fight as Floyd was forced onto the ropes and had to cover up and swing a few punches of his own to fend off the wounded animal.
But fend them off he did and he was declared the victor by a unanimous decision. Two judges giving Mosley only a single round and the other judge, perhaps sympathetically, giving him two.
And so Floyd's legacy continues. Undefeated now and at age 33 his speed and skills still look on top of the world. However there is just one questionmark that remains for Floyd and that is in the shape of a little bearded Filipino.
Manny Pacquio is the only other fighter who can lay claim to being the top fighter in the world. He has ended the careers of two fan favourites; Oscar de la Hoya and Ricky Hatton as well as pummeling an aging Miguel Cotto for 12 rounds last year.
Following last night's fight, Floyd was obviously asked about the Pacquio fight. However stuck to his party line that Manny must agree to blood testing right up until the fight. This really is a big big shame as I think it is clear that Floyd does not want to fight Manny and fears his legacy would be blemished in a contest with a younger and potentially quicker opponent.
Manny has agreed to Olympic style drug testing which would include a blood test 30 days before and straight after the fight. Surely if it is good enough for the Olympics it is good enough for Boxing, which doesn't have the tarnished reputation of other sports such as Cycling and Athletics where there are still high profile doping scandals breaking every year.
I think whatever happens it is clear that it is Floyd who is running scared and creating unreasonable barriers to making the fight that everyone wants to see and would surely be the highest earning and potentially most watched fight ever.
Lets just hope the fight can take place this year, before there is a suggestion that either boxer is a spent force or not on top of his game.
Mosley has built a legacy by taking on the champs at their best and losing a few, but winning a lot of them and making a LOT of fans in the process. He had 4 defeats going into the fight compared to Mayweather's unblemished record.
It was by far the biggest fight of the year so far and the MGM Grand was packed.
Floyd started well, keeping his distance and nicked the 1st round with a few jabs. However in the 2nd round the fight came alive!
Mosley caught Floyd and had him hanging onto the midriff of his older opponent. The ref split them and Mosely caught Floyd again with a right hook to the side of the head. Floyds legs buckled and he looked to have taken a knee, but amazingly he caught himself just before touching the canvas and managed to stay on his feet.
The crowd were deafening sensing that their hero was on the verge of a career defining victory and forcing what could be a career ending defeat for Mayweather.
However somehow, implausibly (but not impossibly) Floyd stayed up and covered, ran and clung on till the end of the round.
It seemed that Sugar Shane had missed his chance as Floyd had managed to see out what was probably the toughest moment of his professional career. In the 3rd round, normal service was resumed and Floyds superior speed and amazing counter attacking style prevailed.
His pride had clearly been hurt when he was forced to cling on in the 2nd round and he came out swinging in the 3rd round. Never had Floyd been so aggressive early on in a fight. But he had weathered the storm and was now back on top; it seemed Mosley was back to square one trying to find any chink in the armour of possibly the most able fighter of his generation.
As the fight progressed Mayweather kept control, comfortably winning every round from then on. Mosley was a beaten man well before the fighters embraced at the final bell. Probably a lesser fighter would have been pulled out of the fight around round 8 or 9 when it was clear he could offer nothing in response to Mayweathers superiority. However he soldiered on and even managed a final challenge in the dying seconds of the fight as Floyd was forced onto the ropes and had to cover up and swing a few punches of his own to fend off the wounded animal.
But fend them off he did and he was declared the victor by a unanimous decision. Two judges giving Mosley only a single round and the other judge, perhaps sympathetically, giving him two.
And so Floyd's legacy continues. Undefeated now and at age 33 his speed and skills still look on top of the world. However there is just one questionmark that remains for Floyd and that is in the shape of a little bearded Filipino.
Manny Pacquio is the only other fighter who can lay claim to being the top fighter in the world. He has ended the careers of two fan favourites; Oscar de la Hoya and Ricky Hatton as well as pummeling an aging Miguel Cotto for 12 rounds last year.
Following last night's fight, Floyd was obviously asked about the Pacquio fight. However stuck to his party line that Manny must agree to blood testing right up until the fight. This really is a big big shame as I think it is clear that Floyd does not want to fight Manny and fears his legacy would be blemished in a contest with a younger and potentially quicker opponent.
Manny has agreed to Olympic style drug testing which would include a blood test 30 days before and straight after the fight. Surely if it is good enough for the Olympics it is good enough for Boxing, which doesn't have the tarnished reputation of other sports such as Cycling and Athletics where there are still high profile doping scandals breaking every year.
I think whatever happens it is clear that it is Floyd who is running scared and creating unreasonable barriers to making the fight that everyone wants to see and would surely be the highest earning and potentially most watched fight ever.
Lets just hope the fight can take place this year, before there is a suggestion that either boxer is a spent force or not on top of his game.
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