By David P. Greisman and Thomas Gerbasi

DAVID P. GREISMAN: First, there is talk. Then, there is waiting. Finally, there is action.

That’s the sequence for every highly anticipated bout, from the point a fight is floated to the day it is signed until the night the two boxers get into the ring.

Some matches take this to the extreme.

It took 17 years for Roy Jones and Bernard Hopkins to have their rematch. It’s taken more than 10 years since talk began of Shane Mosley and Floyd Mayweather Jr. facing off.

While it is far later than desired, Mosley and Mayweather are neither as old nor as deteriorated as Jones and Hopkins. Mosley, 38, is 46-5 with 39 knockouts and is the lineal welterweight champion. Mayweather, 33, is 40-0 with 25 knockouts, undefeated former lineal welterweight champion. Never mind all the accomplishments each had in other divisions.

Time does matter, though. Ten years ago I still had hair and still had college girls lusting after me. Ten years ago, Mosley was 28 and weeks away from winning the welterweight championship, and Mayweather was 23 and running through the 130-pound division.

Time does matter. What will the passage of time mean when Mayweather and Mosley meet?

THOMAS GERBASI: Hey David, don’t threaten me with talk of Hopkins-Jones II. If you do, I might just have to keep my finger from the remote when ordering time approaches on Saturday night. Aw, who am I kidding? I actually bought Buster Douglas vs Lou Savarese on PPV years back, so I guess I’m all in for this one.

Not that we’re getting a particularly compelling undercard for our money this weekend – shocking, I know, but while Saul Alvarez-Jose Miguel Cotto, Hector Saldivia-Said Ouali, and Daniel Ponce De Leon-Cornelius Lock may be interesting for a few rounds, I think it’s safe to say that the winners will all be from the left side of the matchup ledger. It’s precisely why I will be hitting the roller derby bout between the Bronx Gridlock and the Brooklyn Bombshells in NYC at 6:30pm on Saturday, which should get me home right in time for the main event, which is all we should really care about at this point.

With the Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather bout hitting the skids, Mosley vs Mayweather is the biggest fight boxing can make right now, and I’m just glad that I’ll be able to watch it from the comfort of my couch. It’s nights like these that remind you why you’re a boxing fan in the first place, and regardless of how the fight eventually ends up, before that bell rings you’re gonna have butterflies in your stomach and for the next 50 minutes or so, you’re going to be on the edge of your seat waiting to see what’s going to happen next.

So what is going to happen at the MGM Grand Garden Arena this weekend? I think whether you’re in the Mosley or Mayweather corner, you would agree that Mosley is going to push Mayweather like no one else has. Yes, Jose Luis Castillo and Emmanuel Augustus both made Mayweather fight to a certain extent, but given Mosley’s speed and aggressiveness, it’s going to be a different type of pressure. But before I give a prediction, let me tell you the two factors which could upset the applecart and set the stage for an upset win for Mosley (and as much as I’ve been a Mosley loyalist since his days as lightweight champion, he is the underdog here).

First, since I mentioned the lightweight days when Mosley first made his mark on the pound-for-pound list, let’s go back and put out collective finger on the one thing that made him special back then. It wasn’t his speed, his power, or his love of the game. It was his body punching. Mosley was a vicious body puncher and that one aspect of his game set him apart from all his peers at 135 pounds, and even those above and below him. Yet as he rose up in weight, the body attack virtually disappeared, only making sporadic appearances. When I asked him about it, he said that when dealing with the bigger (read taller) fighters in the welterweight and junior middleweight divisions, he had to adjust because every time he would go to the body, he wound up hitting elbows. Against Mayweather, Mosley will have a one-inch height advantage – not a lot, but perhaps enough to bring back the body attack, which may, in turn, slow Mayweather down and make him a more stationary target once the fight hits the later rounds.  It’s something that bears looking at.

Second, if Mosley, as predicted, forces Mayweather to fight, or at least to get into a firefight or three, Mayweather’s brittle hands may come into play. If you watch the early Floyd Mayweather, he would stand in the pocket, make you miss, and then fire off a blistering combination that was a joy to watch. In recent years, he can still stand in the pocket and make you miss, but his retort will usually be one punch followed by a retreat. And that’s not due to a sudden lack of desire – it’s probably because any sustained offensive assault will involve a broken hand or two. So if Mosley can rush him and get him into exchanges, can Mayweather’s hands survive?

Two interesting points in my eyes, and one’s which could decide the fight. How do you see it, David?

GREISMAN: Tom, I’ve been on this kick lately where all I can seemingly talk about is hand speed and foot speed. Floyd Mayweather Jr. has significant advantages in both categories, and both categories will lead him to take a unanimous decision over Shane Mosley.

This is where age plays a factor. Back in 2003, Mosley struggled with the movement and boxing that Oscar De La Hoya employed in their rematch, landing only 94 punches on the night (less than 8 per round) and only 127 punches total (about 10.5 per round). When it comes to movement and boxing, Oscar De La Hoya in 2003 does not hold a candle to Floyd Mayweather Jr., even Mayweather version 2010.

Back in 2007, Mosley appeared to be slower to the punch than Miguel Cotto – Mosley blamed that loss on his not expecting Cotto to box. Cotto’s hand speed doesn’t compare to Mayweather’s.

Perhaps I’m judging too much on the past. I do understand that styles make fights. But what Mosley showed me physically in those fights back then makes me wonder how he compares in these physical categories now. Mosley’s fought just twice since that Cotto bout, and he hasn’t fought since January 2009. That’s 15 months, and that’s far too long for a 38-year-old fighter whose prime is past.

Mosley is hittable. Mayweather will be able to hit him, and Mayweather will be able to avoid being hit. He has far more left at 33 than Mosley does at 38. And unlike De La Hoya and Cotto, Mayweather will not fade down the stretch.

Mosley’s definitely the proverbial “white hat” to Mayweather’s “black hat.” There will be people who will be cheering for him to win. There will be people cheering for him to win just because that’d mean Mayweather would lose.

Either they’re going to be disappointed, or I’m going to be wrong. I don’t think I’m going to be wrong. What do you think, Tom?

GERBASI: You’re not wrong, and if you are, then I am too. So gun to the head, I’ll say what I’ve been saying as soon as this fight was announced and that’s that I’ll be rooting for Mosley and picking Mayweather. And until that unanimous decision is announced in Pretty Boy Floyd’s favor, I think we’re gonna see a fight. That’s a good thing – for Mayweather and for boxing, because I’m not buying the whole “fighting for a paycheck” persona the Las Vegan is throwing out on 24/7. I think that behind the mouth, Mayweather’s a fighter, and that when pushed, he will fight back. Speed won’t be a factor, the trainers won’t be a factor, and age won’t be a factor. This one is going to be determined by who wants it more, and I think on Saturday night, it’s going to be Floyd. Mayweather W12.