By CompuBox
For two rounds, “Sugar” Shane Mosley posed the two questions boxing fans wanted to have answered for so many years. First, how solid is his chin? Second, how would he react to being pushed toward the edge by a man who rivaled him in size, strength and speed?
For the next 10 rounds, Mayweather gave us his answer.
Like every great artist, the man nicknamed “Money” never strayed from the formula that has delivered him 41 wins in 41 professional fights. Yes, his legs may have buckled but his competitive resolve was rock-solid from beginning to end. After steadying himself, Mayweather proceeded to methodically take Mosley apart with skill and science, and over time his steadfastness to his craft forced Mosley to bend to his will.
The numbers produced by the judges and the CompuBox operators served as confirmation of Mayweather’s mastery. As for the former, Adalaide Byrd and Dave Moretti turned in 119-109 scorecards while Robert Hoyle saw the bout 118-110. As for the latter, it painted an even more dominant picture.
Mayweather, who averaged 39.8 punches per round, went 208 of 477 (44 percent) while limiting Mosley to 37.7 punches per round and 92 of 452 overall (20 percent). Mayweather’s jab landed at a 40 percent rate (85 of 210) to Mosley’s 16 percent (46 of 283), allowing him to land 46 percent of his power shots (123 of 267) against Mosley’s 27 percent (46 of 169).
The opening six minutes of action seemed to portend a night of drama as Mosley achieved a rare level of success against Mayweather’s shell game. Averaging 40.5 punches per round to Mayweather’s 24.5, Mosley piled up connect advantages of 29-18 (overall), 12-8 (jabs) and 17-10 (power).
For whatever reason – whether it was the threat of Mayweather’s counters or Mosley losing his poise at the prospect of scoring a knockout – the moment eventually passed for “Sugar.” When it came time for Mayweather to seize the reins, he made sure he never let go.
Over the final 10 rounds, Mayweather swept all 30 possible CompuBox statistical categories and the margins were staggering. Mayweather piled up bulges of 190-63 (overall connects), 77-34 (jab connects) and 113-29 (power connects). In only one round did Mosley achieve double digits in that span (11 in the sixth) while Mayweather’s lowest number of connects was 14 (round eight). In rounds six and seven alone Mayweather out-landed Mosley 45-17 overall, 20-9 in jabs and 25-8 in power shots, margins that, in effect, cemented his control for the remainder of the fight.
Mayweather’s power-punch accuracy has always been his bread-and-butter. The round-by-round breakdown showed that Mayweather exceeded 40 percent marksmanship nine times, topping off at 69 percent in round six (11 of 16) while Mosley topped 40 percent just twice (rounds two and six). In rounds three and four, Mosley landed a combined 1 of 14 after going 17 of 41 in the first two rounds and from that point forward he never regained the groove.
Mosley landed 13 power shots in round two- then just 29 the rest of the fight!!
The PunchZone figures confirmed the effectiveness of Mayweather’s right as it struck Mosley’s face 76 times, which equaled the number of times his shots hit Mosley’s chin. The left hand landed 39 times to Mosley’s face. Mayweather only hit the body 17 times, of which 13 were produced by the right hand.
As for Mosley his attack – such as it was – was more balanced. Of his 50 head connects, 21 hit Mayweather’s chin while the right hand netted 18 connects and the left 11 hits. Mosley registered 42 connects to the body: 22 to Mayweather’s right side and 20 to his left flank.
Mayweather’s performance only served to intensify the argument as to whether he or Manny Pacquiao is the boxing world’s top pound-for-pound fighter. Only a head-to-head meeting will settle matters beyond dispute and let’s hope both camps find a way to make it happen. If they do, the sport of boxing, its fans, both fighters’ bank accounts and the IRS will be the big winners.
