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With Shane Mosley facing the sport's pound-for-pound #1 fighter Manny Pacquiao, few people, if any, are actually predicting a Mosley upset. Now there are a variety of upsets; you have minor upsets where the slight underdog wins by a close decision, you have dramatic upsets of different degrees with unexpected performances from the underdog, unexpected TKO's, KO's, you have upsets where nobody could've predicted (and you did, you were deemed crazy...Pacquiao/De la Hoya).
Shane Mosley is taking Manny Pacquiao this next Saturday and, while there's truth that Mosley is the underdog and hasn't looked good in his past fights, you can't count him completely out. This isn't a fight like Cotto/Gómez, De la Hoya/Gatti, Mayweather/Hatton...fights where the fight followed the script because it was completely obvious what would happen and these opponents stood next to no chance to win the fight.
And while it is true that Mosley has looked like a shell of his former self in his past two fights, you have to wonder how much of the perception people currently hold to him has to do with his fight with Mayweather. And from someone who honestly predicted that the fight would be one sided, it came out as I saw that. I never predicted that wallop of a punch he landed on Mayweather, but that it would be one-sided...yeah.
As for the Mora fight, he looked terrible though a portion of it had to do with Mora's constant backpedaling. Mosley tried to press the action but wound up looking visibly tired down the stretch for someone who's going forward rather than backward. Additionally, it's a erroneous to sometimes make the connection that just because someone has a very, very low knockout percentage, he/she has a chin as good as his KO percentage. Mora hasn't been stopped, so to think Mosley would look terrific is otherwise wishful thinking on our part.
Having said this, let me get to the point I'm trying to make. I still think Mosley DOES have a puncher's chance against Pacquiao, and when I say that, that's ALL HE HAS. His best punches are the leaping left hook and that monster right hand which, interestingly enough, is a southpaw's greatest vulnerability.
Statistics don't lie and that is what you should look at prior to a fight. If anyone had taken a moment to look at Mayweather's past fights and his connect percentage against opponents and how his opponents' connect percentage and compare it with Mosley's, you would've seen how Mayweather had Mosley pegged from the start.
This was the same affair with Pacquiao/Margarito. People said it would be a one-sided beatdown (and it was), but Margarito would have his moments because Pacquiao (no matter how dominant he is in fights) is shown to take punches much more than Mayweather. Pacquiao is lightning fast, throws accurate combinations, has fearsome power, and has amazing footwork but BECAUSE OF HIS STYLE, HE GETS HIT FAIRLY OFTEN.
BOTTOM LINE: Mosley has a puncher's chance, but that's it. Mosley cannot box because he can't against someone that quick. Could Pacquiao walk into a bomb? Sure. But Mosley will not win more than 2 rounds. He either wins big with a huge hail mary shot or fizzles out down the stretch. Mosley will not be in a close competitive fight. And even if Mosley looks good and makes it to the final bell, Pacquiao gets the decision, no way will the politics of boxing allow someone as Mosley compromise any slither of hope there is to make Mayweather/Pacquiao, even if that fight is almost dead.
How the years fly by...
Shane Mosley is taking Manny Pacquiao this next Saturday and, while there's truth that Mosley is the underdog and hasn't looked good in his past fights, you can't count him completely out. This isn't a fight like Cotto/Gómez, De la Hoya/Gatti, Mayweather/Hatton...fights where the fight followed the script because it was completely obvious what would happen and these opponents stood next to no chance to win the fight.
And while it is true that Mosley has looked like a shell of his former self in his past two fights, you have to wonder how much of the perception people currently hold to him has to do with his fight with Mayweather. And from someone who honestly predicted that the fight would be one sided, it came out as I saw that. I never predicted that wallop of a punch he landed on Mayweather, but that it would be one-sided...yeah.
As for the Mora fight, he looked terrible though a portion of it had to do with Mora's constant backpedaling. Mosley tried to press the action but wound up looking visibly tired down the stretch for someone who's going forward rather than backward. Additionally, it's a erroneous to sometimes make the connection that just because someone has a very, very low knockout percentage, he/she has a chin as good as his KO percentage. Mora hasn't been stopped, so to think Mosley would look terrific is otherwise wishful thinking on our part.
Having said this, let me get to the point I'm trying to make. I still think Mosley DOES have a puncher's chance against Pacquiao, and when I say that, that's ALL HE HAS. His best punches are the leaping left hook and that monster right hand which, interestingly enough, is a southpaw's greatest vulnerability.
Statistics don't lie and that is what you should look at prior to a fight. If anyone had taken a moment to look at Mayweather's past fights and his connect percentage against opponents and how his opponents' connect percentage and compare it with Mosley's, you would've seen how Mayweather had Mosley pegged from the start.
This was the same affair with Pacquiao/Margarito. People said it would be a one-sided beatdown (and it was), but Margarito would have his moments because Pacquiao (no matter how dominant he is in fights) is shown to take punches much more than Mayweather. Pacquiao is lightning fast, throws accurate combinations, has fearsome power, and has amazing footwork but BECAUSE OF HIS STYLE, HE GETS HIT FAIRLY OFTEN.
BOTTOM LINE: Mosley has a puncher's chance, but that's it. Mosley cannot box because he can't against someone that quick. Could Pacquiao walk into a bomb? Sure. But Mosley will not win more than 2 rounds. He either wins big with a huge hail mary shot or fizzles out down the stretch. Mosley will not be in a close competitive fight. And even if Mosley looks good and makes it to the final bell, Pacquiao gets the decision, no way will the politics of boxing allow someone as Mosley compromise any slither of hope there is to make Mayweather/Pacquiao, even if that fight is almost dead.
How the years fly by...
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