Mosley Talks Mayweather-Pacquiao and the end of an era

author: Edgar Gomez

On May 2nd the world will finally get the long awaited battle between pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. and 8-division champion Manny Pacquiao.

“Honestly, I think Mayweather is going to edge Pacquiao out with his movement and speed. It’s possible for Pacquiao to knock him out if he catches him, but he isn’t known for that. He has the power to do it though. So you never know. I honestly think the fans are going to be a little let down. Anytime any fight has THIS much hype, its bound to be less exciting than you think,” said Mosley.

The future Hall of Famer does know his stuff and his credentials can’t be denied. Mosley has beaten De la Hoya twice (including once as a 7-1 underdog), knocked out Mayorga with one second to go in the 12th round (never done before), and was the pound for pound best fighter in the world 2001-2002. More recently, many feel he deserved to get the nod in his fight against Cotto, where he landed an equivocal amount of overall punches and significantly more power punches. That doesn’t take into consideration that he did that to a fighter almost a decade his junior.

Mosley has had some notable setbacks and defeats that have left many to call for him to retire. While Mosley fought Pacquiao a mere four months after having surgery on a torn achilles tendon, he didn’t let that (or being in the middle of a nasty divorce) stop the fight. Although when questioned by me about the timing of the fight, he admitted that he wished he had waited.

“I had been waiting a long time for that fight. It’s one of the highest paying fights I have had. Even hurt its not easy to turn down that kind of money. I do wish I had been able to fight him a year later so I could have had my legs under me, but we can’t cry over spilled milk. Can we?” He joked.

The one fighter we haven’t had the opportunity to see exchange leather with Mosley is fellow legend Juan Manuel Marquez.

“Mayweather-Pacquiao is going to be a great fight,” said Mosley, circling back to the upcoming super fight. “Looking back, I fought both of them, Oscar twice and I’ve also fought Cotto. Hatton is retired but I never got to Marquez. I am not sure why that fight didn’t happen. There are a lot of critics out there who say I am washed up but the fact is I was injured in a lot of my recent fights. Had those gone differently you may have gotten to see a real brawl between me and Marquez,” Mosley joked as he punched the air with a fury of blows.

This really got me thinking. What is one of the great missing fights we never got to see, but still could? Marquez has proven that he is still at the top of his game with his domination of Mike Alvarado in his last fight. He’s 41 and Mosley is 43 so it should be an even fight. This missing fight has left a lot of fans asking how can a fighter with this much heart quit, when he clearly has so much to give to the sport? What would it take to get Mosley back in the ring for one last fight?

“I have few regrets. The only reason I would get back in the ring is to give the fans the fight they should have gotten a long time ago. That or getting back in the ring with Mayweather or Pacquio, uninjured of course. Other than that I have no regrets, and I don’t need to take anymore fights. The fans make it all worth it to be honest. While there are a few haters, mostly I just feel the love from the fans.” Mosley stated.

With all of the recent talk about Mosley’s ex-wife taking his belts in the divorce, maybe all Mosley needs to get back in the ring is the right opportunity. If we think about it logically we probably haven’t seen what Mosley really can do against three of the best fighters today. The nasty divorce that spanned from before the Mayweather fight until after the fight against Pacquiao and the serious injuries he suffered had to have at least played a small role in some of his setbacks.
When asked possibly facing Marquez, Mosley, who holds the record for the largest crowd ever at Staples Center when he knocked Antonio Margarito out in 2009, feels the downtown LA venue would have been the perfect location for a Marquez-Mosley fight.

“I’m from Pomona and all of my local fans would definitely come out to support and I know Marquez has a lot of fans in LA as well. It would be a huge event like when 20,820 fans watched me beat Margarito. That is one fight I regret not making happen.” Mosley stated.

Mosley-Marquez is the missing fight that the fans haven’t gotten a chance to see. Marquez has been at the top of his game for a long time and surely he would relish the opportunity to face a fighter who is older than he is. Maybe Top Rank should hedge their bets against the Mayweather-Pacquiao match with a Marquez-Mosley clash. It’s hard to not root for a guy like Mosley and who wouldn’t want to see him get a shot at another belt and to face another legend from his era? After a career like his, he deserves at least that much.