Sharkie’s Machine: Mayweather’s Dreams And Reality
Floyd Mayweather vs. Victoriano Sosa
(30-0-0-20 KO’s) (35-3-2-26 KO’s)
By Frank Gonzalez Jr.
20.04 - Saturday night at Selland Arena in Fresno Ca., undefeated, “Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather successfully defended his WBC Lightweight Title taking on gamely Dominican, Victoriano Sosa.
There’s no denying it, Floyd can fight. His defensive skills are masterful. The way he uses his shoulder, like a shield that blocks punches is remarkable. His jab is accurate and effective. Whether you like him or not, Mayweather deserves credit for his ability to box, to hit without being hit. Unfortunately, Floyd has hand problems that have forced him to rely more on jabbing and finessing his way to success than by power-punching his way to glorious knockout victories. Floyd is like a modern day Sugar Ray Robinson minus the power and the fan base. But Robinson had a charisma that appealed to fans across the board. Mayweather’s skills far exceed his charm. Other than referring to himself in the third person during interviews, he does seems less arrogant these days.
Victoriano Sosa is a very good Lightweight who came to fight. He wasn’t just some stiff, there to pad Floyd’s record and collect a payday. His best chances against Mayweather would come from his power punches. He had lots of energy and took Floyd’s best shots, showing a good chin. His flashes of aggression made for some entertaining rounds. The problem was that Sosa’s timing wasn’t very good and for all his efforts, Floyd’s defense was a puzzle Victoriano couldn’t solve, hence his accuracy suffered. He only connected on about 20% of his shots, while Floyd was hovering around 55%. Floyd circled and worked behind his stinger-missile jabs most of the night, taking a few rounds off midway into the fight. That was when Sosa won a few rounds. Sosa connected with a few power shots and was busier than Mayweather between the fifth and seventh rounds. By the eighth round, which I scored as even, it was a close fight.
Sosa dominated the action in the ninth and tenth rounds. I wondered if Floyd was starting to get tired since he was doing less at a crossroad of the fight. But he must have been saving his best for last as Floyd took over from the 11th and dominated the seemingly spent Sosa in the 12th to wrap up a UD 12 victory.
Judge’s Scores:
Lou Filippo—119-109
Chuck Hassett—118-110
J. Woodburn—118-110
All for Mayweather.
Sharkie’s Machine -- 116-112 for Mayweather.
(The Punch stats were so unbelievable-- I didn’t bother posting them.)
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Since Mayweather is so highly regarded by the established boxing media, at the top of their ‘Pound for Pound’ (P4P) lists, expectations run high and many probably expect Floyd to overwhelm every opponent since he’s supposedly so great. That is not reality. Like fellow P4P’er Roy Jones Jr., Floyd wins mostly by Decisions. Since moving up to 135 from 130, I expected Mayweather to be a bit more powerful at Lightweight but he’s yet to KO an opponent in the 135-pound division. Was he stronger at Super-Feather or is it his hand problems? Like Jones, Mayweather always wins. But unlike Jones, Floyd takes on much better competition.
Mayweather is more a Technician than a Tiger. He breaks opponents down by process instead of by force. But he can be forceful, as demonstrated by his utter destruction of the dangerous six-foot tall, Diego Corrales. But since Corrales, Mayweather hasn’t won a fight in spectacular fashion but he hasn’t lost either. Floyd’s style of fight may not be as exciting to watch as say, a brawling Ricardo Mayorga knocking out a Vernon Forrest; but if you appreciate the Sweet side of the Sweet Science, you must be impressed with Floyd’s finesse in the ring.
I feel cheated that Floyd never fought Acelino Freitas or Joel Casamayor before exiting the 130 division. Talk about it swirls around but I don’t expect that Freitas people want to risk a loss and all his fame and glory back home in Brazil, where his boxing glory has made him many friends in the advertising industry. Those reasons may be a two-way street.
It’s expected that eventually, Floyd will face IBF Champion, Paul Spadafora or WBA Champion, Leonard Dorin. According to Floyd, neither man wants to fight him.
Most Champions do want to fight the best out there and move towards legendary status. But the people who make those choices are the Promoters and Managers, not the fighters, regardless of what you hear them say during post fight interviews.
When the Managers see a fighter as a ‘meal ticket’ they are afraid take a chance against the best fighters, who might beat their man end their ‘gravy train’ ride. They instead opt to squeeze as many mandatories or safe fights for as long as they can get away with it.
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Floyd talks about future match ups with the likes of Oscar De La Hoya, Ricardo Mayorga and Kostya Tszyu but I can’t see him beating any of those guys any time soon. DLH is too big and too skillful himself, Mayorga is just too vicious (ask Vernon Forrest), and Kostya Tszyu does many things Floyd does only he has big power to do it with. Tszyu might be interesting and if Mayweather is as great as he says he is-- it could be a great fight. The question becomes, when?
In the near future, I’d like to see Mayweather fight Leonard Dorin (WBA), Paul Spadafora (IBF) or Artur Grigorian (WBO) and unify all the titles-- if he’s capable of doing so. If he fights any more non-champions, he should at the least go after Juan Lazcano, ranked #1 by the WBC, or Stevie Johnston, ranked #2, who I always felt Floyd side-stepped in the past. Johnston is probably old enough for Floyd to beat easily these days, if he’s as good as he’s billed to be.
I think Mayweather has the right stuff but is still somewhat unproven, at least in terms of being considered one of the best P4P-ers. Unless of course, being a P4Per means doing what Roy Jones Jr. does-- just winning against lousy opponents-- all the time. If that’s the criteria, Floyd is already ahead of Jones. Mayweather may dream that he’s one of the best P4P fighters, but the reality is that he’s got a lot of hill left to climb. Because having great talent isn’t always synonymous with being the best. You have to put that great talent to the test against the very best before you can toot your own horn in self-proclamation. I’m always wary of guys who talk a bigger game then they fight. I wish Floyd well in his quest.
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Agree or Disagree? Send comments to: dshark87@hotmail.com
