by Geoffrey Ciani: Ever since the mega bout between Shane Mosley and Floyd Mayweather Junior was officially announced, the guests from On the Ropes Boxing Radio have shared their views on this contest. Here is what some of our most recent guests, including some of the top trainers and best fighters, have had to say:
Devon Alexander
Episode 63
“Oh man, that fight can go either way, but you know one thing—Shane is going to make Mayweather fight more than what Mayweather wants to do because Mayweather’s the type of fighter now that he just wants to win and he doesn’t want to take any chances. Shane’s going to make him take chances.”
Andre Berto
Episode 68
“Realistically, I think Floyd is going to outpoint him. I see that at the beginning of the fight, Shane Mosley is going to be there and he’s going to impose his will, he’s going to impose his strength and the speed, but I think after a couple of rounds Floyd will pretty much figure him out once Shane slows down a little. That’s when Floyd is really going to get into his rhythm and start picking him apart a little bit and just do what he does and come out with the victory..”
Roger Bloodworth
Episode 69
“I think it’s going to be a very interesting fight because Mosley is a little bigger fighter, body wise as far as his body composition, and I think that Floyd is probably the quicker of the two although Mosley has very fast hands also. I have to give the edge to Floyd, though, because he’s a defensive type fighter and he likes to have people attacking him and I believe Mosley is going to attack him so I think I might give the edge to him but I think it’s a very close fight.”
Eddie Chambers
Episode 58
“Shane is a strong, tough guy who comes to win every night and he goes for the knockout, so you never know, but right now I’m looking at Floyd probably by a close decision.”
Kermit Cintron
Episode 59
“It’s going to be a great fight. It’s two guys who are really, really smart in the ring. They’re both legends as fighters and great champions, as well. It’s going to be a tough fight for both fighters. I guess it’s going to be whoever the smarter fighter is that night and right now—I have Mayweather. I think he has the edge just because of the youth and because he’s really smart with great defense.”
Carl Froch
Episode 67
“Shane Mosley possesses quite a lot of punching power and is still skillful but he’s in his twilight years. He’s pretty much hanging on to a career that finished a few years ago. Mayweather’s still up there with the best of them. He’s pound for pound the best fighter, even better than Manny Pacquiao who everybody is raving about over here. I see that fight going for Floyd Mayweather, I really do.”
Robert Guerrero
Episode 70
“Man, I’m just looking for a great fight. I can’t wait. That’s going to be an exciting fight. It’s a pick’em fight. They’re both ready to go. Shane Mosley is a quick handed power puncher and he is one of those hurky-jerky guys where he can get in and make stuff happen. You look at a Floyd Mayweather, where he’s a master in the ring and he dictates the fight. When he fights his fight, he is tough to beat. That’s one of those guys where he is tough to beat and I really look at it as a pick’em fight. It all matters who’s on their game that night. I just can’t wait to see a good fight. I would like to see Shane take it so we can have another rematch. It would be great for boxing to see these guys fight a few times.”
Bernard Hopkins
Episode 66
“See, me and Roy Jones are the big names from the legendary point of view like Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson playing a one-on-one tomorrow—I think you would watch that if it was coming on TV just for the hell of it. But I think when you talk about Sugar Shane Mosley and Floyd Mayweather based on the soap opera events that took place with him and Pacquiao, that is Floyd. Shane Mosley’s been the guy on the outside looking in. They’re not doing him any favors. Shane Mosley, as you watch him fight or watch Floyd fight and watch me literally push Shane Mosley into the interview upsetting Max Kellerman and the whole Floyd Mayweather under the lights, under what he wants to say to the public and not really say what he’s going to say to Shane when the cameras were off. But Bernard was up to his old tricks again and I pulled a rabbit out of the hat to get a buzz going on. Now I don’t want to take credit for the fight getting made because it didn’t get made based and predicated just on that. That was just neighborhood talk. That was just the media and the people talking about how ballsy it was, but the thing that strikes the whole situation is, I will be in camp helping Shane, I will be in there after me and Nazim take care of our business next week, but at the end of the day I told Shane—they’re not doing you any favors, they needed you. Isn’t it ironic that you were outside begging—literally begging. A future Hall of Famer Sugar Shane Mosley who fought everybody—the dangerous Vernon Forrest rest his soul, Winky Wright who was twice as big as he is, and this man had to beg to be part of whether it’s Pacquiao he fights or whether it’s Mayweather he fights. I’ll say this, and I know I’m being long winded but I got to go a little bit religious here on you—I plan, you plan, she plans, they plan, HBO plans, Oscar plans, everybody’s got plans. Fine, but at the end of the day whoever you believe and whatever you call him or it, at the end of the day it doesn’t have to be sanctioned until it’s sanctioned and now Sugar Shane Mosley has the opportunity that he wanted come May 1. I repeat again, I tell Shane Mosley not to be nasty, not to be ‘Oh, you’re my friends and you’re laughing now’ because it’s a big fight that Mayweather needs because Pacquiao got his over with, they need you buddy. And guess what—win the fight, and they need you even more. And he will win. He will win.”
Wladimir Klitschko
Episode 68
“Well, to be honest with you I would love to see Floyd Mayweather against Manny Pacquiao. I would love to see that fight. I know I’m not really answering your question, but I think that fight would be really exciting. That’s what I’m looking forward to. Who’s going to win in this fight between Mayweather and Mosley? I think, yeah, well…each of them could lose or could win. Am I really excited about this fight? It could be a good fight, but Pacquiao-Mayweather could be a better fight.”
Floyd Mayweather Sr.
Episode 70
“I think Sugar Shane would be more of a challenge, I should say, then the other guys. I just think that Sugar Shane would be the ideal fight for my son to fight. We’ve been talking about rough and tough and all this stuff, but at the end of the day I look for my son to be prepared with Shane because Shane don’t have no defense for one thing. That’s one thing that’s going to take the cloth off of Shane. He don’t have no defense, and if you don’t have defense and I don’t care how good you fight, if you don’t have defense you get hit and you get beat up. So my thing with Shane is that I think he’s going to get beat up. That’s what I think is going to happen. Floyd’s faster and he’s smarter, by far. He’s gifted. Shane is definitely stronger, he’s going to come to fight but coming to fight with no defense—you get beat up! What’s my prediction? Let me put it to you like this. You know they’re doing this thing on HBO so I’m going to tell you like this: I want everyone to know, right here on HBO, this fight will not go past eleven, and you heard this first from Floyd Mayweather Senior on 24/7. Sugar Shane is going to get busted up.””
Roger Mayweather
Episode 70
“The fight will wind up that Mayweather will win a unanimous decision over Shane Mosley. That’s what I truly believe. I didn’t say that he was going to knock Shane Mosley out. I never said that. I don’t even know if Shane Mosley could be knocked out to be honest. So I can’t say he’s going to knock him out because he’s been in with guys who hit much harder than my nephew, but I truly believe that my nephew will outbox him skill-wise, and I believe skills pay the bills.”
Nazim Richardson
Episode 69
“I see Shane Mosley getting his hand raised in this particular fight. That’s why I signed on for the project. If I didn’t feel that way, I wouldn’t be involved in the project and I’ve turned projects down where I just didn’t feel like I could tell a guy anything that would get him past that athlete, so I see Shane Mosley having his hand raised.”
Freddie Roach
Episode 60
“I think it’s a great fight. Shane’s been after that fight for a long time, but I do feel that Mayweather will win the fight. Shane’s my friend and when I can’t bet with my heart I bet with skills, and I think Shane does well with Mexican type of style fighters because that’s what he grew up with in L.A. and guys that come forward he does very well with, but he does have trouble with speed and he has trouble with people who move like Mayweather and I think Mayweather will outscore him. It’s a very competitive fight, and it’s great to see that fight happening and hopefully the winner of this fight will fight the winner of Pacuqio-Clottey. It would be a great match-up.”
Ronnie Shields
Episode 69
““Well you know what, I’m so happy that the fight is finally going to happen. I really think it’s going to be a good exciting twelve round fight and I believe it’s going to go the distance, but I just see Floyd Mayweather being just a little bit too slick for Shane Mosley. Shane is a really good fighter. People try to compare what he did with Antonio Margarito who was a slow fighter and doesn’t have a lot of speed but comes right to you and is going to stand right there with you, but if you know Floyd Mayweather he’s not going to do that. Floyd has great defense and he has even better offense so I think he’s going to put Shane in a position he hasn’t been in since Vernon Forrest. He’s going to hit him and he’s going to hurt him and he’s going to hit him over and over and over and I just don’t think Shane has the capabilities right now, being 38 years old, of being able to keep up with a younger Floyd Mayweather.”
Emanuel Steward
Episode 65
“I have Mosley and Mayweather a dead even fight. The one good thing is that Shane is, first of all, to me is the first really live physical match-up fight that I think that really that Floyd has fought in about five or six years. I mean I looked at (Arturo) Gatti—I’m not trying to knock Gatti—Gatti was a good fight when he fought another brawler or another guy on his level who was exciting, but anytime he stepped up and fought class boxers he always lost because he could never deal with intelligent fighters. Oscar, you know, fights with Floyd and I cannot believe how he fought such a fight not using his talent, but nevertheless, people forget it was a split decision because Oscar was still just tall enough to use the jab in the early part and that bothered Floyd because Floyd’s defense of just rolling his shoulders and bending back is okay if you got small guys, but guys who have long enough arms to reach over and hit him he had to really fight with them and that was only a split decision. Shane matches up with him in size as a full welterweight and also Shane has good speed—maybe not as fast as Floyd but there’s not that much of a disparity. I think the intensity and the challenge that Shane brings into this fight is going to make Floyd Mayweather show his greatness or he could totally be dominated and look very inferior. He won’t be anywhere in between, he’ll go to one extreme or the other and I think that Shane may be the dark horse so to say in this whole situation because he could easily be a big threat and possibly beat Floyd and (Manny) Pacquiao. Shane is an old school fighter who fights with a lot of intensity, has speed, has shown a good chin and he’s going to be very well prepared. I just think that this is going to be maybe one of the best fights in a long time but I think this is the fight that will make Floyd Mayweather show his greatness or show his weakness—because he won’t be in between. He must fight in this fight.”
Winky Wright
Episode 57
“Do I think Shane can beat him? Yes, I think Shane can beat him. Shane’s got the speed to deal with him, Shane’s got the power to deal with him, and Shane’s a smart fighter. A lot of times Floyd may fight a fighter that’s fast but can’t punch, or a fighter that can punch but is not fast. So Shane got all of that, but Floyd is a very talented and smart fighter, so just because you got the skills to beat him, you still got to get in there and execute.”
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Be sure to tune in to the Mayweather-Mosley post-fight edition of On the Ropes Boxing Radio which starts Sunday May 2 at 1:30am Eastern Standard Time.
Be sure to tune in!
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