By James Slater: Will Floyd Mayweather ever fight again? If he does will it be against Manny Pacquiao? Fans have been asking these two questions and a whole bunch of others regarding “Money” for months now. It was this day last year, May 1st, when the legally-troubled 34-year-old superstar last fought. That Las Vegas night, Mayweather came through one of the biggest crisis of his masterful career, as he ate two huge head shots from “Sugar” Shane Mosley in a dramatic 2nd-round.
Mosley is now less than a week away from getting his chance to land the same kind of dynamite on the chin or head (or body) of the reigning P-4-P king. Fans are wondering if Mosley, if he can crack Pac-Man as hard as he did Mayweather, can put Pacquiao down, maybe even keep him there. But other fans – those still optimistic Mayweather Vs. Pacquiao will happen – are wondering what would happen if Pacquiao belted Mayweather the way Mosley did.
One man who asked Manny this exact question personally, is top scribe Mike Marley. In his column on examiner.com, Marley wrote how Pac-Man said this:
“If I can hit Mayweather like that, I will finish him off,” Pacquiao said. “I would continue the attack in a way Mosley did not. I will attack until Mayweather is gone.”
Some fans argue how Pacquiao, with his blinding speed and his southpaw stance, would be able to get the job done against the unbeaten Mayweather. Other fans argue that Floyd’s defensive attributes would be firing on all cylinders in a fight with Pac-Man, and that there would be no defensive lapse the kind we saw a year ago today. Who is right and who is wrong, however, is looking more and more like a question which will never be answered.
Mayweather’s two trials have both been put back again, with July being the new date for the more serious of the two cases. Pacquiao is already looking at his next fight after Mosley as a result; with Mexican great Juan Manuel Marquez reportedly in the frame for a third clash with the global sensation. In the meantime, we have Pacquiao-Mosley, this Saturday. In some ways a poor man’s Pacquiao-Mayweather, Saturday’s fight has nonetheless got fans excited.
Mosley, as he proved against the harder-to-hit Mayweather, always has at least a puncher’s chance. Pacquiao, as he showed against the much bigger Antonio Margarito, is at the peak of his powers. For my money, we will not get to find out whether or not Pac-Man can take the kind of shot that wobbled Mayweather. Mosley, almost 40, will be too slow and unable to pull the trigger. Look for Pacquiao to win a wide, comfortable, one-sided decision this weekend. No doubt Mayweather will be watching!