The defeat of Mosley at 38, is no surprise, his plan of an early knockout of Mayweather in the early rounds did not materialize.
Though he staggered Mayweather in the second round with a big right hand, it was not enough to put Mayweather down. It should have been a series of combination and follow ups, but sadly the speed and the ring generalship of which Mosley is known for was no longer there.
His speed and his domineering assault is already overtaken by time and his performance is below par of what was expected of him. At mid rounds it was obvious that he had already lost his steam and he never made an adjustment to his game plan all throughout the fight.
It was obvious that his spirit is more than willing but his body is weak and can’t do anything for that moment to turn the tide in his favor.
With that scenario, it has flashed back to me the memories of the past between Ali-Holmes bout, Holmes at that time was in his prime and the undefeated heavyweight champion but in his engagement with Ali, Ali seemed to be helpless in countering those crisp jab assault by Holmes thrown at him. Holmes won by TKO on the ninth round. Ali then was 38.
On the other hand, Mayweather quickness and his easy adjustment after round 2, was the key to Mayweather’s victory. After probably assessing that Mosley cannot come up with a series of combination to put him down in round 2, Mayweather has made the necessary adjustment as an aggressor instead of his usual self employing his guerrilla tactics strategy. Most probably at the back of Mayweather’s mind, that Mosley has nothing more to offer after that round.
Now, that Mayweather has defeated Mosley, is it not fair, that it is now high time for Mayweather to show to the world that his skill is not only defeating the washed up or smaller good guys? He must understand that to be called undisputed champion or retaining that legacy of 4p4 best in the world or a fighter of the decade at that, he needs to be explosive and take the risk of fighting the remaining best in his own division. He must show to the world that he is indeed a warrior, a credible champion and not a cherry picker or a ducker that he’s known for.
To be called or even considered the greatest of all time he should heed and follow the legacy of those great fighters before him. No Issues, No Alibis, No Scripting of whom to fight, but only Fight the Best of what is laid on their table and that is the essence of greatness of a true boxing champion.
