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Mayweather Refuses Mosley, Pacquiao Looms

Feb 12, 2009, 7:40 PM UTC

It’s been a dream match for boxing observers since at least the turn of the millennium, Sugar Shane Mosley vs. Floyd Mayweather, two of the sport’s speed demons and pound-for-pound finest meeting up in a breakneck battle of Fast and Faster. And with Mayweather making noise as to a possible comeback this year combined with Mosley’s return to boxing’s limelight with his recent TKO of Antonio Margarito, many felt that this long-awaited Sugar/Floyd fight actually might happen in 2009.â†µâ†µBut if Richard Schaefer is to be believed, it won’t. Schaefer is the CEO of Golden Boy, Mosley’s promotional company. He reportedly reached out to Mayweather’s people immediately after Mosley’s win over Margarito, and the response he received was quoted today in a Sports Illustrated piece:â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥“I was told by [Mayweather’s manager] Al Haymon that Floyd was not coming out of retirement to fight Shane Mosley,” Schaefer said. “I feel bad for Shane. It’s as if he looked too good in his last fight. It was the best performance of his career and maybe it made some guys not want to face him.”â†µâ†µ

By “some guys,” one can only presume that Schaefer means, “one guy.” Because the other viable candidates in the welterweight division -- Andre Berto, Miguel Cotto, Paul Williams, Josh Clottey -- unquestionably would welcome a fight with Mosley. In that the scheduled Cotto/Margarito rematch for July of ’09 is now off due to Margarito’s year-long suspension, Cotto already has been intimating that between the two likely replacements for the date, Berto and Mosley, he prefers a rematch with Sugar Shane. As for Berto’s interest in Mosley, when it looked like plans for the Mosley/Margarito fight were going to fall through this past December, Berto’s promoter Lou DiBella was practically tripping over himself trying to get Berto the date with Mosley instead.â†µâ†µAnd Paul Williams? Josh Clottey? Those two guys will fight anyone, anywhere. Neither one of them can buy themselves a big right now. Hell, Williams probably would sign the short-end of an 80/20 split just to get in the ring with Mosley at 47.â†µ

â†µâ†µIn other words, it’s only Mayweather who doesn’t want to fight Mosley, and the reason for that couldn’t be more clear. In fact, Floyd probably didn’t even need the evidence of Mosley’s excellence against Margarito to know that he wasn’t going to come out of retirement to face Sugar Shane. â†µ

â†µâ†µEven in his retirement (read: inactivity), Floyd is one of boxing hugest names, and he’s made it clear that he only wants gigantic fights. What that means right now is that as far as he is concerned, there’s Pacquiao and there’s everybody else. A Mayweather/Mosley fight would be a big deal, no doubt, but Money Mayweather is way too concerned about his pocketbook to risk an outing against Shane for what would be a significant but not stratospheric payday. He’s not about to make the mistake that Margarito made, stepping into the ring with Mosley when there is a much bigger fight (in Margarito’s case, a rematch with Cotto) lying in the balance. â†µ

â†µâ†µAt this point, I doubt Floyd will fight anyone other than Pacquiao. In fact, in the unlikely occurrence that Ricky Hatton beats Pacquiao on May 2nd, it’s hard for me to imagine Floyd even bothering to take a Hatton rematch. I think Floyd is at that Sugar Ray Leonard phase of his career right now where it’s going to be the super-double-duper level Hagler fight or nothing, and at the moment, the only person who can bring that kind of bling to the table as an opponent is that mighty Filipino known as Pac Man.â†µ

â†µâ†µAnd if you don’t think that Pacquiao’s team is already eying that Money May-sized money belt, then just get a load of what Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s trainer, told a Filipino news station recently when asked whether Mosley or Mayweather would be more likely as Pacquaio’s next opponent in the event that he beats Hatton. â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥“I think,” Roach said, “the more marketable fight is with Mosley. I think the fans would like to see it.” â†µâ†µReally, Freddie? Really?You think Pacquiao/Mosley is more marketable than Pacquiao/Mayweather? Huh. Coming from such a savvy businessman as yourself, that remark is so absurd as to mean only one thing -- the negotiations for that Pac/Floyd money split are going to be hellacious, and you’re already haggling.â†µ

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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