Writing the Pine

AP Photo/Jae C. Hong

It was dubbed the fight of the year – the fight that would be the biggest threat to Floyd Mayweather’s undefeated career.

Instead, Saturday night just another walk in the park for the man who calls himself “Money.” We saw a different side of Mayweather, however, during his destruction of “Sugar” Shane Mosley. While we’re used to seeing Floyd’s defensive wizardry, he showcased an offensive attack no one really knew he had.

Except Naazim Richardson.

In the beginning of the second episode of 24/7, Mosley’s trainer gave his take on Mayweather:

Well, we can clearly see that he’s a safety first guy man. You know what I mean? But to get to this level, I think you have to be complete in all areas. It’s just what areas you apply more to than others. Most people that aren’t Mayweather fans, they consider him to be a pure pawn. (I’m not sure this is the word he used. It’s hard to make out and the closed captioning skipped it.) They just consider him to be an out-and-out coward. He’s a talented coward the way they see it. You know what I mean? And I disagree with that. I mean, I think this kid can rumble. I think this kid will stand in there and rumble a little bit.

From this quote, we see that Richardson is way smarter than any of us boxing fans/critics/pundits/analysts. He was right in basically saying everyone thinks Floyd just plays defense all match long. But he also recognized that you don’t become an all-time great by being a one-dimensional fighter. It’s interesting to point out also that in the scene before that quote, Richardson was watching tape of Mayweather with the rest of the crew and he joked about how Floyd’s matches are boring and they should play clips of him hitting the pads inbetween rounds (which really is a sight to see). But when he was being interviewed by himself, he gave a more serious assessment of Floyd. And he also talked about how he thought the fight would play out.

My impression of the fight? Shane is going to come out and hit Floyd in the mouth. And Floyd is going to sprout a tail, grow wings, draw fangs and claws, and turn into a dragon in the ring and start spittin’ fireballs.

Which is exactly what happened. Mosley came out and in the second round, landed a punch that caused Mayweather’s knee to buckle and would force him to grab onto Mosley to keep from hitting the canvas. The punch energized the crowd and chants of Mosley’s name echoed throughout the MGM Grand Garden Arena. But like Richardson said would happen, Mayweather turned into a dragon. Everyone wondered if Floyd could take a blow like the one Mosley delivered, and now we know. For the rest of the fight, he stayed on the attack and spit so many fireballs that Super Mario would be jealous. He landed jab after jab, cross after cross, and unfortunately for Mosley, what Richardson predicted would happen next, did not.

And I’m gonna tell Shane to use lateral motion to get away from the fireballs, slide up under him, step on his tail, and punch him in the stomach. Because we still not gonna lose just because he turns into a dragon.

Mosley was unable to dodge Mayweather’s fireballs. He looked tired, slow, and defeated by the fifth round. The proud fighter from Pomona, CA could not slay the dragon that was sharing the ring with him. It was a disappointing showing for sure, but in my opinion, a more impressive showing by Mayweather.

“Pretty Boy” is the type of guy that everybody loves to hate. He is cocky, foul-mouthed, flaunts his cash any chance he gets, and seemingly just does whatever he wants. If he played team sports, he’d be a team cancer and a perennial trade candidate. But in boxing, those character traits can make you an all-time great. Often times an athlete’s personality characterizes his style of play. In basketball, guys like Floyd are flashy with the handle, shoot a bunch of 3’s, and make unnecessary no-look and behind-the-back passes. Floyd is not like that though. No matter how he acts outside the ring, he’s extremely intelligent and calculated in it. It’s extremely impressive. He knows exactly what he’s doing and seems to have a reason for every maneuver. He does act a bit douchey sometimes with his smiles and taunts but even that probably works to his advantage. He understands how to box and shows his technical genius in every match.

On Saturday night, Floyd Mayweather Jr. showed he can withstand a powerful hit and that he can rumble.  He also reignited a public clamoring for a dream matchup between himself and Manny Pacquiao.  After watching both of their last few fights, I still couldn’t tell you how that one would turn out.  Pacquiao is a dragon himself who can spit fireballs of his own.  How would Floyd react to that?  I’m not sure, but I know just the person to ask.