ARGUABLY the most dramatic moment of Floyd Mayweather's boxing career came in round two of his 2010 world title defence against 'Sugar' Shane Mosley.
In the first round, Mosley fizzed a couple of rights which missed Mayweather's chin by millimetres. For once in his career, Mayweather didn't take notice. But Mosley kept throwing the punch.
In the second round, the ageing challenger landed two booming right hands flush on Mayweather's chin. None of Mayweather's 40 previous opponents had come close to connecting with such precision and force as Mosley did that night in the MGM Grand, Las Vegas.
The first right hand had Mayweather clinging to Mosley for dear life. As the round progressed, and with Mayweather still groggy, Mosley landed with another perfect punch. How Mayweather didn’t touch the canvas defied the laws of gravity. The punch forced the unbeaten champion to crouch right down. But somehow, Mayweather survived the round.
As he sat on his stool between rounds two and three, Mayweather didn’t know where he was. Even in round three, with the welterweight champion’s legs still shaky, he stood in front of Mosley and wrestled control of the fight. Mayweather went on to dominate Mosley for the remaining rounds. In rounds two and three, Mayweather showed he had the heart of a champion.
The problem throughout his career is that he's never had to show that kind of heart too often because his opponents could never catch him. In his next eight fights, Mayweather never made the same mistake again that almost cost him against Mosley. What followed was a series of defensive master-classes. If you've seen one Mayweather masterclass, you've seen them all.
In the early hours of last Sunday morning, Mayweather retired from the ring with a whimper. The gutsy but limited Andre Berto became just another statistic. Another hand-picked opponent. Another unanimous points victory. Another drama-free night. No knockdowns and neither fighter in any real danger of touching down.
In fairness to Andre Berto - once hailed the pretender to Mayweather’s welterweight crown – he actually performed better than Manny Pacquiao managed back in May. But it was clear after two or three rounds that Berto’s short reach and slow-moving feet were no match for Mayweather. Just like the previous 48 opponents, Berto’s fate was sealed long before the final bell.
The champion, who equalled Rocky Marciano’s 49-0 record (although Jose Luis Castillo, in their first of two bouts, may beg to differ), scored sufficiently without putting his chin in harm’s way. Just when Berto summoned the energy for a tear-up, Mayweather was gone.
Ring Magazine writer Ron Borges probably summed up Mayweather’s career-long tactics best. After yet another points win, this time against Pacquiao, Borges wrote: “Like Willie Pep, ‘Winky’ Wright and Pernell Whitaker before him, Mayweather doesn’t so much win fights as he prevents them from breaking out.”
Mayweather’s trash-talking persona has undoubtedly contributed to the growing apathy towards him, but some of his more recent bouts have rightly earned him the ‘Pay-Per-Snooze’ tag. The sad irony is that one of the best boxers to ever lace up a pair of gloves leaves the ring unloved by a lot of fight fans.
Mayweather’s sceptics criticised him for hand-picking his opponents, and with justification in some cases. When he fought Juan Manuel Marquez, the Mexican had never fought above the 135-pount weight class. Mayweather forced highly-rated Mexican Canelo Alvarez to come down to 152 pounds to fight him. Miguel Cotto had been softened up by some hard fights before he faced Mayweather.
He also endured his fair share of criticism for not facing Manny Pacquiao when the little Filipino was at the peak of his powers. When they eventually did fight, Pacquiao failed to declare a shoulder injury he picked up in training - and the ‘Fight of the Century’ morphed into the biggest letdown of the century.
For all of the criticism Mayweather has endured over the years, you cannot begrudge a fighter who has been world champion for 18 years. He was just too good. But he did take part in some good fights. De La Hoya and Cotto – both men with a strong jab – pushed Mayweather in their bouts. Zab Judah posed an early threat before being outclassed, while his two bouts with Jose Luis Castillo were memorable.
Technically, though, Mayweather was in a class of his own. He was untouchable. Literally. He interpreted the Queensberry Rules better than any other fighter on the planet: hit and don't get hit.
The reason why Mayweather will not be loved in the same way as, say, ‘Sugar’ Ray Leonard is loved – at least not right now - is because he never stood and traded the way Sugar Ray did. In entertainment terms, Sugar Ray was always box-office. Watching Leonard stand and trade was one of the most thrilling spectacles in any sport. Leonard was a brilliant defensive boxer, but he was a ruthless finisher too. He wasn’t afraid to stay in range and take a few shots to land a few.
Mayweather would never take the same risks. He would never plant his feet for sustained periods in a bid to stop his opponents. Winning a fight before the final bell never seemed to interest him. Of course, Leonard, to his cost, lost to Roberto Duran in their first fight because he wanted to beat his opponent at his own game. Sugar Ray shipped a 15-round decision.
The next time they fought, Leonard danced and frustrated Duran. Remembered as 'No Mas' after Duran quit after eight rounds, Leonard's tactics were booed by a section of the crowd. It was actually a boring fight because Leonard's tactics made it boring, in the same way Mayweather’s defensive tactics made a lot of his fights boring; if not boring, a replica of what went before.
Whether Mayweather fights again, nobody really knows. But his place among the greats of boxing is already secured. That night against Mosley, he showed he had the heart of a champion. The rest of the time, he was just too damn good to have to show it again.
