Mayweather vs Mosley
By Mark Vester
To further hype their welterweight mega-fight on May 1 in Las Vegas, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and WBA champion Shane Mosley sat down with HBO's Max Kellerman to tape a face to face segment where both fighters would speak on a variety of topics from their decade long rivalry.
Kellerman brought up last September's verbal confrontation between the fighters, which took place when Mosley entered the ring after Mayweather won a decision over Juan Manuel Marquez.
"When it got crazy in the ring. I told them 'I'm not the matchmaker, I'm not the matchmaker. Eventually I will make it happen.' Everything takes time and I'm happy that we're facing each other on May 1st," Mayweather said.
Kellerman brought out a magazine from 1999, where Mayweather and Mosley were featured on the cover and the title of the cover page said "who is the future of boxing?" Kellerman asked Mosley for his opinion on why Mayweather, between the two of them, went on to become such a mega-star. Mosley thinks it's a combination of Mayweather's mouth and his skills.
"He has the gift of gab and he really talks a lot of smack. I have to give it to him because he's been backing it up and beating these guys down," Mosley said."When I get in there you are going to feel me. You are going to feel every bit of me."
Mayweather answered back - "Come May 1st he's going to have to make me respect his skills."
And then Mosley cut in - "The reason I fought [Antonio] Margarito is because I wanted to become the best welterweight out there and I did that."
Mayweather hit back - "I proved that I'm the best. That's what you're here to try to do. 40 have tried and all 40 have had a gameplan. Out of the 40, some say 'oh, I hit hard, I'm super strong or I'm fast."
Mosley brought up a moment from the year 2000, when he was undefeated and one of the best pound for pound fighters in the sport. He went to Mayweather's dressing room before a fight and claims Mayweather told him 'I think you're a great fighter and I want to be just like you when I get up in the ranks.'
Mayweather jumped in - "Guess what Shane, I never wanted to be like no fighter. I wanted to be the fight Floyd Mayweather. Like I said, come May 1st you're going to have to make me respect your fighting skills."
Mosley - "And I will."
Mayweather - "But you're going to have to show me."
Mosley - "I'm going to show you and everybody else around."
Mayweather - "You're going to have to show me. You don't have to show them, you have to show me."
Mosley - "You're going to find out too."
Mosley was asked for his opinion on Manny Pacquiao turning him down, while Mayweather agreed to fight him.
"I realized one thing. He fights for money. He wants to be the best but he wants to make sure the money and the check is in there. He wants to fight the best guy. Pacquiao didn't fight him so he fights me, the next best guy with the biggest paycheck," Mosley said.
Mayweather answered to Mosley's claims -"Who wants a million dollar face with a few dollars in their pockets. People don't know what I went through in life. My mother was on drugs. I never had a stable home. My dad went to prison. I want my kids to have something. Like I said before, when it's all said and done - all belts do is collect dust."
Kellerman asked Mayweather for his opinion on Mosley's win over Margarito.
"I was glad he won because he's a black American and I'm a black American. Of course I rooted him on, I wanted him to win," Mayweather said.
Kellerman asked Mosley for his thoughts on how a fighter can beat Mayweather.
"He gets in there and razzle dazzles and potshots these fighters. They run trying to bully him. And they don't realize that he's been doing this all his life. My style is versatile. I can box when I want to. I can punch when I want to. I can go toe to toe or whatever. That's what makes me difficult. I can hit you with either hand. So you really have to figure out what I'm going to do," Mosley said.
Mayweather later said: "Who wouldn't want to put Mosley on their resume. May 1st, I'm going to be the same Floyd Mayweather."
Mosley said - "May 1st is going to symbolize Mayweather's first loss."
And Mayweather said - "He's a fighter, he's supposed to say that, but guess what - there is no blueprint on how to beat me."
Source: boxingscene.com
