A lot has been made of the fact that Shane Mosley dismantled Antonio Margarito prior to facing Floyd Mayweather earlier this year, and it is one of the most frequently referenced points made by those critical of the upcoming Margarito vs. Pacquiao bout in November.
But glancing at Mosley's record aside from his admittedly impressive win over Margarito reveals that really he hasn't done that much over the last couple of years to warrant the number three welterweight ranking that he has consistently held onto. More than anything overtly impressive Mosley has done, seemingly the fact that everyone below him in the division has done even less had kept him where he is, even after being dominated as he was in May.
Aside from the stylistic advantages Mosley already had over Margarito, the fact that the then WBA champion was staring down the barrel of a possible lifetime ban for having been found with loaded wraps has to have affected him during the fight to some degree. That isn't to say many fighters could have punished Margarito as thoroughly as Mosley did that night, but also that wasn't a Tijuana Tornado anywhere close to his very best either.
Setting Margarito aside for the moment, Mosley's last fight before that was a hard fought win over an aging Ricardo Mayorga, which was much closer than most were predicting. Before this, Mosley was beaten by Miguel Cotto, which takes us back all the way to 2007. So his recent resume isn't exactly packed full of huge wins.
Compare for example Antonio Margarito's record since 2007 and there isn't a huge amount of difference. While he has lost the same amount of fights, one to Mosley and the other to Paul Williams, Margarito has also picked up wins against Miguel Cotto and Kermit Cintron. Yet him fighting Manny Pacquiao is being called a disgrace by some while Mayweather against Mosley was celebrated and lifted the former back to the top of several pound for pound ranking polls.
Enter Sergio Mora, a fighter nowhere near Mosley in the rankings and also someone he should have a big stylistic advantage over if the 'Latin Snake' stays true to previous form and starts exchanging at some point.
If Mosley loses to Mora however, and looks as tired and apprehensive as he did against Mayweather, talk will undoubtedly turn to just how impressive that particular win was for Floyd.
Even if Mosley looks past his best against Mora, Mayweather's win will still have been an impressive one, and regardless of merit, he was still the number three ranked welterweight at the time. Aside from facing Manny Pacquiao, which still appears to be on the agenda for both fighters at some point but not without more mind numbing negotiations, there wasn't a higher ranked opponent he could have faced.
But if Mosley looks to be well past his best and loses to a fighter barely in the top 50 according to some ranking systems, then surely Mayweather will be in need of another impressive win in the near future in order to maintain his current ranking?
And equally shouldn't Pacquiao and Margarito be given the same kind of praise that Mayweather and Mosley were, given the striking similarities between Mosley and Margarito's recent records?
Bradley Thomas, Pittsburgh: "Ive been saying for ages that Mosley vs. Margarito didn't mean anything, I think people who don't like the fight are just pissed about the loaded hand wrap thing still"
Sean Phillips, Phillly: "Floyd vs. Mosley was a great fight and Pac and Margo is going to be a slaughter, they are in no way similar in the slightest"
Source: Examiner.com
