By Dennis Principe
Last week, future boxing hall-of-famer "Sugar" Shane Mosley arrived in the Philippines Tuesday morning to start up plans of staging a benefit boxing card for the victims of typhoon Yolanda.
While Mosley discussed the details of his Philippine visit, the amiable American boxer could not avoid questions about the much-talked about match between welterweights Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.
The 42-year-old Mosley is one of few fighters who had the opportunity to fight both Mayweather and Pacquiao.
Asked about who could end up the victor should the two finally meet in the ring, Mosley said Mayweather may have a slight advantage against Pacquiao.
“Being in the ring with both of them, I really can’t tell you who will win. I think Mayweather has the advantage because of his movement and slickness. That might give Manny problems,” said Mosley to BoxingScene.com.
“But when I was in the ring with Manny, his power is unpredictable. You can’t measure how hard he is hitting until you actually get in the ring with him. That can be a difference too. It’s a fight that could go either way.”
Mosley also believes that between the two, it is Pacquiao who is capable of flooring Mayweather if an opportunity to do so arises.
“I rocked Mayweather in the second round, maybe Manny rocks him, maybe he doesn’t get out of that, you know, you’ll never know. Manny can catch him with a good left hand. He can go down and it could be a different fight,” said Mosley.
Mosley lost to Mayweather via a 12-round decision in May 2010 in Las Vegas. In that fight, Mayweather got staggered with a well-timed right hand in the second round.
After losing to Mayweather, Mosley got a chance to trade leather with Pacquiao in 2011 but the Filipino icon was simply too fast for the fading gladiator. Pacquiao duplicated Mayweather’s feat by scoring a similar unanimous decision win.
