Floyd Mayweather Easily Outpoints Shane Mosely: Is Manny Pacquiao Next?

For a few brief moments in round two Shane Mosely really made us believe. He came closer than any man has ever come to knocking Floyd Mayweather down and had the unbeaten Mayweather clearly hurt after landing a big overhand right.

The first round had been encouraging for Mosely, he showed signs he was starting to find range and rhythm with a series of jabs to Mayweather's chest and face. The second was monumental, no-one has ever had Mayweather in this type of trouble before.

Round three however saw normal service resumed as Mayweather made Mosely miss and picked him off seemingly at will. Mosely's range deserted him while Mayweather counter punched with precision and accuracy

This pattern continued for the remainder of the rounds as Mosely's punch output dropped dramatically. Ironically the second round onslaught appeared to take more out of Mosely than it did Mayweather. An exhausted Mosely appeared reluctant to take the fight to Mayweather raising questions over the 38 year old's motivation and fitness.

Mayweather was comfortably winning the rounds and stepped up his efforts in round seven sufficiently to have Mosely obviously hurt. Mosely tried repeatedly to touch gloves with Mayweather and his opponent understandably tired of this ritual in round eight. Mayweather responded to Mosley's placatory gesture by attacking him with a left hook which was blocked and a straight right which wasn't.

Both men exchanged words and it is not known who won the argument but at this point Mayweather was clearly winning the fight. Mosely looked tired and old whereas Mayweather was looking every inch the best pound for pound fighter on the planet.

With the second round aberration merely a distant memory Mayweather kept on winning rounds without having to overly exert himself. Mosely's power shots were few and fat between and seldom if ever connected. Mayweather, by contrast, was economical but devastatingly effective with his big shots.

Mayweather and Mosely made the judges jobs a simple one. Even the most generous of scorers could not have given Mosely more than three rounds so consumate was the ease with which Mayweather consistently outclassed him. A late low blow from Mosely sparked a final flurry from Mayweather  and as the bell rang to end the fight the decision was never in doubt.

The three judges scored it: 119-109, 119-109, 118-110. All for Floyd Mayweather,

Ultimately the fight was as one sided as both men's respective records suggested it would be. For Mosely this will probably be the final pay day, for Mayweather an even bigger money fight against Manny Pacquiao beckons.

Pacquiao's camp will watch the second round with interest and will hope to emulate Mosely's achievement in hurting Mayweather. The Mayweather camp for their part will be confident of making Pacquiao miss just like they did Mosely for ten of the twelve rounds tonight.

Mayweather's insistence that Pacquiao should agree to his, rather than the commissions, blood testing requirements remains a major potential obstacle. Given the ease with which he was able to deal with Mosely it seems surprising Mayweather would be willing to jeapordize the Pacquiao fight in this fashion.

Time will tell whether the Pacquiao vs Mayweather fight ever materializes but upon tonight's evidence Mayweather would be a clear favourite for it.