Pre-Fight Analysis:  The contrast between the two fighters began in their respective dressing rooms.  Mayweather appears to be very calm, cool, relaxed and loose.  “Sugar” Shane is sporting a look of either extreme focus or extreme nervousness…almost as if he ate something that is messing with his stomach.

Mosley is the first to walk to the ring, and there was nothing dramatic about his entrance – except for the amount of time that “Money” Mayweather made him wait.  After almost playing the complete O’Jays rendition of “Money,” Floyd Jr. finally made his way to the squared circle.  In his dressing room, you could hear him saying something regarding a “circus act” – which is in no ways surprising coming from the charismatic boxer.

The boxer comparisons were fairly interesting.  While Mosley is one inch taller than his opponent, Mayweather’s arms on two-and-a-half inches longer.

Welcome to the underground circuit, Chris Brown.  The recently troubled star sang the national anthem, and did a fairly good job.  And then, only minutes afterward, I could hear Rihanna blasting at the venue.  I’m sure he appreciated that. 

Round 1:  Mayweather looks confident, and seems to have a very solid base.  Mosley is looking jittery – exhibiting a look of hand movement.  It’s almost as if he’s trying to keep Floyd from getting a beat on him.  Mosley slips during an exchange between the boxers in which absolutely no punches landed.  This round can end up going to either boxer. 

Round 2:  The round starts out innocently, and then Mosley catches Mayweather with a powerful right hand.  The shots clearly stuns Mayweather, as he holds on to Shane’s arm to keep him at bay.  Moments later, Mosley follows with another right hand to the side of Mayweather’s face.  The crowd roars its approval with “ooohs” and “aaahs.”  Sensing a possible opportunity, Mosley throws a total of 81 punches this round.  Both fighters end the round harmlessly, both Floyd has been shaken and is introduced to Mosley’s power potential.

Round 3:  Mayweather comes out keeping his distance from Mosley using a strong jab, but at the same time being offensively aggressive.  Shane Mosley appears to be winded from his Round 2 assault on Floyd Jr.

Round 4:  “Sugar” Shane is on the defensive in this round.  Mayweather is effectively using his jab to control Mosley.  Mayweather is also demonstrating that he has the much better hand speed of the two boxers.  He’s easily tagging Shane with punches from all angles, and has re-established his rhythm.  In his corner at the close of the round, Mosley’s left eye is starting to show some signs of swelling.  

Round 5:  Floyd is continuing to dominate the action, and Shane is still looking more winded than ever.  Mayweather has a focused mug, almost as if he was embarrassed by that shot that he took from Mosley in the second round.

Round 6:  Mayweather is definitely out for vengeance.  He’s slpped Mosley with several more strong punches.  Mayweather’s base is firm, and you can see that in the connection of their punches.  Mayweather’s punches are much more compact and powerful, while Mosley is continually reaching to connect with Mayweather.  This is perhaps when we are starting to witness Floyd’s arm length advantage come into play.  

Round 7:  With each minute that goes by, Mayweather is making Mosley look slower and older…which, of course, he really is.  For the first time in the fight, Mosley wraps up Mayweather after an exchange of punches that went in Floyd’s favor.  Mosley ends up wrapping Mayweather up on three different occasions in this round. 

Round 8:  After an exchange near the beginning of the round, there’s a lot of talking going between the two fighters.  The ref breaks them up, and they are still talking and touching gloves – and Mayweather has had enough of the talking and punches Mosley square in the mouth when he had his guard down, almost as if he’s saying “Shut up and box.” 

Round 9:  More domination by Mayweather.  Mosley is now retreating with his body turned when Mayweather comes on the counter attack.  Mayweather looks like he could do a “Roy Jones” – go and play a game of basketball after the fight. 

Round 10:  Mayweather is cruising now and Mosley is providing no resistance.  Mosley looks lost and doesn’t really know how to attack Floyd.  For rounds, Floyd has compacted his stance into a defensive, high face guard – and he springs out of it with power to catch Shane with timely, accurate punches.

Mosley might have had a chance during this scuffle, but his stamina failed him tonight.

Round 11:  Shane Mosley is trying to psyche himself into believing that he’s not tired by continuously moving his feet.  Unfortunately for him, his feet (and hand) movement is translating into little else.  Mosley’s trainer has been exhorting him to “put it all on the line” for a few rounds now. 

Round 12:  Mosley proves that he really has run out of gas.  And from the looks of it, he used up everything in his tank in round two and seemingly hasn’t recovered since.  Mayweather continues his defend and counter game, working it with precision until the final bell sounds.

Final Analysis:  After Shane Mosley visibly stunned Floyd Mayweather in round two, Mayweather became more focused.  The expression on his face throughout the remaining rounds bordered on embarrassment and anger.  When “Money” came out of his corner for round three, he quickly asserted his dominance and gained momentum as the night continued.  His stamina, precision and attention to detail were much sharper than Mosley’s.  “Sugar” Shane looked like he was drained after the second round of the fight.  As each round passed, I was wondering when Mosley was going to turn it on again.  Turns out that he couldn’t. 

Again, Mayweather showed us that his discipline allows him to control the flow of the action.  When he can do that, he is without question the best boxer in the sport today.

What’s Next:  Or should I say “Who’s Next?”  Who knows what Mosley will do.  He’ll fight anyone and has based his career on that premise.  But he’s 38, and after tonight’s fight, I don’t know how many other fighters he’ll be motivated to tangle with.  A victory over Floyd would have been the highlight of a great career, but it just wasn’t meant to be tonight.

Ina scene played out many times before, Mayweather gave credit to Mosley for being a tough opponent and a boxing legend (which basically toots his own horn).  But after his unanimous decision win, Mayweather’s option are few, too.  Of course, everyone wants to see him fight Manny Pacquiao.  But Mayweather firmly stated that unless Pacquiao relents to a blood and urine test (as did Mosley), he’s not going to step into the ring with him.  And who can blame him?  If society can clearly see that baseball players can develop unfair advantages from using PEDs, why can’t it realize that those same advantages could be even more deadly for boxers?

Andre Berto would pose a challenge for Mayweather.  The WBC welterweight champion has combined speed and power on his way to a 26-0 (20 KO) record.  Berto is only 26 years of ago – considerably younger than the 33-year-old Mayweather – and may at least give him an opponent that won’t run out of gas early in the fight.  If Pacquiao is public choice #1, then Berto would probably classify as public choice #1a. 

But for now, Mayweather can enjoy dusting off an opponent who could be regarded as the best pound-for-pound fighter that he has ever faced.  And with tonight’s performance, he earned every bit of his huge guaranteed fight purse.

The quantitative measure of his performance can be measured by taking a good hard look at Mosley’s face.

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