Mayweather survives onslaught to outclass Mosley

Las Vegas :  Floyd Mayweather resisted a furious early onslaught by fellow American Shane Mosley to preserve his unbeaten professional record with a unanimous points victory in a welterweight bout on Saturday.

Widely regarded as the best defensive fighter of his generation, Mayweather dominated 11 of the 12 rounds with his lightning hand speed and agile movement to improve his career record to 41-0 with 25 knockouts.

A 4-1 favourite going into the highly anticipated bout at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Mayweather was stunned by a flurry of punishing blows from Mosley in the second round.

However, the 33-year-old immediately regained control and he dictated the rest of the fight with his probing right hand, rock-solid defence and a series of telling combinations.

"I did what the fans came here to see," Mayweather said in a ringside interview. "I went toe-to-toe. That's not my style but I wanted to give them that kind of fight and I knew I could do it."

Contact sport

Asked how he had recovered from Mosley's early onslaught, Mayweather replied: "It's a contact sport and you're going to get hit.

"But when you get hit, you've got to suck it up and keep on fighting. And that's what I did." The flamboyant American gained one-sided verdicts from all three judges — 119-109, 119-109 and 118-110.

WBA welterweight champion Mosley, who had not fought since a ninth-round TKO upset of feared Mexican slugger Antonio Margarito in January 2009, slipped to 46-6 with 39 knockouts. Watched by a crowd of around 16,000 that included Hollywood actors Will Smith and Leonardo DiCaprio and boxing greats Mohammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard and Mike Tyson, Mayweather made a confident start. Mayweather briefly buckled and was pinned against the ropes after Mosley switched his attack to a series of body jabs.

Pacquiao showdown

Still no closer

Floyd Mayweather was reluctant to commit to a mega-fight with Filipino Manny Pacquiao after embellishing his unbeaten record by outclassing fellow American Shane Mosley.

Boxing fans have savoured the prospect of a Mayweather-Pacquiao showdown, if only to decide the mythical title of the world's best pound-for-pound fighter.

Mayweather had been expected to meet Pacquiao earlier this year until negotiations collapsed over the American's demand for random drug testing.

Mosley then stepped in to take the Filipino's place.

"If Manny takes the [blood] test, we can make the fight happen," Mayweather told a news conference after completing a unanimous points victory over Mosley at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

"If he doesn't, we don't have a fight. If Manny Pacquaio wants to fight, it is not hard to find me."

— Reuters

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