Sugar Shane is not the Manny to beat Floyd Mayweather

There are plenty of things that frustrate me about Floyd Mayweather - but that does not alter my opinion of him as the best fighter in the world.

Bouts are made on his terms, he can be too safety first in the ring and risk averse when choosing opponents.

That said, his May 1 bout with Sugar Shane Mosley is fantastic news for boxing. It will be a great fight but ultimately it has come too late for 38-year-old Mosley.

Mayweather has built a career on avoiding hungry fighters at the top of their careers. He wouldn't even spar with James DeGale last year as he said he was too big.

He is facing Mosley at the right time. He looked shot a couple of years ago. I mean gone. He was beaten comprehensively by Miguel Cotto and then came back to fashion wins against Ricardo Mayorga and Antonio Margarito.

He looked reborn. You ask yourself how he did it. It is an obvious question given that Mosley's past is blighted by steroid association.

He claims he inadvertently used drugs supplied by the infamous BALCO lab before the Oscar De La Hoya bout in 2003, which he won.

Since Mosley has agreed to a meet the demands of Mayweather for a more rigorous Olympic-style drug-testing schedule, the sting is taken out of the issue.

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Though how much confidence anyone can have in testing programmes is questionable, given the history of success enjoyed by drug cheats.

Screening agents are so powerful these days that catching offenders in any sport is not straightforward.

The point is the boxers have a scheme that both agree on, though it will be interesting to see if the drug issue is brought up by Mayweather as the talk turns trashy near the fight.

The undefeated 33-year-old is in for a tough night, but ultimately is too quick, young and fresh. Sugar Shane is tremendously brave and will go for it like he did against Mayorga. He is quick and restless and does not give a hoot about anybody. And he can punch.

But we shouldn't forget that Mayorga, a crude slugger compared to Mayweather, was boxing the ears off Mosley until the old equaliser landed in the final seconds. If Mayweather could have avoided Mosley he probably would have done - but he is chasing the money.

His lifestyle and his love of gambling on American football have left him with huge bills to pay.

That is why I believe a Mayweather v Manny Pacquiao fight just has to happen. There is too much money at stake for a truce between the pair's respective camps not to be reached.

It is the best fight out there by a country mile. So much so that you wonder if there is not some strategy at play to inflate the numbers when they do get together? I suspect we'll find out later in the year. In the meantime, Mayweather v Mosley will have the cash tills ringing. I'll be buying, that's for sure. CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE: www.barrymcguigan.com

Source: mirror.co.uk