Legends expect spirited fight
If tonight’s welterweight showdown between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Shane Mosley at the MGM Grand Garden needs any validation as a megafight, who better to endorse it than Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns?
The two boxing legends, who dominated the sport in the 1980s, are in town for the fight, and both believe it will live up to the hype — by today’s standards.
“I see this fight as rather intriguing,” Leonard said Friday. “I have yet to see (Mayweather) hurt, knocked down or whatever. On the other hand, I see Mosley as a guy who could penetrate his impeccable defense.”
“This is going to be a very competitive fight,” Hearns said. “It is going to be a chess match. Shane has the ability to punch, and Floyd will have to be smart and slick.”
Leonard said Mayweather-Mosley won’t match his two epic battles with Hearns in the 1980s at Caesars Palace.
“Our fights were legendary,” Leonard said. “People still talk about them to this day. But I think Mayweather-Mosley will be a great one.”
Leonard and Hearns said the key will be whether Mosley can land one big punch that can change the fight.
“Mosley knows how to place a shot,” Leonard said. “If he’s able to do that, he’s got a great chance.”
“Shane’s going to test Floyd and see if Mayweather can take a shot,” Hearns said. “We have to see if he can.”
The first Leonard-Hearns fight, in 1981, saw Leonard rally to stop Hearns in the 14th round to win the unified welterweight championship.
The rematch, in 1989, this time for the WBC super welterweight belt, was epic. Both fighters inflicted damage, and the 12-round fight ended in a draw.
“That still bothers me,” Hearns said. “I still think I won.”
When asked how Mayweather and Mosley would have fared against them in the 1980s, Hearns said it might have been tougher for Mayweather to dominate because of his size.
“Floyd would have been too small for us,” Hearns said. “We were big welterweights. Floyd is a small guy.
“I’m not saying because he’s small he wouldn’t be able to do it, but it would have been very difficult.”
Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913.
