Shane Mosley: "Floyd shouldn't diss me, he should be in here fighting"

Future hall of fame entrant Shane Mosley has hit back at Floyd Mayweather after his former opponent publicly dismissed his chances against Manny Pacquiao, who he faces on May 7th.

In several interviews over the past few weeks Mayweather has stated that he believes Mosley to be past his best, and that he has no chance of beating Pacquiao. He has also claimed that the only reason Pacquiao and Top Rank chose Mosley as an opponent was firstly because he his abilities have declined, and secondly because they are hoping to outdo his own win over Mosley.

Having beaten Mosley, some would no doubt say that Mayweather is the perfect person to judge what he has left. Given that it was only last year that he deemed Mosley to be a good enough opponent for himself though others would say that Mayweather is merely being disingenuous to spite Pacquiao.

Either way Mosley's opinion of his chances against Pacquiao are predictably different, and speaking to fans ahead of his May 7th bout said of Mayweather:

"Floyd shouldn't diss me he should be in here fighting. Leave me to do his dirty work... That's alright I will see him again"

The first part of Mosley's statement in many ways echoes the sentiments of many fans frustrated with Mayweather's inactivity over the past few years. Since returning to the sport following his temporary retirement after beating Ricky Hatton in 2007, Mayweather has fought just twice, firstly against lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez, who was climbing up two weight classes for the bout, and then against Mosley last year.

Of course Mosley's insistence that he will be seeing Floyd again in the ring at some point is largely dependent on two things.

Firstly that he defies the odds and beats Manny Pacquiao. Something that few give him much of a chance of doing outside of catching Pacquiao early and knocking him out as he almost succeeded in doing against Mayweather.

Secondly that Mayweather returns to the sport at all, and that he subsequently then wants to fight Mosley again. Also something that is far from assured given that Mayweather doesn't seem that eager to fight anyone at the moment and that he has shown in the past that he doesn't tend to take part in rematches, having fought the same opponent twice only once in 41 fights (Jose Luis Castillo).

Added to that is the fact that Mayweather currently has at least two court cases pending, firstly for allegedly assaulting a former girlfriend and threatening his children, and secondly for an altercation with a security guard outside his Las Vegas home.

Should Mosley lose to Pacquiao as most are predicting, then his time in the sport might well become limited as Mayweather suggests. A loss now would be Mosley's third consecutive fight without a win after being dominated by Mayweather and later having to settle for a draw against Sergio Mora that he probably should have edged.

Eddie Gorman, Pitt: "Mosley's right, Mayweather should fight Pac himself if he doesn't think Shane should be"

Sean Begby, NY: "Floyd can say what he likes about Mosley, he dominated him and he would dominate Pacquiao just the same"

Source: Examiner.com