Floyd Mayweather is preparing for what could be his toughest fight yet as he gets ready to face the experienced and powerful Sugar Shane Mosley on Saturday in Las Vegas.
This is set to be a classic fight that could go down in history as one of the greatest - should it be as exciting as it looks on paper.
Two fast-punching fighters going toe-to -toe - one with the tactical know-how to pick apart any opponent, the other with the power capable of knocking out anyone at his weight - is more than enough to whet the appetite of any sports fan.
However, while some fights that have the potential to be classics they don’t always turn out to be, but this bout is sure to go down in history for a another reason at least.
Mayweather against Mosley is the first professional boxing contest to include US Olympic style drug testing in the run-up and aftermath of the fight.
That means both boxers have been subjected to random blood and urine testing during their training camps and any failed test from either fighter will automatically mean the cancellation of the event.
Mayweather was keen to introduce the testing, claiming there are too many fighters dying in the ring due to ‘cheating’ and it led to the breakdown in talks between his promoters, and the representatives of Manny Pacquiao when they tried to set-up a super fight between the pair.
Pacquiao was reluctant to take the blood tests, deeming them likely to weaken him during his training but many questioned his stance, and questioned again if he was using steroids.
However, he would have put himself at risk as if he lost people would have claimed he can’t win without drugs, not everyone but some.
Mosley has no such worries apparently, he is confident of beating Mayweather and he is out to prove he doesn’t need drugs to succeed.
The WBA World Welterweight Champion spoke at the high-profile Balco case and admitted he took, unknown to him, performance enhancing substances.
More videos have emerged in recent days with Mosley admitting he did know he was taking EPO but this is irrelevant for this fight, there won’t be EPO and Mosley can put all that behind him IF he beats Mayweather.
It’s a brave decision by Mosley he is putting himself out on a limb as, like Pacquiao, even if he has been clean, a loss would raise questions.
If for some reason on the night he feels tired, lacks the power we have seen before or does not look like the Shane Mosley who has knocked out 39 of his 52 opponents then people won’t just question his age but also his honesty.
However, Mosley deserves respect for agreeing to the demands of Mayweather’s camp, albeit probably being slightly tempted by the huge pay cheque that comes with facing the self-proclaimed ‘biggest name in boxing’ being part of it.
Hopefully this will set a precedent in boxing and open the eyes of the sport’s authorities and they will enforce more stringent testing in the future.
That remains to be seen but one thing for sure is that Floyd Mayweather Jr against Shane Mosley will go down in history, for one, if not two reasons.
