"I have
always wanted to fight Floyd and now it is finally coming
true," said Mosley, who signed his side of the deal last
Friday in Las Vegas. "I am already in great shape and
ready to show everyone on May 1 that I am stronger, faster
and better than he is. I will have no problem beating
him."
In addition
to the fight being one of the most competitive and talked
about contests in each of the fighters' careers, Mayweather
and Mosley have agreed to Olympic-style drug testing for
the fight.
"Floyd has
been trying to make this fight for the last 10 years, so he
is extremely excited about the opportunity to face Shane,"
said Leonard Ellerbe, CEO, Mayweather Promotions. "He
can't wait to extend his undefeated record and perform at
the highest level. More importantly, he is also happy to
set the precedent for random blood testing in order to
ensure fair and safe contests for all fighters."
"When two
champions of this caliber meet in the ring, you can expect
nothing but excellence and that is what we are going to see
on May 1," said Richard Schaefer, CEO, Golden Boy
Promotions. "Shane Mosley is one of the greatest fighters
of this era and I commend him for not only agreeing to the
fight against Mayweather, but also agreeing to participate
in a testing process that can only help the integrity of
the sport."
"Mayweather-Mosley is a showdown of superstars that fans
have been talking about for years", said Mark Taffet of HBO
Pay-Per-View. "It has all the elements of a pay-per-view
mega-fight."
A 1996
Olympic Bronze medalist for the United States, Floyd
Mayweather (40-0, 25 KO's) has since gone on to strike Gold
in the professional ranks, winning six world titles in five
weight classes to firmly establish himself as one of the
most elite fighters of his era. With dominating wins over
the likes of world champions Diego Corrales, Jose Luis
Castillo, Arturo Gatti, Zab Judah, Oscar de la Hoya and
Ricky Hatton, Mayweather was on a meteoric rise to hall of
fame greatness when he announced his retirement from the
ring in 2008. But he left the door open for a return if
the right challenge presented itself and after 18 months of
a much needed physical and emotional break from the ring,
he returned to boxing on September 19, 2009 with a
dominating and spectacular victory over future Hall of
Famer Juan Manuel Marquez.
A future
Hall of Famer with five world titles to his name, Shane
Mosley (46-5, 39 KO's) has ruled the lightweight,
welterweight and junior middleweight divisions over his
storied 16-year career and at 38 years old, the Pomona,
Calif. native seems to be getting better and better as the
years pass. Winner of seven of his last eight fights
dating back to 2005, Mosley has defeated the likes of
Fernando Vargas (twice), Luis Collazo and Ricardo Mayorga,
but his most recent victory also was one of his most
spectacular -- a ninth round stoppage of Antonio Margarito
in January 2009 to win the welterweight world title for the
third time.
The 12-round
welterweight battle is a highly competitive match-up that
already has sports fans across the world buzzing to see two
of the sport's biggest names meet in the squared circle in
the premier boxing match-up of 2010.
