SHANE MOSLEY vs RICARDO MAYORGA

Maybe it’s the way Ricardo Mayorga’s pre-fight rhetoric grows on one, but suddenly I am starting to get keenly interested in Saturday’s main event on HBO that pits the colourful Nicaraguan against Sugar Shane Mosley in a junior middleweight 12-rounder.

I previewed the fight in depth for ESPN.com earlier this week and I am sure many of you have already seen it on that website, so I won’t go over a lot of old ground.

Mayorga looks in terrific condition, and Mosley is 37, so my fight-day thoughts are that this isn’t going to be a walkover for Sugar Shane.

Mosley is the quicker, more talented boxer of the two, no question, but Mayorga is heavier handed and might be physically stronger. I was surprised at how disciplined Mayorga was in his win over Fernando Vargas last November, when he boxed with more acumen than I would have thought possible, but he was still getting hit by plenty of right-handers from a Vargas who, after looking in good trim at the weight-in, entered the ring in a bloated state, as if he had packed on 30 pounds in 30 hours.

Mayorga can certainly hit, but perhaps not as heavily as we once thought he could. Mosley has always had a good chin, so it would be a shock if he crumbled from one big right hand. In order to win, I think that Mayorga will have to keep pressing Mosley and keep up a high volume of punches, and I am not sure he can do that. I think that Mosley is smart enough not to be overwhelmed if Mayorga comes charging at him, and I think he can do a good job of countering against a fighter who has never been too hard to hit. If Mayorga tries to use more of a boxing, countering style, as he did against Vargas, I think that Mosley’s superior quickness and hand speed will thwart him.

This looks like being a long, hard fight, but Mosley seems to hold the advantages. He is 37, true, but he believes he is a young 37 and he’s probably right because he always keeps himself in excellent condition.

I do not see an upset here, and even though Mosley hasn’t been stopping people in recent years I think there is a chance he can get Mayorga out of the fight in the late rounds if he can keep hitting him — especially if he can keep digging in the left hook to the body that was once his signature punch.

This should, I think, be a good night for Mosley and a lively fight for the onlookers — though one of my readers who tells me he has laid $14,000 on Mosley will no doubt be hoping it isn’t too lively.