Just got off the phone with a media guy who had spoken with Richardson prior to Saturday night.

He said that Richardson's gameplan for Shane was to "box" from the outside instead of his usual John Ruiz impersonation.

Richardson stated that the reason for this plan was due to the fact guys like De la Hoya, Hatton, and Gatti were all ineffective in consistently pressing forward so he wouldnt fall in the pattern of attempting to implement the same gameplan as those guys.

I think this is a pretty dumb gameplan being that Shane has no defense, no jab, and has largely been effective by mauling over the past 5 years.

Richardson got all the credit for victories, he should be faulted for a obviously faulty gameplan. Did he not know the type of fighter he's been training?

Actually, that may not be a good strategy for some fighters, but for Shane Mosley, he may have had a better shot with that gameplan because he does have decent speed and is somewhat technically skilled. Zab Judah was having some success using that gameplan. In fact, Shane Mosley had some success with that in the first round.

The problem is that you'll never know if that was a "pretty dumb gameplan" because that's not the gameplan that Shane implemented for 11 rounds of the fight. Once he landed that big right hand, he went looking to land that one punch and hoping for a knockout. Shane didn't follow any of the instructions that Richardson gave him, or the gameplan itself, so he ended up getting his ass beat, losing pretty much every round. Whatever Shane Mosley was doing in there, which is pretty much what he's been doing in past fights, is NOT what Naazim Richardson told him to do.

I thought Nazim gave Shane excellent instruction in between the rounds. The problem wasn't what Naz was telling him; it was that Mosley wasn't following them.

What does "decent speed" have to do with this strategy? Mosley has no functional speed which is the only thing that matters in a boxing ring. He can't counter-punch, no jab, no defense... is that a fact or opinion?

And please tell me about how Mosley is "somewhat technically skilled". Based on what?

Richardson should get criticized for not knowing the mental of his fighter and not being to able to understand that Mosley would have NO chance fighting on the outside. If he had a different horse to implement his strategy, it might have been more effective but you have to understand the fighter you're working with.

I'm not saying that I know more than Richardson at all... I'm not a trainer. I'm just saying... if someone told me that Team mosley planned to fight Floyd from the outside... I would have bet way too much money on Floyd. Regardless of what happened in "round 1".

Here was my take on the fight strategies prior to it taking place...

http://www.theboxingtruth.com/article.php?id=1747

That's EXACTLY what Naazim told him in the middle of the fight. It was something along the lines of "The problem is, you landed that big shot on him and now that's all you're looking for. I need you to just land the quick( rabbit) shots, and the big shots will come later on"

In my opinion, I thought Naazim was excellent in between rounds. Problem is Shane was too fucking nervy/jittery, and honestly, you gotta give it to Floyd, he just took all the bullets out of Mosley's gun after the 2nd round. Shane wasted a LOT of nervous energy....he was gassed half way through the fight.

That's the problem... when has Mosley NOT loaded up with his shots?

Landing quick shots is not in Mosley's nature, he's a load up type of fighter so when you attempt to change him into something he's not, that's your fault as a trainer regardless of the advice you're giving in between rounds.

nas is still a very solid trainer, no need to discredit him... mo didnt listen to him... imo even had he listened the fight may have been a little better but the same out come... no matter how you look at the fight or try to break it down they where two diffrent classes of fighter in that ring... one was a good solid fighter/champion- mosley... one is simply special and a great fighter, possibly all time great- mayweather...

Brother Nas is a pretty solid trainer and should be given credit for that. It's the fighter who has to implement the plan and make adjustments. All of the true lovers of this sport knew Shane never has a plan B. This was just like Hatton not listening to Floyd Sr. and getting put to sleep.

I also respect Nas for the way he held himself after the fight by not making excuses and standing like a man.

Just saying... have a gameplan that you're fighter is unable to implement makes no sense to me.

Shane has no jab, no defense, porous footwork... how was he supposed to "box" from the outside?

thing is tru... in the end it wouldnt have mattered... barring his punchers chance shane was in there with a totally diffrent higher class fighter than he has ever faced.... in my opinion floyd has 3 ways that he will eventually lose if he ever does.... number 1 will be he gets roy jonesed... 1 punch and somebody gets him out of there... number 2 in my opinion is he faces some young fighter coming up that nobodies ever really heard of that happens to have a skill level close or equal to his which is highly unlikely at this stage of the game... and 3rd is simply floyds sticks around the sport a little too long...

actually there is a 4th that i can see and that is floyd testing himself at higher weights... ive always thought p will would have venom for lil floyd because of his long arms, volume punching and etc and at 154 he is closer to his natural weight than at 147... also sergio martinez i think is an interesting fight... after that who else is there?... the full fledged 160 lbers are too big...

I know that it wouldn't have mattered... I'm just stating that it's funny how Richardson seemed to have bit into Mosley's own hype created by the fans and media that he could actually box.

The only reason Mosley preserved his career over the years is punching and holding. Why they didn't just accept that fact and just create a gameplan devised around that miserable style puzzles me.

With a plan to box Floyd from the outside, it gave Shane ZERO chance to win.

Any other plan besides that would have given him a better shot.

Honestly TRU, what could Naz have done that wouldn't make you critical of him?

Ummm... go in with the gameplan to box from the outside.

to tell you i think shanes best chance would have been to come in and basically do what he did in that second round... he is a power fighter... he needed to stay busy and keep punching...

I think Naz is a real good trainer and gave Shane really good advice but Shane didn't execute any of it..

I'm just saying... you don't bring a cat to a dog show...

Mosely landed a hard shot... PBF on the other hand fought back and buzzed Mosely into hesitancy. Mayweather was landing some hellacious right hands that made Mosely think twice the whole night.

Yup, hard enough shots that Mosley had to go to the hospital to have his stiff neck checked out.

I see what you're saying, but IMO Naz gave the best advice given the situation Mosley was in. Maybe he didn't have the athlete to execute the right gameplan to begin with, but if he had given instruction that mimicked what Mosley was doing, he would be criticized for giving bad advice as well.

If I was Naz I'd just build upon what Shane was good at comfortable doing... not try to get him to do things he hasn't done well in over a decade.

Very good point..It's too late in Mosley's career to be trying to do new things..

Yeah but do you think that it would have changed Mosley's performance? It probably wouldn't have and then people would just say he was giving Mosley the wrong advice.

Any other gameplan besides boxing from the outside would have been effective for Shane...

Shane's whole game the last how many years has not been based on boxing from the outside so why try and do it now against the greatest pure boxer of this generation?

If Shane could box from the outside, he wouldn't have gone tooth and nail with Ricardo "BUST MY PIMPLES" Mayorga.

I thought Brother Naaz gave some really good advice in between rounds.

I don't disagree with that.

I'm just saying... if the gameplan was to box outside and he gave directions based on that knowing that Shane can't implement them... that's a problem.

If I remember correctly, I think Brother Naaz said that the plan was to start off boxing from the outside then once Floyd got hit with a few shots he would turn into a dragon and a war would break out. I think Naaz's gameplan was on point except for one problem... Floyd was a tougher "Dragon" than he anticipated. I really don't think Shane expected Floyd to bring the fight to him ESPECIALLY after he had Floyd hurt.

But let's be real here... Jesus couldn't have trained Mosley and won the fight.

Real shit.

I think we can agree that had Mosley managed to get a hurt Floyd out of there in the second, Naaz would have gotten a ton of the credit.

I completely agree... that's what I'm saying.

Naaz gets credit when the fighter does good but gets no criticism when the fighter performs shitty...

Naaz was busy working with Hopkins for the Roy fight. When he got there he had something like 4 weeks with Shane...but I don't think 4 years with Shane would have changed a thing. In the end, Naaz could not effectively communicate with Shane, probably because he expected a little more than he could actually get.

If I was Mosley's trainer for this fight it woulda been a very simple plan.

Paw with jab, throw wild lunging right hand at Floyds mid-section, and immediately TACKLE.

From the tackle position, throw massive rabbit punches.

Repeat until a point is deducted then look lost in the ring...

LOL.

So you would have gone with Ronnie Shields?

Possibly. I would merely accentuate Mosley's strengths Vernon...

Vernon Forrest tried boxing Mayorga twice and got his ass kicked.

Mosley threw very few left hooks to the body which he needed to do..When he threw them late in the fight,they landed and they were good punches..Mayweather really fucked his head up..

And after Trinidad finished taxing that ass... Oscar wiped the floor with a chinless Mayorga.

Mosley then struggled with a shot/chinless brawler so your theory is full of pure fucking snaggletooth shit.

As in he's got enough hand speed and knowledge of the fundamentals of boxing to at least give Floyd something to think about. We're not talking about Antonio Margarito or a freakin Carlos Baldomir here. Shane's not an idiot...he's smarter than a Ricky Hatton when it comes to boxing skills. If Shane would have been able to continuosly do everything that he did in the first round, he stood an excellent chance of keeping it close, making Floyd uncomfortable and possibly scoring a big knockdown. In order to do that, however, he had to change some things...and that's what you work on in training camp. I mean, Manny Pacquiao didn't just fucking wake up and start throwing right hooks when he fought Hatton...he practiced that shit, got it down and stuck to the game plan once the fight happened. From my understanding, speaking to individuals who were actually IN camp, Shane was doing just that...working behind a stiffer jab, setting up his shots better and sticking to the game plan. They "typical" Shane Mosley style of loading up on the right hand, holding and not working on the inside, just wasn't going to get it done. But like I said, from what I understand from the people in camp, Shane was following the game plan just fine.

The problem is that he didn't follow the game plan at all once the fight started. I mean, the first round, he did okay, sitting down and stiffening up on his jab. It was a close round...one that some people thought he won...and if he could have maintained that and just mixed it up with the big right hands every now and then (instead of over and over and over again), he likely could have pulled out something better than whatever the hell he just did on Saturday. On Saturday, he reverted back to what he's been doing for a long time. As soon as he landed that big right, he get excited, shot his wad and that was it. Shit, Shane was done as soon as the fight even started...he was jumpy, nervous...he exactly what the task was before him. Floyd is a tough motherfucker to beat and I think any real fighter or any person who just trains and spars regularly knows that some of the shit that Floyd does is just nasty and scary to deal with if the opportunity should arise. It's like being a cornerback and having to face Peyton Manning...you might hate the motherfucker or think you're better than them, but you still got respect his abilities and what he brings to the table. To put it simply, I think Shane was nervous the minute the fight started. I don't think the strategy was the problem at all...and yeah, I think Shane is actually skilled enough and fast enough to implement a game plan that involves "boxing". It's just he was so amped up from the nerves, the game plan went out the window midway through the second round. That was Shane's fault...not Richardson's fault at all. In fact, he kept trying to keep him on track...told his ass settle down on the nerves after the first round. LOL.

Which type of strategy would have worked better is debateable, but irrelevant. The point is that Shane is a smarter fighter than what he's become...the right-hand happy headhunter. I'm sure what was worked on in training camp is not what was on display Saturday night.



But hey...I was preaching that shit for MONTHS leading up to the fight and THAT'S the reason why I had FULL CONFIDENCE that Mayweather was going to make this one look "EASIER THAN THE ZAB JUDAH FIGHT!" Yeah...I know a lot of you out there are keeping quiet about it, but you knew it was coming...I TOLD YOU SO!!!! I knew full well Naazim's chemistry with Shane was not where it needed to be...which is the reason why I knew Shane WOULD NOT listen to him and eventually resort back to what he's always done. I mean, as a trainer, you hope that it gets to the point where that chemistry is there, but when you're dealing with a stubborn fighter, it's hard to force it...you just got hope it all works itself out. But ultimately, I don't think Naazim deserves any criticism...you can't blame him for not being able to make a stubborn fighter follow the game plan that was worked on throughout training camp. You can almost see Shane being stubborn and throwing a tantrum in the corner when he was crying about the water on his face and demanded the ice pack. LOL. But anyway...I'm rambling...you get what I'm saying, I'm sure.

I think, ultimately, it had nothing to do with what Naazim's game plan was and everything to do with Shane being nervous and getting his ass lit up in the process.

LOL.

I told ya'll that jerry curl juice was going to be flying on May 1. I told ya'll about the snowboarding accident before the proposed Berto fight. Was a coincidence that he had to get a neck injury checked out after the fight?



LIKE I SAID BEFORE, THE MAYWEATHER IS THE POUND-FOR-POUND KING! WOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! I'M RICH BIATCH!

No...Forrest went to war with Mayorga in the first fight and got stopped. In the second fight, Forrest outboxed Mayorga and lost a controversial decision.

I am 100 percent sure that Shane was looking like money in the gym and following instructions... HOWEVER, there is nothing that I've seen from the guy on ANY fight night post-Forrest leading me to believe he had the mental capacity to execute a gameplan that didn't come naturally.

He's deteriorated so much since that fight on a mental, not physical level it's not even funny.

For all that supposed boxing knowledge, fundamentals, and "speed", Shane sure as fuck cannot EVER get away from a straight right hand... as in EVER. I'd figure that avoiding the "suckers" punch" would be the most basic thing taught in a boxing gym so it makes me question exactly what the fuck he's been working on the past 9 years.

Shane's effectiveness in the first round had WAY more to do with Floyd's inability to settle down until the third round of that fight moreso than Shane doing anything great in there.

Way too much is made of Shane's effectiveness early and if credit is given to a supposed gameplan that was working early, the same criticism must go to a guy for being unable to get his horse to drink water when they reach the well...

For the record, I believe Richardson to be a great trainer that gives excellent instructions in between rounds.

And... yes, I know that he can't ruin the fight stating... Yeah, I know Shane is a mentally limited fighter that can't box all that well come fight night and we'll probably get dominated.

I'm just shooting the proverbial boxing shit.

This is beyond hate and biased shit I ever heard. Okay, we get it, Mosley is garbage and ruined and everything else you want to discredit him for. He is the most over-rated fighter ever...blah, blah, blah. He deserves no credit for anything he has accomplished. This is getting beyond old.

Now do you have anything else to contribute or is this going to be 99% of all you can talk about?

Paw with jab and get hit with a right hand right over that pussy jab..

I'm just saying... it'd basically just accentuate how Mosley has fought for a very long time. Can't teach him new tricks so just emphasize his strengths... pawing with the jab, swinging wildly, and tackling.

When Naz sit him down and told him to calm down , I remembered his dad doing this same thing on several occasions during shane fights)

It was pretty obvious shane was tight as hell. That's all on him imo.

It wasn't a theory.

Sure... and I hear you like Floyd over Martinez.

I'm willing to be you any amount you want on this fight.

ANY AMOUNT.

Shut up little man... go cry somewhere else.

Really? Floyd's inability to settle down until the third down round?

Hmmmmm.

Interesting.

On that note, I'll go ahead and check out of this conversation.

Sounds about right.

LMAO

Does that mean you're gonna come to me to borrow the money like you did when a guy wanted to give you even money on Hopkins/Jones?