• Mosley v Mayweather

Mosley signs deal to fight Mayweather Jnr

ESPN staff
January 31, 2010
Shane Mosley believes he can succeed where everybody else has failed against Floyd Mayweather Jnr © Getty Images
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Shane Mosley's attorney has confirmed that a contract to fight Floyd Mayweather Jnr has been signed by his client, with Mayweather's signature to come "in the next two days".

Mosley has agreed to fight Mayweather on May 1, with the MGM Grand Garden Arena the likely venue. Attorney Judd Burstein insists he has the word of Mayweather's lead advisor, Leonard Ellerbe, that the fight will happen.

"It's a fight people have wanted to see for a long time, but never happened for whatever reasons," Burstein told the Los Angeles Times. "Now that it's going to happen, Shane is looking forward to doing what he and many of his fans have long thought he would do."

Mosley had initially been scheduled to fight Andre Berto on Saturday night, but his opponent understandably had to withdraw for personal reasons following the Haiti earthquake, where members of his family are located. The bout has now been scrapped for the foreseeable future.

Now Mosley's attentions will turn to Mayweather (40-0), although confirmation is yet to arrive as to whether "Sugar" Shane's WBA welterweight belt will be on the line. However, Burnstein did reveal that Mosley has agreed to Mayweather's stipulations for random drug-testing, which was the reason Manny Pacquiao recently pulled out negotiations with the Mayweather camp.

Both Mosley and Mayweather have accused each other of ducking one another during their careers. This time, it seems nothing stands in the way of the latter putting pen to paper on the bout.

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