Shane Mosley vs Aaron Pryor 10 rounds. Who takes it? And Why?

Prime time Shane Mosley is usually likened to the great Roberto Duran who went from lightweight in which he had a distinguished lengthy reign straight to the welterweights and junior middleweights without even a cursory stop at the junior welterweight class which on the other hand was the exclusive domain of Aaron Pryor in his prime. That, I think is the main problem in this match up---at what weight do these two are to hold their putative fight considering their respective primes? Pryor started as a lightweight but did not distinguish himself there and by the time he moved to the welterweights, he was already coming off years of inactivity due to cocaine addiction and was already on the decline as far as his skills and physical condition were concerned resulting to his first and only loss---by KO to a fringe contender.

Therefore, in fairness to Pryor, any theoretical or mythical fight with Shane had to be at or around 140 lbs.where ironically Mosley was never tested in all his career.

Given that premise, a fight at 140 lbs. should at least on paper give the advantage to Pryor. But that is not much of an edge since Mosley made the transition from 135 lbs. to 147 lbs. quite easily and we could assume that fighting at a level in between, that is 140 lbs. should pose no problem for him.

Pryor was an offensive machine in his prime so most likely he would take the fight to Shane who would be forced to assume the role of a defensive counter puncher as he did in his first winning fight versus Oscar de la Hoya at 147. But Shane would not limit himself to that role as the fight progresses as he will employ his longer reach to hit Pryor with jabs and hooks---especially the left with more regularity That would signal a series of furious exchanges by the 5th round that could go on till the 8th round making for a very difficult fight to score. With Pryor suffering flash knockdowns even against lesser foes, it will not be remote that he too will suffer one or two in that stretch allowing Mosley to pull even.

That sets the stage for the need for both boxers to launch a stronger finish in the last two rounds to clinch the win. Pryor in his prime was noted for finishing strongly and with flourish given his Henry Armstrong-like stamina and physical conditioning. Mosley was notorious for coasting or even losing steam at the end and that would be difference in this fight. Pryor dominates the last two round to win by a close 10 round UD.

For all the times Shane Mosley starved himself to make lightweight, only to eat himself back up to weight, by fight time, this would work against him against Pryor. Mosley built his status in boxing against a list of B-grade lightweights while he, himself was really a welterweight. None of his opponents were much of a threat.

Facing Pryor at 140 would be an entirely different game for Mosley. For Pryor, there was no starving himself to face smaller opponents. Those opponents would have nothing to do with him so he was forced to move to 140, where he adjusted naturally. Mosley would have a slight size advantage as well as an edge in speed.

The mistake for Mosley is that he rarely sticks to any game plan. Like Donald Curry before him, he scored a few knockouts and abandoned that which paved the way for his success. Mosley was a manufactured puncher but that would do him no good against Pryor, who moves to much for Mosley to capitalize.

In the beginning, Mosley's speed and power would prove troublesome. However, once Pryor realizes that Mosley can't seriously hurt him, and once Mosley abandons his boxing skills -which he almost always does, the fight is clearly in Pryor's favor.

By the 4th round, the boxing match becomes a brawl with Mosley in deep water. His mild spurts in the early rounds would be eclipsed by his struggle to keep Pryor off of him. Knowing the bout is only 10 rounds, Pryor would never let up. It's a see-saw match with Mosley taking the first four and Pryor the final six.

In a 15 rounder, you would see a bit more boxing and pacing. In this 10 rounder, it's all out war.

Pryor W 10.

Wow! Talk about a great match up? This is one for the ages! This would be an all out war! This is also a hard fight to pick because Shane in his prime was a monster but so was Pryor. Both guys had good speed, power, and excellent chins but I think Pryor's constant pressure would be a tad too much for Shane. I'd say Pryor takes it with a close split decision in a fight with MURDEROUS exchanges and all out action!

PRYOR W10 MOSLEY.

Hello! 10 rounds is interesting and so is this match up! Mosley is more of a natural welterweight as Pryor was a great 140 lb Champion. Mosley has great hand speed and is an excellent boxer with a sturdy chin. Pryor was a whirlwind with the ability to throw punches non stop and from just about any angle. He also had a great chin and only lost 1 career fight out of 40. I believe this would have been a fast paced action packed bout with lots of momentum swings throughout but the overall punch volume would favor Pryor so I believe he takes it in a tough battle.

Pryor W10

I'd pick Sugar Shane for his speed and boxing ability. If Shane could control the Hawk's aggression in the first 5 rounds, he'd easily rally and score a points win.