Former world champion Johnny Nelson has named a Hall of Famer who he would back against prime versions of Floyd Mayweather and Terence Crawford.
The two Americans retired as unbeaten five-division world champions and, generally speaking, were regarded as the finest talents of their respective eras.
Throughout Mayweather’s career, there were often doubts over his appetite for the toughest challenges but, by the end of it, no one could dispute his status as an all-time great.
Similarly, Crawford crafted a Hall of Fame-worthy legacy and became a three-division undisputed champion by dethroning Canelo Alvarez in his first outing at 168lbs.
Yet even with both men having placed their greatness beyond any reasonable doubt, Nelson believes that a prime Shane Mosley would have defeated them both.
‘Sugar’ was widely considered to be at the peak of his powers between the late 1990s and early 2000s, back when he made eight lightweight title defences before becoming a two-division world champion at 147lbs.
Mosley did so by dethroning Oscar De La Hoya with a split decision victory and, against Crawford, Nelson has told Daily Mail Sport that he believes the American would have had comparable success.
“I’m going Shane Mosley. On his day, he was a badman.”
Nelson also backed Mosley to defeat Mayweather, despite him losing their welterweight showdown in 2010.
“When they fought, [Mayweather] got the old version of him. So I’m going Mosley.”
At the age of 38, Mosley was widely credited with giving Mayweather one of his toughest fights and even managed to hurt ‘Money’ with a right hand in round two.
