I'd say Johnston has a clear style advantage.....was Mosley better enough than Johnston to overcome it?
I don't think he has a style advantage at all. He's a better boxer than Shane for sure, but he lacks the range of speed. Range troubles Shane especially, and timing. The guys who have beaten him apart from Pacquiao have been rangier and had good timing. I see Shane's reach and handspeed being pretty dominant against Lil Stevie.
Well then you're wrong, frankly. The careers of both guys make them good poster boys for the classic boxer>slugger>swarmer>boxer dynamic.
I think it'd be as in line with the facts to say Mosley struggled with boxers/counter punchers. Philip Holliday for instance gave Shane all kind of difficulties & he was neither tall or very good. Just a decent boxer who fought patiently and looked to counter. I think styles certainly favour Stevie here
I kind of agree with Hut on this one that the styles do favour Johnston. The odds should favour Mosley, however.
It was way too easy to lure Johnston into a trading match, way too fucking easy and he couldn't punch anywhere near hard enough to make that work... I think Mosley, as overrated and stupid as he was, wins it clearly because Johnston would easily get drawn into a firefight
Kind of along the lines of what cdogg is saying, Stevie was far from a patient boxer. I like Stevie a lot, great, compact, skilled little boxer, but he was quite active and aggressive. He wasn't like Floyd. He was kind of like a cross between Shane and a classic boxer like Floyd actually. Stevie's relative aggression, willingness to trade, and lack of size would make this a pretty sure bet for Mosley IMO, I don't think Stevie would even be that competitive.
Consider that Stevie was a hittable midget. Shane would have a huge edge in size, reach, and a considerable handspeed edge. Stevie was NOT Whitaker. He wasnt some master boxer. What he was, was a VERY GOOD boxer-brawler. However, he lacked the firepower to do any damage to Shane, and lacked the defense to avoid Shane's punches for any long period of time. The way some people talk about Stevie, you'd think he dominated world class opposition like Whitaker or Floyd. In Stevie's best performance, he clearly outboxed/out fought a prime Manfredy. But even that fight wasnt completely one sided. Manfredy won about 3-4 rounds off him. Hell, even in the Bazan rematch, where Stevie was also very good, Bazan ran him pretty close. Do you think Manfredy, or Bazan would have been in the LEAST bit competitive with Mosley? Quite bluntly....... Stevie Johnston simply wasnt the same calibre fighter as Shane. Mosley would have won by clear UD, with a very good chance of a late stoppage, considering he'd rape Stevie to the body.
