"What makes them [Ali and Robinson] any better than I am?" said Mayweather.

 

"Muhammad Ali is one hell of a fighter but Floyd Mayweather is the best. Sugar Ray Robinson is one hell of a fighter but Floyd Mayweather is the best."

 

Mosley is widely expected to give five-weight world champion Mayweather - regarded by many as the best pound-for-pound boxer fighting today - one of his toughest fights.

 

Mayweather has not paid the World Boxing Association in order to sanction the encounter as a world title bout and his manager Leonard Ellerbe said: "Floyd’s already the best fighter in the world, why does he need to fight for a belt to prove that?"

 

Mayweather added that, while a victory over three-weight world champion Mosley would enhance his legacy, he rated his rival as merely "a solid welterweight".

 

"I can’t see how a guy like Mosley can even call himself great. I can’t see how Mosley can talk about putting himself as a future Hall of Famer," stated Mayweather, who is only fighting Mosley because a match with Philippine superstar Manny Pacquiao fell through.

 

"I know what I have to go out and do. Everyone is trying to solve the problem, ‘how to beat Floyd Mayweather?’ I’m like a difficult math problem that no-one can solve."

 

The build-up to Saturday’s fight at the MGM Grand has been overshadowed somewhat by a row between Mosley and Victor Conte, the founder of the notorious Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (Balco).

 

In 2003, Mosley admitted at a grand jury investigating Balco that he used performance-enhancing drugs before his victory over Oscar de la Hoya that same year.

 

But Mosley is now suing Conte, arguing that he was unaware the ‘designer steroids’ and the energy-boosting EPO he used were banned.

 

Conte claims Mosley knew what he was taking and two weeks ago posted excerpts of Mosley’s recent videotaped deposition on YouTube, in which Mosley admits to using EPO.

 

However, the row has since taken a new twist, with Mosley claiming he has "always been a clean fighter" and that he "never did that stuff".

 

Mayweather and Mosley agreed to undergo Olympic-style drug testing ahead of their eagerly-awaited bout, with the programme including random blood tests before and after.

 

Mayweather’s proposed fight with Pacquiao collapsed in January after Pacquiao refused to yield to his rival’s demands for random testing.

 

Regarding his clash with Mayweather, Mosley said his rival had yet to fight "another top welterweight" and that he expects to have the edge in terms of speed.

 

"There are a lot of great welterweights out there he could have chosen to fight instead of fighting the ones he fought," added Mosley, who has 46 wins (39 knockouts) and five defeats.

 

"I believe I’m faster, I believe I’m going to have the advantage in speed but we’ll see." BBC

 

Source: The Island Online