Thursday, Feb. 4, 2010 | 5:19 p.m.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission on Thursday afternoon gave its approval for Floyd Mayweather Jr. to fight Shane Mosley in a welterweight bout May 1 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
All events contested in Nevada, regardless of the magnitude, are required to go through the commission's sanctioning process.
"We thank them for bringing this fight here," commissioner Bill Brady said during an afternoon meeting at the Grant Sawyer State Office Building. "I know it's been a lot of work and we appreciate it."
While the fight will pit two of the sport's more notable pound-for-pound fighters over the last decade, it's not the match-up the majority of fans wanted to see.
However, that fight — Mayweather against Manny Pacquiao — never was finalized after the two sides couldn't agree on pre-fight drug-testing methods. Ironically, Mosley has admitted using steroids before his victory against Oscar De La Hoya in 2003.
Mosley (46-5, 39 KOs) has agreed to pre-fight urine and blood drug testing at anytime leading up to the fight as long as Mayweather (40-0, 25 knockouts) undergoes the same test on the same day. Pacquiao refused to have his blood tested.
Pacquiao is fighting Joshua Clottey on March 13 in Dallas. Mayweather initially targeted March 13 for his next fight, but couldn't secure an opponent.
The commission also approved the date of April 3 for the Bernard Hopkins-Roy Jones Jr. rematch at Mandalay Bay.
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