Shane Mosley says fighters today are being overpaid and not putting in the work. Many of them are not fighting for the fans. They want to run around the ring, outpoint their opponents, and pick up a big check.
Modern Boxing: No Effort
Mosley points out that when he fought, his opponents were “prey” and he was the “predator,” looking to knock them out. He says there are not enough fighters in this era who have that predator mindset. They just want to rob the bank and get the easy money.
“I think they’re getting paid too much money, and they’re not putting in the work. They’re not fighting for the fans. We fought for the fans. We fought for honor and to be the best, and we wanted to prove to prove stuff,” said Shane Mosley to Fighthype when asked why today’s generation of fighters lacks the aggression of when he fought.
It’s the fighters that are getting paid a lot, and they’re runners to begin with. That’s how they captured their titles or created their records. Some of the fighters that Turki Alalshikh has chosen to put on his Riyadh Season cards shouldn’t have been picked.
Two of the main card fighters in Times Square should never have been selected. It comes down to excluding runners, period. If Turki were to do that, it wouldn’t be an issue, and he would be helping the sport. We all know who the runners are. Those are the ones that are bringing down boxing by making the events unwatchable.
“Today, they just want to get a check. They want to run around, move away, and outpoint you, not get hit, get a check, and rob the bank,” said Mosley. “That seems to be what the young kids are doing today. Some of them are trying to fight. I think when we got this thing where we have to be undefeated because everyone wants to be undefeated.”
Fans would argue these are some of the runners:
– Shakur Stevenson
– Devin Haney
– Richardson Hitchins
– Terence Crawford: He was a runner until he got old
– Teofimo Lopez
– William Scull
“When you get two guys in there to fight and not worry about being undefeated. If you lose and you fought really hard, then fans still want to see them,” said Mosley. “But people are afraid to lose now. So now, they’ll run around the ring so they won’t lose.”
The problem is that the promoters rarely match their fighters against fighters who have the ability to be competitive. For example, we’ve got Moses Itauma fighting the old washed-up 37-year-old Dillian Whyte. How can you have a competitive fight when you’ve got matchmaking like that? Then there’s Richardson Hitchins defending againt the old washed-up George Kambosos Jr. in the main event on DAZN. Why are fights like this even happening in headliner contests? These fights are not a good product for the fans. It’s slop.
Turki’s No Running Rule
“I think he’s starting to understand the sport a little bit better now,” said Mosley about Turki Alalshikh. “Before, he kind of just came in with his money and didn’t really know, and was like a fan of the sport. Now, he’s getting to know the sport a little bit more and putting down rules like the ‘No running’ rule. So the fighters can actually fight for the money,” said Mosley.
We still have yet to see if Turki will ban certain fighters from his future Riyadh Season cards if they continue running, ignoring his directive not to use that style of fighting in his events. Shakur Stevenson is fighting on Turki’s card against the pressure fighter William Zepeda next month on July 12th. It’s a fight where Shakur almost has to run for him to have a chance of winning. It’s going to be a test if Turki will have teeth in his new rule by banning Stevenson if he puts on his track shoes for the Zepeda fight and stinks out the joint.
“If they don’t fight, then they shouldn’t really get paid all that money. There should be a mark if you fight, you get paid this. If you don’t fight, then you get this. You got to work your way up to these millions and really put your heart out there to fight like people really want to see you. Not where they just trying to win the fight but not show what they can do. Put their heart out there. This is what we did. That’s why boxing is so great because we went out there and fought in our era.”
Mosley didn’t give any examples, but it sounds like he’s referring to the Times Square main card last May, where Devin Haney and Teofimo Lopez ran around the ring, not engaging all night. Their fights were unwatchable, and Turki Alalshikh paid them mega-millions. Even Ryan Garcia chose to play it safe after being dropped by Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero, and he was reportedly paid $20 million.
“It’s a little bit animalistic. You’re the prey and I’m the predator. I’m coming to get you,” said Mosley about his attitude when he fought, where he was coming to knock out his opponents.
There are fighters today who have that mentality that Mosley, Felix Trinidad, and Oscar De La Hoya had during their era. Unfortunately, there are not enough of them, and many of the broadcast events are filled with runners on the main card. We saw last Saturday night between Richardson Hitchins and George Kambosos Jr, and that was mostly boring. It was a trash fight that should never have been made.
