02.03.04 – By Matthew Hurley: Sugar Shane Mosley’s upcoming Junior Middleweight title unification bout against Winky Wright has this corner in a quandary. Being a huge fan of Shane I’ve found myself in an odd predicament. No matter how I look at this fight I can’t see Mosley winning. Say what you will about Shane’s power shots carrying his rematch against De La Hoya but I had Oscar winning that fight. Now look back on Shane’s last four fights from an objective perspective and you have two distinct losses to Vernon Forrest, a seriously poor debut at 154 pounds against Raul Marquez that was declared a no-contest because of an accidental clash of heads and his toss up against “The Golden Boy.” Quite frankly, Shane Mosley hasn’t really appeared to be all that sweet in almost four years.
Now he’s going up against a tricky southpaw and a legitimate 154 pound fighter in Winky Wright who has been chomping at the bit for a big name fighter to give him an opportunity to shine in the limelight for years. It’s a dangerous fight for Mosley and he deserves all the credit in the world for taking it. But it could be a mistake. One more derailment in his career and the big money fights he feels he deserves may forever be out of reach, and Wright seems to have all the tools to frustrate the hell out of Mosley.
For all his talent though, Winky Wright can be about as boring a technician you could possibly dream of. He makes opponents look bad and he rarely looks good himself in dismantling them. Mosley, when he’s in top form, is dynamic. Wright, when he’s in top form, is patient to a fault. The sense here is that Wright possesses all the necessary tools to shut the Mosley express down.
In no way am I denigrating Winky Wright. He’s a consummate professional, something I have immense respect for, but right now boxing needs flash and style. It needs a fighter like Mosley to cross over into the general sporting world. With the heavyweight division in transition after the retirement of Lennox Lewis and Oscar De La Hoya nearing the end of his career the fight game needs a star and Mosley can fit the bill. Wright, despite being right, just doesn’t have any of the charm or pizzazz. That may not be fair, but that’s the way this sport has always been.
The popularity of the sport needs Shane Mosley to win and this corner will be rooting for him not only as a fan of Shane’s but for boxing in general. Yet my gut tells me that Winky Wright will prevail, and it won’t be pretty