02.06.09 – by John Martinez, IronBoxing.com: In the district that spans from 140 to 154 pounds, some of the sweet science’s most gifted warriors reside and thrive.
From junior welterweight to super welterweight, this region of weight classes is stacked with fighters that are willing to give the public what they want and deserve- a fight.
Names like, but not limited to, Miguel Cotto, Manny Pacquaio, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Joshua Clottey, whom I believe will give fits to the PR bomber but ultimately lose by split decision, Paul Williams, Timothy Bradley Jr., Ricky Hatton, Andre Berto, the once mighty Antonio Margarito, and the new addition of lightweight champion, Juan Manuel Marquez can be found here.
Among those names, but not receiving a lot of attention from boxing scribes, fighters, and fans alike, stands first ballot Hall of Famer- “Sugar” Shane Mosley..
Mosley’s name isn’t exactly rolling off the tongues of Mayweather, Cotto, or Pacquaio either. In fact, none of the top three combatants mentioned seems very enthused to enter the squared circle with the WBA welterweight king, Shane Mosley, anytime soon.
To say that this has irked the welterweight champ is putting it mildly, especially when it comes to Mayweather.
“Why is he (Mayweather) fighting the lightweight champion of the world (Juan Marquez)? He should be fighting the welterweight champion, that’s me,” he told ESPN’s Brian Kenney.
But when I spoke with Shane Mosley as recently as yesterday, he informed me that Mayweather was not his first choice to pick a fight with.
In fact, he said “I want to fight Pacquaio first then Mayweather.” This way, it “kills the fight for Mayweather to fight Pacquaio (and) then be able to retire without fighting me.”
“I want to retire him (Mayweather),” he said.
But doesn’t this mean that Mosley is doing the same thing that Mayweather is doing?
Seeming to fight a little man for a big payday?
“No.” He said. “Because Manny is bigger than most people think. He came into his last few fights weighing in around 150(lbs.) the night of the fight. People should stop trying to make it sound like he is smaller than he really is.”
During the interview, Mosley told me that he only wanted to fight the best fighter first. I asked him if by fighting Pacquaio before Mayweather, is he saying that the Filipino dynamo is indeed better than the undefeated Grand Rapids boxing phenom, Floyd Mayweather Jr.
“I want to fight the best fighter first. And I think that the world thinks Manny is the best Pound for Pound fighter in the world so that is who I want to face.”
Shane told me that he believes the fight with Pacquaio can and will be made this year because “Manny wants to fight.”
In an effort to coax the Filipino to engage him in the ring, Mosley told me that he is willing to “put my belt up and we can do it at 143 or 144 pounds.”
This does seem logical. After all, Freddie Roach trainer of Manny, Bob Arum of Top Rank, and Manny himself, all agreed to have Oscar De la Hoya weigh in at 147, why not let Shane Mosley enter the ring at 143 or 144?
But if Mosley thinks he will land a fight with the top three anytime soon, he may not want to hold his breath for too long.
Currently, as it stands, Cotto is gearing up for the rugged Joshua Clottey in a couple weeks, Mayweather is preparing to battle Marquez in Marquez’s debut into the welterweight fray, and Pacquaio announced that he will make a decision in mid July as to who will get the chance to dethrone him as the Pound for Pound champion on October 17.
And furthermore, Top Rank, which holds rights to Cotto, Clottey, and Pacquaio has gone on record as saying their preference for whom they want to see fight later this year.
And none of what they are saying as far as future bouts has the name Shane Mosley involved in it.
“I sit at the crossroads for them (Cotto, Mayweather, Pacquaio). They have to fight me. I am the best fighter,” he said.
“Look what I did to Margarito. I proved it with him. He was supposed to be the next Mexican superstar and I beat him. I beat him convincingly by knocking him out.”
In talking with Mosley, I got a sense of aggression in his passive tone. Although he tried his best to resonate diplomacy in his words, from time to time he clearly slipped into frustration.
“I ask is the public really going to sit by and allow the HBO’s of the world and the fighters to not fight the best welterweight fighter out there, me?”
With all of Shane’s lobbying (that bordered on aggression) for respect from fellow fighters, fans, and media alike, there was none more telling than his “choice” words for Maxboxing’s Steve Kim.
Kim, the colorful Korean writer that always seems to know or say that he knows so much about boxing, but isn’t a fighter, had opined that Mosley’s press release last week claiming his desire to fight Pacquaio at a catch weight was done as “usually the last bastion of the very desperate or those who are just begging.”
He also wrote, “Say it ain’t so, ‘Sugar’ Shane Mosley has become Ishe Smith” and that “an apt analogy is that Mosley is that multi millionaire.. (although he may not be after his divorce proceedings) that now has to beg and panhandle to make ends meat.”
Wow. Crude, elementary “stuff”. So what does Mosley think of Steve Kim and his profiling of Shane?
“Steve Kim is a hater writer, “ said Mosley. “I used to know the guy that was with him, Dougie Fischer. We sparred once. He (D.F.) knows boxing. Kim hasn’t put on the gloves. He doesn’t even know that the speed bag drills are actually good for fighters because it helps with eye/hand coordination, hand speed, and endurance.”
Mosley continued with “how can I be compared to Ishe Smith? A fighter that hasn’t even won a world title yet. How can you compare me to a club fighter that I don’t even think the world even knows yet?”
“The fans don’t want to hear about what you (Steve Kim) believe. Steve Kim is just an angry writer.”
After defending himself from Kim, Mosley took the time to tell me how he thinks the Marquez/Mayweather fight will shake out.
Shane insisted to me “Marquez has a chance to win. Juan is the only that has been able to rock Manny so far. He is also the only one to knock out Juan Diaz flat. Marquez has some serious hidden power.”
Mosley believes that since both Marquez and Mayweather are counter punchers, they are “both going to be playing a waiting game and this happens, Floyd will have to attack, because Marquez is too patient. And when Floyd does come forward, which he is not used to having to do, Juan will hit him because there will be openings.”
“But you should be asking the real question, ‘what kind of damage will the punches that Juan throws and lands to Floyd do to him and how will Floyd handle it?’
Though the year is already half way finished, here’s hoping that Mosley will get the nod from one of the Three Amigos (Cotto, Mayweather, Pacquaio) to dance with him before we see this year’s calendar come to a close.
Shane Mosley in a fight with any of the top three makes sense. It will draw revenue. It will be competitive and quite possibly memorable. It will pit elite fighter against elite fighter.
It will showcase the potential for just how great each of these mean can be because at the highest level, only the strong survive.
As Mosley told me, “I want the fans to enjoy themselves. I want them to get their moneys worth. I don’t want to be bored in the ring. I don’t want to chase a guy around the ring and hide because I know I can hide. I don’t want to win on points. That’s boring. I want to fight. If the guy knocks me out, so be it.”
“If he knocks me down, then good because that shows me that he is trying to win. He is trying to fight. I want to show and see heart. If the fans are having fun, then so am I.”
“I don’t see this as a job or a business. I love what I do. I do this for fun. I do it for the fans.”
And as his record has proving, he has stepped into the ring against some of boxing’s largest luminaries ranging from DelaHoya to Vargas, to Winky Wright to Cotto, Forrest, Mayorga, and Antonio Margarito.
Some he lost. Some he won. Either way, he’s still standing. He’s still here. He’s still feeding at the top of the food chain, even at the ripe age of 37.
Quick hits:
Mosley believes that Golden Boy fighter Rocky Juarez must become less “one dimensional” in order to continue to fight at the elite levels. He thinks that the rematch with Chris Johns will be exciting, but that Johns will figure out, if he hasn’t already, that Juarez only has a solid left hook as his go to weapon.
He also said that Hatton and Mayweather Sr. were not suited for one another.
“Wrong trainer. Plain and simple. Senior is a boxer’s trainer. He is very good. He can teach you bob and weave, jabs, head movement, and defense. He is really good at what he does, but Ricky is brawler. You can’t teach an old dog knew tricks.”
Regarding Juan Diaz, I asked him if the thought that Juan Diaz should have a comeback fight against a guy like Vicente Escobedo to which he said “ yes. Definitely. He should get his confidence back with a guy like Escobedo, but no matter what, he must stay active because the longer he’s out, the more he’ll think about his knock out loss to Marquez.”
Lastly, he mentioned that Golden Boy Promotions is still hoping for the best as far as undefeated junior middleweight clubber James Kirkland is concerned. Kirkland is in police custody after being caught with a handgun during a traffic stop in Austin, Texas on April 19, 2009. Kirkland is a convicted felon and looking at doing a stint in prison for violating his probation.
Mosley believes that “if it only for a year or two (prison sentence) then he can still come back and be a force. We would love to have him, but we are playing the waiting game and can’t do anything about it.”