by Geoffrey Ciani – This week’s 87th edition of On the Ropes Boxing Radio featured an exclusive interview with former three division champion and future Hall of Famer, Sugar Shane Mosley (46-6, 39 KOs) who is preparing to fight Sergio Mora (22-1-1, 6 KOs) on September 18 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The fight will be available on HBO PPV. Following the fight, there will be an after party/birthday celebration (Shane turns 39 on September 7) at the ESPN Zone across the street from Staples Center hosted by actors Cuba Gooding Junior and Larenz Tate. Shane will be fielding fan questions and is giving away tickets on his Twitter. (You can follow him @sugarshanem and his team @mosleytribe for all the up to date info). Here is what Sugar Shane had to say about his upcoming fight and other matters pertaining to the current boxing landscape.
JENNA J: Alright everybody, we are back with Sugar Shane Mosley returning to On the Ropes for the fourth time. How’s everything going today, Shane?
SHANE MOSLEY: Everything’s going great. I’m feeling good. I’m still working hard and training hard. Right now we’re just getting ready for this fight.
JENNA: Well you’ve got an upcoming fight, it is on September 18 against Sergio Mora. He is a former light middleweight champion. How’s your training going for this?
MOSLEY: The training is going great. Brother Naazim Richardson’s is doing real good. My sparring, Karl Dargan, and actually my son Shane Mosley Junior is helping with some things, Enrique Ornelas. There is a lot of talent up here helping me to make sure that I’m in great shape and make sure that I perform at my best.
JENNA: What do you expect from Sergio Mora when you get into the ring with him on the 18th?
MOSLEY: I expect Sergio Mora to be at his best and come at me with all of his might. I think that he is a very energetic fighter and if you don’t take him seriously you can definitely be on the losing end of the stick.
JENNA: Yeah, he surprised a lot of people when he upset Vernon Forrest, and of course, he lost the rematch. Do you think him having to sweat down to 154 will affect him this fight like it did in the rematch with Forrest?
MOSLEY: That I really don’t know. The last time I had seen him it looked like he was in pretty good shape. It looked like he was around his weight so I don’t think that he has to lose much weight. I think being that he was preparing for another fight before he got into a fight with me, he was already in stride of working out so he wasn’t too heavy. I think he’ll be in great shape, probably even better shape than before.
JENNA: How do you feel now moving back to 154 pounds?
MOSLEY: I feel great. I just do a fight by fight situation where at 154 pounds, I think welterweight is a great weight for me, but I’m going to see how I feel this time at 154. I’ve been feeling pretty strong in the gym and pretty quick, too, as well. You never know. Maybe age is making move up to a different weight class. I don’t know, but there is a lot of talent at 147 and I would love to stay there, too.
JENNA: Alright now if you win this fight against Sergio Mora, the guy that’s considered to be the best at 154 is Sergio Martinez, who is currently the middleweight champion. If you win this fight, what fight are you looking for most? Would you consider moving up to middleweight to face him, or would you like to go back to 147 and try to get a fight with Pacquiao?
MOSLEY: I would get a fight with either one. I think that a fight at 147 with Pacquiao would be great, or if Pacquiao wants to fight at 154 or 150, that would be a good catch weight. A fight with Sergio Martinez, you know him moving back down to 154, I think he’s a former champion at 154. That would be pretty good, but also a great fight for the title at 154 would be with Miguel Cotto, and I’m looking forward to do that as well, a rematch.
JENNA: Alright, now if you are able to win this fight here and a lot of people will be favoring you in it, is that the one fight you really want? A fight with Cotto since you fought him before and some people said you should have got a win?
MOSLEY: That would be a great a victory for me to go ahead and fight Cotto again and do what I do. I would love to. Cotto is a great fighter still, even after losing to Margarito. He still has a great talent. He was pretty good in his fight with Yuri Foreman, and I’m just excited to be able to be in that vicinity of fighting these great fighters.
JENNA: Now that guy at 154 as I mentioned before, Sergio Martinez, what do you think of him as a fighter?
MOSLEY: I think he’s a great fighter. Sergio Martinez, he moves around a lot, he’s got a lot of energy, and he’ll be another definite great test in the future. He has a lot of great talent, an Argentinian guy.
JENNA: Okay Shane, well we’re also joined by my Co-Host Geoff Ciani. Geoff?
GEOFFREY CIANI: Hi Shane. It’s a pleasure to have you back on the show.
MOSLEY: Thank you, it’s a pleasure to be here.
CIANI: Thank you. Shane, I’m curious, Pacquiao’s name’s been mentioned here and he, of course, is scheduled to face the guy you beat Antonio Margarito this upcoming November. I’m wondering, given the fact with the hand wrap controversy and the stuff that Margarito had in your fight, he’s only had one fight since then. Are you a little surprised and do you think Margarito was deserving of this fight so soon after the controversy?
MOSLEY: Yeah, you know, I think that Margarito is getting the fight. It’s a great thing to see what he can do with Pacquiao. I mean Cotto got his chance with Pacquiao, and Margarito I guess is under the same banner with Bob Arum so they can keep it in house. That’s an interesting fight. Everybody wants to put the blame on Margarito and put everything down on Margarito, but I look at the trainer. I think the trainer is the main culprit in this equation. He knew better not to do that type of stuff and probably tried to persuade Margarito to do certain stuff. Even when it was said right when it happened, my father said nothing about Margarito. He was like, ‘Wow! Why would that trainer? We know Capetillo. Why would he do that? Why would that trainer go do that? Why would he put those things in his hands? He knows better than that.” Because the fighter’s not going to ask for it, the trainer is going to try and give it to him.
CIANI: Now how do you think that fight between Pacquiao and Margarito is going to play out, Shane?
MOSLEY: It’s interesting because Margarito is a lot taller than I am, a lot taller than Cotto, a lot taller than anybody that Pacquiao’s fought. The arm, the distance of the reach might be a factor. Pacquiao’s never fought anybody that tall and that active. Margarito’s an active fighter as well. He throws a lot of punches. It will be a spectacular fight, though. I would love to see it.
CIANI: You mentioned before the possibility of fighting Sergio Martinez. Is it possible if the opportunity were there for you that you would fight him at the middleweight limit?
MOSLEY: Yeah, I mean if there is an opportunity that’s available in the middleweight division, but like I said, there’s a lot of great fights out there that people know and recognize like Cotto that people would love to see. You know Sergio Martinez is a great fighter and I know that he fought Paul Williams. Maybe they need to get together and do it again because a lot of people thought Sergio Martinez beat Paul Williams and Paul Williams won.
CIANI: Now changing things up a little bit here Shane and kind of sticking with the middleweight theme for a second, our next guest coming up on the show today is former undisputed middleweight champion ‘Marvelous’ Marvin Hagler. I was just curious, what are your thoughts on Marvin Hagler as a fighter?
MOSLEY: He’s a great fighter, determined, a great warrior, probably one of the greatest warriors of all time. He’d come out there and he would battle anybody. I liked that bald head he had. He just came in and did his work. I mean one of the greatest three round fights was him and Tommy Hearns and I still remember today how they both had gone at it. I’d never seen a fight like that before in three rounds, a great fight.
CIANI: Shane, also sticking with the middleweights, you know Bernard Hopkins pretty well. I’m wondering, when he was last on our program he spoke of the possibility of moving up to heavyweight and taking on WBA champion David Haye, and I’m wondering based on what you know of Bernard, do you think that Bernard can make the move up to heavyweight and have a chance against someone like Haye?
MOSLEY: Well with Bernard you never know. He definitely will have a chance with anybody he gets in the ring with. He has the height. Where Haye is maybe like 6’3”-6’4” and Bernard is like 6’2” so Bernard will have a chance, but David Haye is a great fighter. You never know. He’s a great young heavyweight coming up and he’s only gaining momentum. So it will be interesting, but I don’t know if Bernard is going to do that. There are other fights out there, maybe with Adamek or somebody like that, that Bernard will probably be more his size with more of a control type of fight for Bernard I think.
JENNA: Shane, let’s talk a little bit about your last fight. You fought Floyd Mayweather Jr. Do you think it at all hurt your ego a little bit the way that you lost there after having him hurt and not being able to finish him and now moving up to 154?
MOSLEY: No, not at all. I’ll go back to 147, too. I just want to get the right fights in. I didn’t hurt my ankle or anything. I just want to go out there and there were some mistakes I made that I couldn’t capitalize on at that time. I had a bad night, so maybe I’ll come back again in the future and have a good night. As you can see, I have the punching power to knockout anybody and even Floyd was ready to go at a certain point. Maybe given another chance, maybe you might see the fight being the other way around where Floyd’s on the ground and he’s not getting back up.
JENNA: Now speaking of Floyd Mayweather Junior, when talks fell through between him and Pacquiao it leaves a big question mark about where he goes next, and I’m just curious, where do you see Floyd Mayweather Junior going if he’s not fighting Pacquiao?
MOSLEY: If he doesn’t fight Pacquiao, I mean I don’t see any others. Fight me for a rematch, but I think his next fight if it’s going to be anybody, it should be Pacquiao. That’s the fight that the world wants to see so let it happen.
JENNA: Alright, what do you think about him hanging out with Don King and do you think that could possibly hinder a fight from making it happen or do you think it helps in any way?
MOSLEY: I don’t think it’s going to hinder it. I think that just hanging out with Don King he’s just trying to get more money. He’s ‘Money’ Mayweather, he just wants to get more money and he’s trying to figure out a way to get more money and get people to fill his pockets. But Don could be a master of emptying your pockets, too, so he has to be careful.
JENNA: If you were to bet, where do you think Floyd Mayweather Junior is fighting next? Do you think he’s fighting under a Don King banner or Golden Boy?
MOSLEY: That I don’t know. That’s something you have to ask Floyd Mayweather. I couldn’t tell you one way or another.
JENNA: Alright, well we’re also joined by my Co-Host Nick Powers. Nick?
NICK POWERS: Hey Shane. It’s a pleasure to have you back On the Ropes. Thanks for joining us today.
MOSLEY: Thank you.
POWERS: Following your loss to Floyd Mayweather, obviously you’re prepping for your fight with Sergio Mora in LA next month. You’re in the gym obviously with Brother Naazim Richardson who’s been your trainer since the Margarito fight. What if anything have you guys focused on after your loss to Floyd? Maybe any little things that you’ve seen in the gym or perhaps from your performance that you might be working on to try and polish up a little bit before you get in the ring with Sergio?
MOSLEY: I think just that Sergio Mora has a high rate of fighting. He’s very active and he fights on a lot of emotion. Just make sure that I’m able to deal with Sergio Mora’s activity level. He can be an exciting fighter. He gets into exciting fights when he does fight. He’s always in a rumble in his fights and I have to be ready to punch back and forth with him.
POWERS: Now you’re fighting him on September 18 in the Staples Center, but you actually had another fight not that long ago following your Floyd fight against Big Shamrock, the recently signed Boston Celtic Shaq Diesel. How was that experience for you when you fought Shaq?
MOSLEY: You know it was actually pretty fun. Shaq is a great guy and I’ve known him for a long time. Since 2000 when I fought Oscar the first time we used to hang out a lot, but Shaq is a great person. It was fun and also for him getting on his knees and being the same height as me. It was kind of weird because when I was fighting him I had to lift up 330 pounds. The whole time we were fighting he was just laying on me. I was actually getting tired myself.
CIANI: That was a great show there Shane with you and Shaq. I enjoyed watching that. Shane, one of the things I’m curious about, when we had Roger Mayweather on the program he mentioned that he thought the toughest fight for Floyd in recent years at the welterweight limit would have been against Vernon Forrest. I’m just curious, given the fact you both men, how do you think a fight at welterweight between Floyd and Vernon might have gone down when they were both at their best at that weight?
MOSLEY: Wow! That would have been very hard to decide, but I know that Vernon had a long right hand. You know, I was able to hit Floyd with a pretty good right hand so I know that Vernon’s right hand was one of the tops, just like a Tommy Hearns right hand. So there would have been some promise in that fight and Vernon being so tall and he had a pretty good jab, as well. I mean I know Roger would know this. Roger trained Vernon when they were coming up a little bit and that’s kind of how Vernon Forrest’s style became. So it could have been hard for Floyd against those styles.
CIANI: Shane, after your loss to Floyd there was a lot of speculation in the media that you might hand up the gloves, and I would just like to know from your mouth personally, did you ever consider retirement or was that not an option in your mind after that fight?
MOSLEY: After that fight that wasn’t an option in my mind. I wasn’t ready to retire yet being that there was a lot of things going on in my life. Right before the fight I was forced to give my ex now half of what I had in my account at that time and there was a lot of different mental stuff going on. So now, I feel good. I just felt like it wasn’t time for me to retire yet. I need to fight a couple of more fights for maybe three or four more years and then maybe I’ll hang it up and let my son take over from there.
CIANI: Well I’m definitely looking forward to seeing you get back inside the ring as you put a lot of good shows for us fans and the fans of the last fifteen years or so. I’m wondering Shane, you said you’re going to go another three or four years. I know you got this fight coming up with Mora and that’s your short-term focus, but over the next year or two where would you like to be? What would you like to do in boxing over the next two years?
MOSLEY: My next two years I just want to knock everybody out. That’s all. I just want to get into the ring and knock out everybody that enters the ring with me and just roll out like that, just being the knockout person that I am.
JENNA: Alright now Shane, let’s talk a little bit about Sergio Mora. We talked about what you thought of him, but I’m just curious, what do you think is his biggest strength in the ring against you?
MOSLEY: I think his biggest strength is going to be that he’s coming down from middleweight to junior middleweight and I’m going up to junior middleweight. I think that’s going to carry and play into the ring. That’s what’s going to help him out. That’s what’s going to make it such an intriguing fight or such a battle back and forth because me being a little smaller and him being a little heavier, maybe I won’t be able to hurt him as fast and I’ll have to really work to get a knockout.
JENNA: If somehow you don’t win this bout, how bad of a setback would that be for your career? Would you consider hanging it up if you were unable to beat Sergio Mora?
MOSLEY: Well it depends on if I lose how I lose, but I don’t really think that in my head. So we’ll have to cross that bridge if we get there.
JENNA: Now your biggest strength in this fight, what do you consider it to be?
MOSLEY: My speed and power—my speed and probably that power that I have, that unpredictable power that Mora can’t really see. He won’t be able to see. He’ll be like, ‘Wow!’ I think Shaq commented on that too when he fought him when we did that little exhibition on how I can really hit. I think that’s what really shocks people is my punching power.
JENNA: Speaking of Shaq, do you think he should take on a heavyweight and stop picking on these welterweights?
MOSLEY: Well maybe he’s not ready for heavyweight yet, but he will be in a second if he keeps doing this. He looks like he has a little bit of coordination and he’s moving around pretty good. Maybe he could take on Butterbean or somebody. I think that would be a good fight.
JENNA: I have two more questions for you Shane. What is your official prediction for September 18 against Sergio Mora? What’s your official prediction?
MOSLEY: My official prediction is for the whole night, the whole card, to be spectacular. I think it’s going to be a great night of fighting for all the Mexican fans, for all the fans across the world to watch. We have a lot of great talent on the under card. We have Victor Ortiz, Saul Alvarez, and a few others. It’s going to spectacular, but I know in my fight I’m going to give the fans what they want to see.
JENNA: Alright, well we certainly hope to see that. I have one final question. Is there anything you want to say to your fans out there and to all the listeners of On the Ropes Boxing Radio?
MOSLEY: Thank you fans for being the great fans that you are. Continue to watch me. Make sure you buy the fight September 18. It’s going to be a really good fight. It’s a fight that you don’t want to miss.
JENNA: It was a pleasure having you back on the show, Shane. We wish you all the best and we’re looking forward to watching you on September 18 against Sergio Mora.
MOSLEY: Thank you. I really appreciate it.
CIANI: Thanks, Shane. Good luck!
MOSLEY: Alright, take care.
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For those interested in listening to the Sugar Shane Mosley interview in its entirety, it begins approximately thirty two minutes into the program.
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