This is a published letter from a hardcore fight fan out there just like you! Every Wednesday ESB will feature a new letter containing various topics around the sport, and end with a response from Vivek Wallace himself! For those fight fans who don’t like what the average boxing scribe has to say, here’s your chance to SOUND OFF! Send all ‘Open Mic Fan Mail’ letters to wallace@boxing247.com. (Keep content short and concise, profanity free, and don’t hold back, the mic is yours)! Today’s letter comes to us from Gerald L. (Aventura, FL):
Vivek,
I thought last Saturday night’s fight between Shane Mosley and Sergio Mora was easily the worst fight that I’ve seen in a LOOOONG time, by far. I’m a huge Shane Mosley fan, but after that fight, I just really don’t think he needs to continue fighting.. I read your mailbag this past Monday and although you took the high road and chose not to get into what many fans are thinking, I feel you should keep it real and admit that the only way to explain Mosley’s recent poor stamina is that he probably is no longer doping like we learned he used to. That’s not something I wanted to see or consider either, but there’s no other way to explain how badly he looked in his last two fights.
When he fought Margarito he looked like a P4P contender. He got (steroid) tested in the Mayweather fight and hasn’t looked great ever since. I always liked Mosley, but I think it’s time for him to hang his gloves up. If he had been in the ring against a better puncher the other night, he may not have finished on his feet. What’s worst is that GBP continues to allow men like Mosley and Hopkins to fight, and charge people astronomical figures to watch them. I know that you have to be “politically correct”, but now I’m calling you out! You need to speak up since no one else does. You chose to stay mum before. Now, after seeing the fight, I want to know two things: Do you think Mosley’s poor showing against Mora proves that Mayweather’s victory over him was meaningless? And, do you think Mosley still has a shot at any major players today, now that he has to fight clean?
Gerald
(RESPONSE TO OPEN LETTER BELOW)
Gerald,
For starters, I can totally respect your position, but if you’re gonna ask me to “be real”, I think you have to follow the script, as well. In one breath, you (and many others), say Mosley is “too old”; and in the next, you want a thorough explanation for why he isn’t performing the way he did ‘yesterday’. We saw it with Ali, we saw it with Foreman, Leonard, and a countless amount of others. Age has a way of catching up with EVERY man, and trust me, at the tender age of 34, I realize quite well that you don’t have to be a boxer to comprehend this. I can’t make excuses for Mosley, but if you really want to scrutinize his performances, don’t say that he looked subpar after the Margarito fight, because prior to Margarito, he fought a brawler name Ricardo Mayorga (remember that guy???) and trust me, had he not landed something nasty in the closing seconds, he was well on his way to a draw, if not a loss had one of the judges scored that round for Ricardo, too.
So, Mosley’s decline started well prior to Mayweather or Margarito. I stated the other day and I maintain, none of us know the details surrounding Mosley’s alleged usage, and personally, I don’t like to speak unless I have some type of facts, (either public knowledge or private knowledge), to support my position. Do I think Mosley’s decline in recent years takes away from what Mayweather accomplished in shutting him out? I was inclined to say no, because Mosley was actually coming off of his biggest victory in years and it was against a man who Mosley had recently lost to, (Cotto). In theory it seemed proper to feel that way. In hindsight, I NEVER said that it didn’t, or shouldn’t. What I said (in the past) was that fight fans have to realize that you’re either wet in the water, or dry in the sand…….but you can’t be dry in the water! It’s one way or the other.
There was a huge contingent at the time who felt I should devalue Mayweather’s victory over Mosley, yet wanted no part of the discussion when other fight fans devalued Pacquiao’s victory over Oscar. My theory all along was that you can’t call one out and not the other. I will never take part in a one-way ‘slant’ because I see the big picture, which helps me to see it all and say it all, whether many agree or not. Finally, you asked “do I think Mosley still has a shot at (defeating) any major players today”? To be quite frank, I don’t know that I see that being possible. The troubling thing about the way the Mora fight played out for Mosley was not that it ended in a draw. It was the fact that Mosley didn’t do anything to win the fight. After round two against Mayweather, it appeared that he did very little to win the fight.
Against Cotto, for most of the first 10 rounds, he didn’t do anything to win the fight. Same was the case against Mayorga for 3/4 of the fight. For whatever reason you would like to insert, be it “no more doping” or whatever, the bottomline is, he didn’t do anything to win the fights and looked pretty bad trying. So, now, you have to ask yourself, what champion is there in the ’54 weight range that he could truly face with a good shot at defeating? I simply don’t see any. A Cotto rematch would be interesting because both men seem to be a less than they once were. To be honest, Saul Alvarez would be VERY INTRIGUING to me, too. Pacquiao?…..I wouldn’t put Shane in there with him under any circumstances. Martinez or Williams?…….as my Spanish brethren would say….”NUNCA” (Never)! Looking at the big picture, maybe he should hang ’em up. There’s very little upside for him against the contenders in this division, but I can’t tell him to walk away. It’s his call. He may be a few days ‘late’, but staying in the ring as long as he can will keep him from being ‘a dollar short’ when the bills roll in. If he’s healthy enough to past the test, it’s his call.
(Vivek Wallace can be reached at vivexemail@yahoo.com, 954-292-7346, Youtube (VIVEK1251), Twitter (VIVEK747), Facebook, and Myspace).