by Geoffrey Ciani – This week’s 104th edition of On the Ropes Boxing Radio featured an exclusive interview with former three division champion Sugar Shane Mosley (46-6-1, 39 KOs), who is rumored to be the frontrunner for a May showdown against pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao (52-3-2, 38 KOs). Mosley talked about the prospects of landing a fight against the Filipino sensation, and he also touched on other aspects of the current boxing landscape, including his views on the upcoming light heavyweight championship bout between Bernard Hopkins and Jean Pascal. Here is what Shane had to say:
His views on the prospects of landing a fight against Manny Pacquiao in May:
“I’m feeling good. I mean I think I’m a great choice for Bob Arum and Pacquiao and his team, and I’m going to be ready for the competition. I’ll be ready for the night and I’m just excited.”
On the fact that many observers feel he does not deserve a shot against Pacquiao based on his recent performances:
“Well I do think fighting like a middleweight that moves around a lot and Mayweather is a defensive fighter that moves very well. It can be very hard, especially for a right-handed fighter. Mayweather is not in the picture. If Mayweather was in the picture, I probably wouldn’t be in the picture. So Mayweather’s not there, so it’s me. Juan Manuel Marquez, what did he do with Mayweather? He got dropped and he didn’t land a significant punch in the whole fight. At least I caught Mayweather and hurt him with some good shots. So I have the punching power to hurt a lot of people. In the fight with Sergio Mora, I mean he’s a big guy, 6’0” tall, he moves around really good, and he knows how to make the fight ugly. He wasn’t there to fight. I mean what do you say about that? I mean you have two guys who get in there and want to fight, you have an explosive match. I think it’s going to be a tremendous match.”
On whether he agrees with those who say he will be able to land on Pacquiao more often and more frequently than Margarito:
“Well I think people that watch boxing, people that are into boxing, they know. I mean anything can happen in this fight. I have good punching power. I punch very hard. Pacquiao is a very exciting fighter. Pacquiao likes to open up a lot so he leaves room to be punched. Mayweather on the other hand, he’s the type of fighter that doesn’t leave very much room and still he got hit. It could be a great fight. It could be a blockbuster fight and I’m excited to be in it.”
On what he views as his biggest strengths in a potential fight against Pacquiao:
“I think my biggest strength is my size and my accurate speed. I have more speed than Margarito and I hit harder than Margarito. So Margarito had some interesting moments with Pacquiao. He didn’t do anything, but there were a couple of body shots he landed and they got his attention. But Margarito is tough and Pacquiao is just a phenomenal fighter.”
On how he feels about the prospects of working in conjunction with Top Rank:
“I feel great. I mean Sugar Shane Mosley Promotions will probably be co-promoting that with them. It would be a great team with Top Rank Promotions going in there and fighting. All of the top fights I had, Top Rank has been involved with them. When I fought Oscar the first time, when I fought Margarito, and a lot of the big fights have been with Top Rank, so I have no problems with that.”
His views on why Freddie Roach seems more willing to let Pacquiao face him now than before:
“I think two years gave Pacquiao more time to really fill into the division better, and he has more confidence in Pacquiao’s speed and power.”
On whether he feels he has more power than Pacquiao given the fact he stopped Margarito whereas Pacquiao could not:
“Not really, even though I probably am a bigger puncher. But not really, Pacquiao does throw punches and he does have power in his punches coming from a different angle. I just think that I caught him right. I was catching him all night through and I just caught the sweet spot. Pacquiao hits very hard as well. Like I said, it’s going to be a tremendous fight when me and Pacquiao get in the ring and duke it out.”
On what a win over Pacquiao would do for him at this stage in his career:
“Winning against Pacquiao would definitely put me in the history books. Manny Pacquiao has won eight world titles and he’s one of the elite fighters of this era. I would definitely be happy to beat somebody like a Manny Pacquiao. Styles make fights so it’s very possible.”
His views on the upcoming fight between Bernard Hopkins and Jean Pascal:
“You know Bernard is the type of fighter who is very technical and he picks his spots. With Pascal, Pascal seems a little more amateurish and he runs in and throws a lot of shots. I think that Bernard is really slick enough where he can catch him when he runs in. I give Bernard the edge in that one.”
On whether he feels a win over Manny Pacquiao can re-establish him as the best in boxing:
“It would put me up there as one of the best. Like I said, styles make fights. Me beating Pacquiao, that’s great and it’s a good thing but that means nothing about him fighting somebody else, like a Mayweather or this one or that one. It could easily be where he can beat Mayweather and I lost to Mayweather. I mean it just depends on who fights who. That’s what’s so great about this fight right here. You have two guys that are two of the best fighters who will get in there and fight. Then you have Mayweather and Pacquiao that’s more of a chess match.”
On when he expects a fight between him and Pacquiao to be signed if it is going to happen:
“I mean I really don’t know. I’m assuming we’re almost there, but I’m not really sure.”
On what weight he believes a fight between him and Pacquiao would take place:
“Most likely it would be at 147. He just won the junior middleweight title, so he can’t go under 147. If we’re fighting for his junior middleweight title, which is at I guess is 150, if they want to do a catch weight at 148, that’s fine, too.”
His views on how a fight between him and Pacquiao would play out:
“Well I mean with Pacquiao, I see it being a great fight. I know he’s going to come at me. He’s going to throw a lot of combinations. I’m going to be able to land my shots on him and it’s going to be a tremendous fight!”
On what he wants to say to all of his fans and the listeners of On the Ropes Boxing Radio:
“Thank you for being great fans. I’m happy to be able to get into the ring with and fight a great fighter like Manny Pacquiao. May the best man win.”
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For those interested in listening to the Shane Mosley interview in its entirety, it begins approximately one hour and fourteen minutes into the program.
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