By Rob Moore: I couldn’t help but feel a kind of sadness when I was reading articles discussing a couple of upcoming bouts. Usually I find myself drawn in, and my anticipation for the contest is heightened. But not this time, and I realized that I have felt this way a few times lately. My problem is that I hate seeing once great fighters going in to contests that their diminishing powers leave them with what I judge to be a very slim chance of winning, and a far better chance of getting hurt. To be beaten in a way that their careers and status in the sport do not deserve.
I am unhappy that Sugar Shane Mosley is fighting the miniature wrecking machine that is Manny Pacquiao. I dislike the fact that Erik Morales is fighting the hungry concussive puncher Marcos Maidana. I am genuinely worried that Roy Jones Jr. is fighting the powerful 200 pound Dennis Lebedev.
I am not suggesting that these guys should not be fighting simply because in boxing terms they are getting old – far from it. I find it inspiring to see Bernard Hopkins and Vitali Klitscho defying their ages, looking in great shape and producing shrewd quality performances. They are the exceptions though. For the rest of us, our powers and performances start to diminish with age, and at the top level that is all that is needed to slide rapidly.
If we try forget the fact that Mosley, Morales and Jones are legends and instead consider objectively their performances over the last couple of years I can’t find an objective case for the guys getting a shot at their next opponents. Erik Morales has not had a win over a world class fighter for a long time – I would argue not since he got the decision over Pac Man in their first fight some six years ago.
Shane Mosley fares better but has not looked like the Shane Mosley of old since his loss to Miguel Cotto in 2007, with the possible exception of his win over the strong, but one dimension Margarito. In his last two fights he lost comprehensively to Floyd Mayweather and perhaps more significantly only managed a draw with Sergio Mora. Not the form to earn a shot at Pac Man. Roy Jones worries me most of all. I see Roy Jones Jr as the best fighter of his generation bar none. I am sure some would argue with me, but nobody who remembers Roy at his peak could deny he was a truly great fighter. Unfortunately, Roy has not beaten a world class opponent for years. He has lost to Calzaghe and Hopkins and was demolished by Danny Green. While not wanting to underestimate Danny Green, I see Dennis Lebedev as a monster compared to Green. Lebedev bullied the hell out of Marco Huck and would hold the WBO cruiserweight belt had the fight not been held in Germany.
I find it hard to say that these fights should not go ahead as if once great fighters want to step into the ring, surely they have earned that right. Unfortunately, while they have been great fighters, their previous greatness is now serving only to cloud their judgment. As you get older the mind keeps making promises that the body just can’t keep. In many sports you can kind of get away with it, but in top level boxing you are risking serious damage. While I feel that Shane Mosley has enough left to look after himself against the naturally smaller Pac Man. I fear for Morales and Jones Jr.
Clearly there must still be money in these matches being made, but I wonder if this based on any more than the glamour of a legend entering the ring and the intrigue of wondering whether there may just be a glimpse of the greatness on show that is going to some how overturn the odds. While it is always a loss when men like Erik Morales and Jones hang up their gloves, I feel it is a greater loss for boxing to see them fight on, their greatness gone, in contests where they are over-matched.