Mosley Answers His
Critics: "Says He Will "Retire Him (Mayweather)"
by John "Johnny" Martinez
June 3, 2009
(JUNE 3) 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 new 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.”
