At this time last year, Shane Mosley sat atop the welterweight division. He was coming off his dominating ninth round knockout victory over Antonio “Hands of Plaster” Margarito and big money fights should have loomed on the horizon.
At (then) 37 years of age and with his best days possibly behind him, “Sugar” went out in search of the huge money fights to round out his career. His shortlist of opponents included Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. Many boxers have expressed their desires to challenge Pacquiao and Mayweather, and why not? Both are cash cows and their opponents are likely to earn a career high payday. Mosley, however, is one of the few that has earned the right to face either man.
Before Pacquiao’s bout with Cotto was finalized, Mosley tried desperately to get Pacquiao to share the ring with him. He originally balked at a catchweight bout at 143 pounds, which may have cost him the chance. By the time Mosley offered a straight up jr. welterweight bout, it was too late. Terms for Pacquiao’s eventual brutal beating of Cotto were already finalized.
After Floyd Mayweather cruised to an easy unanimous decision victory over Juan Manuel Marquez, Bernard Hopkins convinced Mosley to go Kanye West on Mayweather’s post-fight interview to challenge him to a fight. Mayweather famously brushed off the challenge to hunt down bigger paydays.
Mosley eventually found a willing dance partner in WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto. Mosley and Berto quietly trained in the shadows of the failed negotiations of the Mayweather-Pacquiao mega fight, only to have Mosley’s first fight and decent paycheck in over a year turn to dust in the wake of Andre Berto’s withdrawal after the earthquake in Haiti.
Mosley, fortuitously fell into Mayweather’s lap. After relatively easy negotiations and an unnerving week in which Mayweather balked at signing his end of the contract, Mosley finally gets his Money fight.
Shane Mosley is known as something of a ‘nice guy’ in boxing circles. He tried the nice route with Pacquiao; it didn’t work. He stepped outside his comfort zone and tried to bully Mayweather into stepping into the ring with him; it didn’t work. He waited patiently and took the challenge of an up and coming young champion, biding his time until Mayweather and Pacquiao’s respective schedules opened up. In the end a little bit of luck, coupled with waiting his turn in line have brought Floyd “Money” Mayweather to Shane Mosley.
By the time May 1 rolls around, Mosley will have had 15 months and 1 week out of action. Mosley is traditionally rusty when fighting after long layoffs. Most believe Mayweather is fighting a shell of the good Mosley. Mosley is looking to prove the doubters (me included) wrong, and crush Mayweather before moving on to challenge Pacquiao. Will his efforts prove futile, or will Nazimm Richardson put Mosley on the track to Pacland?
Source: boxing.fighthype.com
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