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Don’t Go Away Mad, Shane… Just Go Away

I'm sick and tired of Shane Mosley.

The multi-division champion has long been one of my favorites, both for obvious skill in the ring and affable demeanor outside it.

He's a good fighter, and more importantly in the long run, a good guy.

But the constant rant that he's the No. 1 welterweight in the world and the accompanying whine that every fighter within 10 pounds seems to be avoiding him is getting old.

To counter his claims, I'll present a few facts.

In late 2007, after beating the not-quite-Murderers Row of David Estrada, Jose Luis Cruz, Fernando Vargas and Luis Collazo, he made a grab for the WBA welterweight crown then held by Miguel Cotto.

And lost. Decisively.

Not on a robbery. Not on a verdict that prompted protest. But unanimously in the eyes of the judges, who gave Cotto 21 of a possible 36 rounds across three scorecards, with one round even.

I had it 8-4 for Cotto and found no reason to change after several replays.

Somehow though, revisiting history seems to have taken hold.

At least to Shane.

Cotto and Mosley, as everyone knows, took diverging paths after their bout.

The Puerto Rican lost for the first time a few months later, by TKO to Antonio Margarito in 11 brutal rounds. He's since bounced back, re-belted with a pair of wins and is on the verge of cashing out in Las Vegas with Manny Pacquiao in November.

Mosley, meanwhile, got back to winning with a tough dispatch of Ricardo Mayorga, then solved the Margarito riddle after the Mexican's pre-fight gloving techniques were exposed to a less-than-amused athletic commission in California, calling into question all his past wins.

Most notably his defeat of Cotto.

Regardless, though their experience with a common foe was different, the result of their own encounter isn't.

Cotto beat Mosley.

And until that result is reversed in the ring or until one of them falls dramatically from the stage at 147 – C comes before M in my ranking alphabet.

But that's not all from Shane.

He recently said Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Cotto “are prima donnas who just want to fight for money. I'm a real fighter. I'm supposed to be an old man walking on crutches and (expletive deleted), and they are basically saying they want to fight everybody else.”

Ummm, Shane, I hate to be a bother... but that's nonsense.

Mayweather was interested in a fight with Mosley in 2006, but was turned away and moved to other things – namely stopping an unbeaten Ricky Hatton and taking care of Oscar De La Hoya in the biggest financial fight in the sport's history.

He's fighting this month against the consensus No. 2 in the world – Juan Manuel Marquez – which serves as a logical springboard to everyone's No. 1, Pacquiao, should he do his own part and beat Cotto.

If there's a reason to blame “Money” for taking that path, I'd love to hear it.

Meanwhile, Pacquiao has been busy with his own Hatton/De La Hoya double and subsequently made a choice to pursue Cotto – based at least partially on his defeat of Mosley – to cement status atop the 147-pound class.

If he'd fought Mosley, people would have said "Why didn't you fight Cotto?"

If he defeats Cotto, no one bemoans "Why didn't you fight Mosley?"

And as for Cotto himself, it's hard to understand Mosley's logic when the result of their fight is barely dry on the page.

It's not as if it was five years ago. It's not as if Mosley has reinvented himself.

In fact, chances are very good that if they got together in the same Madison Square Garden ring tonight, the second 12-round get-together would end with the same result as the first.

And the general reaction would be... "Yaaaaawn, so what?"

With that the case, if I'm advising Miguel, hell yes I'd pursue a big fight with Pacquiao over a rematch.

It makes business sense. It makes legacy sense. It makes competitive sense.

And it makes sense to the fans that will come out in droves to watch at $55 per.

Regardless of the grumpy old man.

Sorry Shane, I hope we can still be friends.

Source: boxingscene.com

Mosley vs Clottey: "I Will Win" - Joshua

Welterweight contender Joshua Clottey (35-3, 20 KO’s) is confident about his chances to beat World Boxing Association welterweight champion Shane Mosley (46-5, 39 KO’s) and take his title away from him on December 26th at the Staples Center, in Los Angeles, California.

Clottey, 32, feels that he’ll win the fight, but likely not by a knockout. ”I will win. I will be ready to go all 12 rounds, but if a KO does come, it will come,” Clottey says. This will be one of the biggest tests for the 38-year-old Mosley in quite some time. Mosley had things pretty much had own way in his last fight almost a year ago against Antonio Margarito.

Mosley was able to use his speed, clinching and in and out attacks to beat up the slower Margarito. This tactic won’t likely work against Clottey, because he has much faster hands than Mosley and will be ready for him when he comes in range trying to throw his combinations. More than that, Clottey has excellent power and is capable of delivering it in threes by tripling up on many of his hooks to the head and body.

Apart from Mosley’s fight against Miguel Cotto in 2007, Mosley hasn’t faced anyone with near the capabilities to throw combinations like Clottey in the past two years. Mosley has fought Luis Collazo, Cotto, Ricardo Mayorga and Margarito in the past couple of years, none of them as good as Clottey and firing off punches in rapid fire succession.

This isn’t going to be an easy fight for Mosley, and he’s going to get hit a lot more than he has since his fight against Cotto. Mosley got lumped up pretty good in that fight, but probably not as much as Mosley will against Clottey. Mosley is two years older now and is facing a fighter that likes to brawl at close range.

Mosley might was to use an in and out attack to win this fight, but it probably won’t work well due to the speed, timing and power of Clottey. Things won’t be as cut and dried as it was in his fight with Margarito and Mosley will find that he has to get dirty to get this win.

Clottey almost beat Cotto in his last fight in June, narrowly losing by a controversial 12 round split decision. That tells you that Clottey has the talent to make a fight against Mosley very tough for Shane.

Source: boxingnews24.com

Exclusive Interview With Joshua Clottey - "I Will Be Bringing EVERYTHING To The Fight With Shane Mosley!"

32-year-old Joshua Clottey of Accra, Ghana gets another well deserved shot at winning a big fight this coming December 26th - Boxing Day. Coming back after his controversial points loss to Miguel Cotto, the former IBF welterweight champion faces reigning WBA 147-pound king Sugar Shane Mosley, and "The Grand Master" is desperate to win and then be recognised as the best welterweight in the world.

Very kindly taking time out to speak with me earlier today, Clottey, 35-3(20) had the following answers to my questions:

James Slater: It's a pleasure to speak with you, Joshua, as always. Firstly, is the Shane Mosley fight a definite for December 26th?

Joshua Clottey: Yes, it's definite. I'm fighting Shane Mosley on December 26th..

J.S: It's strange to have such a big fight so close to Christmas. Is it a concern of yours having to train through the holidays and fight on Boxing Day?

J.C: It's my job to be a boxer, you know? Boxers have to do their job in the ring, we don't have to have holidays or time off at Christmas. This is a big fight that will be on HBO and I have to take advantage of it. This fight is my chance to become a two-time champion and I'm very happy about the fight.

J.S: Is Mosley a fighter you have wanted to fight for a while? Is he someone you've always had your eye on?

J.C: Yeah. Back in 2004, Lou DiBella asked me if I wanted to fight Shane Mosley and I said okay. Then, he got back to me and said that Mosley didn't want to do it. So you can see it's been a while, and you can see that I really want this fight. I love it when I get to fight the big names, like [Miguel] Cotto, [Antonio] Margarito and now Mosley. I always want to fight the best in my division.

J.S: Do you consider Mosley to be the best of all the current belt holders at welterweight?

J.C: There are a number of good fighters who some people say are the best in the division - like Cotto, Margarito, myself and [Andre] Berto. But Shane Mosley has shown he is the number-one because he beat Margarito, who was considered the best then. That's why I'm so happy about this fight; I will become the best in the world when I beat Mosley.

J.S: You will be the bigger man on December 26th, as you are very big for a welterweight. Will your plan be to wear Mosley down?

J.C: You're right, I am bigger. But he is more experienced. Which will win, the bigger man or the more experienced man? I know I will be bringing everything to this fight. Everything! I really want to win, and I'm coming to fight. He has been around a long time, and he's fought a lot of guys, so he has that experience. That, along with me bringing everything I have to the fight, will make it a very difficult fight for both of us.

J.S: Just going back to your last fight, with Cotto. Are you still angry? Do you still feel you won that fight?

J.C: Yeah, I felt I did enough to win. If you watch the fight closely you can see he never beat me. I beat the guy, and the people know that. Robberies are no good for boxing. I would love a rematch with Cotto, and with Margarito, because both those fights are questionable losses for me. I beat Cotto yet they gave it to him. If I lost a fight [fairly] I would admit it.

J.S: Who do you think wins on November 14th, between Cotto and Manny Pacquiao?

J.C: I'm not going to tell you who will win, but I will analyse the fight for you. Cotto has not fought this low for a long time, and I wonder if he will have to drain himself to make 145. If he's strong like he was when he fought me he will be very difficult for Pacquiao. But Pacquiao is very smart, and he'll be very serious for this fight - he'll move around a lot. When you throw punches at Cotto they all go in, Cotto has not got a good defence. Pacquiao, when you hit him, he gives you it right back. Cotto will have problems with Pacquiao but it will be a great fight.

J.S: And it goes without saying that you'd like to fight the winner!

J.C: I would love to fight the winner. I want to fight everybody in my weight division. I will fight anybody! If the people [the fans] asked me to go heavyweight, I'd go there. I fight for the people, and want them to love me.

J.S: Were you shocked when Mosley KO'd Margarito back in January?

J.C: I was a little bit shocked that he KO'd him, but I told everyone before the fight that Mosley would win. Margarito is defenceless to punches, and all Mosley's punches landed, and Mosley is not a small guy. Mosley played his own game and was too fast and too clever for Margarito.

J.S: When you face Mosley in December, do you think the fight will be one that goes all 12 rounds?

J.C: Well, I'm coming with everything and I'm good at bouncing back from a loss. I'm not going to say I'll knock out Mosley, I can't see that, but I will win. I will be ready to go all 12 rounds, but if a KO does come, it will come.

J.S: And is there added motivation on your part because if you win it will at last see you recognised as the best welterweight in the world?

J.C: Exactly. I want to be the best and I want the people to respect me as the best. I want people to say that the guy from Ghana is the best in the world. I always do all I can to get that respect. I want to be appreciated, this game is so hard. I want to be recognised for having longevity and for giving the fans the fights they want.

J.S: Well, it's been great speaking to you, Champ. I really appreciate your time and best wishes for December 26th.

J.C: Thank you.

Source: eastsideboxing.com

Mosley vs Clottey a Done Deal for Dec. 26th

A day after I wrote the words, "Can Shane Mosley get a lapdance over here or what?", Shane Mosley finally got himself a lapdance. Scheduled one, anyway. From a meanass Ghanaian bruiser with an iron chin and a chip on his shoulder. Shane might want to start frequenting a different strip club.

The Shane Mosley vs Josh Clottey bout long had been rumored for December 5, but then HBO asked Shane to step aside from that date to make room for the rescheduling of Kelly Pavlik vs Paul Williams (which, due to Pavlik's lingering injury and Dan Goossen's hurt feelings, seems like it's still up in the air). Then there were all sorts of rumors, the latest one that blew up being the Mosley vs. Zab Judah fiasco that simply resulted in an opportunity for Zab to once again prove to the world that he is boxing's answer to Stephon Marbury (they even sort of look alike, although I suspect that if Starbury reads that he definitely will not be sending me a muffin basket).

And so Shane, after hunting big game for most of 2009 (while remaining inactive, let us not forget, since his stunning mastery of Margarito in January), is forced to settle for what promises to be anything but a stroll in the meadow with Clottey on the day after Christmas. I've said it before, and I'll say it again - it's hard out there for a pimp.

I credit Shane, as I credited Cotto before him, for agreeing to fight a monster like Clottey, because on paper he is a fighter to be avoided - not much of a following, not much of a mandate outside the small, passionate boxing cult, and yet, despite those shortcomings, a very tough out guaranteed to send you home with a helping of hurt for your troubles.

It's quite a risk for Mosley to lay his WBA welterweight title on the line in such a difficult test, especially given that he still seems to believe that he will score a mega-fight or two down the line somewhere. He loses to Clottey, those plans immediately go up in smoke. Shane turns 38 this Monday (the same day my son turns one... sorry, had to throw that in there) and I tend to think that news of this fight comes as anything but a birthday present. With a warrior like Shane, you never count him out of anything, but at the same time you have to recognize that as he gets older and older, it seems like his road just gets harder and harder.

One final note: In a year where the FOY candidates have been few and far between, it would not surprise me at all if Mosley vs Clottey deliver the best fight of 2009 with just five days left on the calendar. I thought Cotto/Clottey was shaping up to have FOY potential before Cotto got cut. Mosley vs Clottey should pick up right where that early action left off. These are quite possibly the two physically strongest 147's on the planet, and when they clash, well, the proverbial rock and a hard place will settle their differences once and for all.

Source: sportingnews.com

A Whirlwind Career: The Unfortunate Shane Mosley

By Christmas morning 2009, Santa will have exited and the cookies will be gone. That will be a good thing for the World’s best Welterweight.

After all, cookies can get in the way with a weigh in on tap.

Yes, while others are opening their gifts, carving up hams and turkeys, a then-38 year old “Sugar” Shane Mosley will be preparing to make sure his body is no more than 147 lbs. He’ll look across the scale into the eyes of a man many felt did enough to upset Miguel Cotto in June, Joshua Clottey (35-3, 20 KO), and prepare himself for a December 26th showdown.

Ho, ho…how did this happen again?

There might be truth in the old saying ‘no good deed goes unpunished.’ There is certainly truth in saying that, for Mosley, no great win gets justly rewarded.

For the third time in his long career, Mosley is coming off of what should have been a winning lottery ticket and has found nowhere to truly cash it. This third un-charming time is the freshest in memory even if January 24, 2009, already feels long past.

That was the night Mosley stepped in the underdog against WBA Welterweight titlist Antonio Margarito. The fight is remembered for a failed attempt in the Margarito camp at tainted gloves. Somehow lost was what Mosley did after the clean gloves came on.

Over nine rounds, Mosley beat Margarito like he was fresh off the club scene. He knocked out a man who had rarely been stunned previously, cracking an iron chin which came with genetic plaster. Millions tuned in and every seat in the Staples Center was full. If anyone had said in the aftermath that almost another year would go by, that Mosley’s reward would be Clottey for Christmas, it would have seemed absurd.

For Mosley, it is routine.

The first time Mosley’s world was supposed to turn up oysters was in the summer of 2000. In a classic chess match, he came from behind early to best Oscar De La Hoya, adding a Welterweight crown to his resume for the first time. It was the first decisive loss of De La Hoya’s career and so commanding a performance that many elevated Mosley to the top pound-for-pound spot. With Felix Trinidad still only one fight into his Jr. Middleweight run, and an Oscar sure to want revenge, Mosley’s turn on the stage had arrived.

Except it didn’t.

De La Hoya chose time off and some brand rebuilding against Arturo Gatti and Javier Castillejo. Trinidad chose to chase Roy Jones by heading to Middleweight. Mosley wound up with three defenses against names known only to hardcore fans and then a Vernon Forrest who every major player at Welterweight before him had done their best to avoid.

Forrest used Mosley to prove why in January 2002. Drubbed over twelve rounds, Sugar was left looking less than nutra sweet. Their immediate rematch, one of the worst big fights of the 2000s and perhaps the only awful fight on Mosley’s ledger, did him no favors in public esteem.

It wasn’t bad for matchmaking.

Suddenly vulnerable, De La Hoya’s thirst for vengeance quickly kicked in and in September 2003, the rematch was made for the Jr. Middleweight title. A lesser fight than their first, it was still good enough to spark a scoring controversy which remains to this day, later adding a ‘Mosley was juiced’ storyline to immortalize the contest. Controversial or not, Mosley’s fortunes seemed on the rise and he had the perfect opponent in the wings.

Ricardo Mayorga had upset Andrew Lewis in 2002 to win the WBA belt and twice upset Forrest to declare himself the lineal World champion at Welterweight in 2003. Sports Illustrated did a feature story on the wild Nicaraguan. A pay-per-view showdown with Mosley for the early spring of 2004 was a done deal. All Mayorga had to do was finish his run to undisputed crown by beating the feather-fisted Cory Spinks.

Tucked on the pay-per-view undercard of a Bernard Hopkins-William Joppy headlined show seen by probably half the people reading right now (okay not that bad), Mayorga-Spinks was the fight of the night.

Mayorga lost.

Mosley was boxed in.

He’d already voted on pride not to accept a financial offer from De La Hoya for a third fight which would have seen him make significantly less than the man he’d beaten twice. No one knew at the time that Spinks could sell tickets the way he does in St. Louis. That left Mosley again staring at a man no one else really wanted.

Winky Wright beat him bad in a unification contest. Then he beat him again in a closer fight.

It was up and down from there, good money to be made with wins over Fernando Vargas and Luis Collazo and a close loss to Cotto. It could have been better but circumstances intervened; there might have been a Floyd Mayweather fight after Vargas. Bigger plans for Mayweather-De La Hoya, and the still inexplicable need for dental care Mosley used to explain why he didn’t want to fight Floyd in the fall of 2006, got in the way. It appeared another moment like those offered by his wins over Oscar would not develop again.

Until it did.

And now this moment has turned out, so far, like the others. Mayweather elected for a relatively easier (if World Lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez can be called easy), certainly smaller, touch in his return. The world’s pound-for-pound best, Manny Pacquiao, made other dangerous plans with Cotto. Even a fighter with a ratio of elite wins to losses standing at about one to everything else, former Welterweight champion Zab Judah, found time to mock an offer from Mosley.

It left Mosley with Clottey, a fighter every bit as dangerous as any other he desired but with little of the cache. For the fans, it will be one hell of a fight, the sort with the potential to steal Fight of the Year honors from the field behind it.

For Mosley though, it will be another reminder that being a regularly entertaining, gutsy, sure-fire future Hall of Famer has just never been quite good enough where he is concerned.

Source: boxingscene.com

Can Shane Mosley Get a Lapdance Over Here or What?

Man, Sugar Shane must not be feeling so sweet right about now. The man is the former pound-for-pound king of the sport, coming off one of the most dominant performances of his career, and is considered by many to be the genuine reigning welterweight champion, currently ranked #1 in The Ring ratings at 147.

And nobody wants to fight him.

Well, that's not exactly true. Josh Clottey wants to fight him. But, well, nobody's exactly knocking down doors to fight Josh Clottey either.

So let's put it this way: Nobody that Mosley wants to fight wants to fight Mosley. Granted that is an elite list of fighters. Mosley wanted a mega-fight with Manny Pacquiao, and said he was willing to cut down to 140 to do it. Pacquiao opted for Cotto. Mosley has long been in pursuit of a rematch with Cotto (Cotto beat him by a narrow split decision in November of 2007) but, of course, Pacquiao chose Cotto.

Then there is the one and only Mr. Money May, with whom Mosley has been trading barbs for going on about ten years now. Although each man is pretty adamant that over that time they were ducked by the other, in this case it decidedly seems that it's Floyd who is not interested in punching Shane's dance card, opting instead for a much safer bout with the much smaller Juan Manuel Marquez that has less chance of jeopardizing a potentially gigundous Pac/Money 2010 cheddar fiesta.

But all right. Shane's a little long in the tooth, and he's never exactly been an arena-filler (I was at that big Mosley/Margarito sell-out at the Staples Center in January, and let me tell you something – I may have been the only non-Mexican in the joint – to understate the case considerably, it was not a pro-Mosley crowd). Though it's no doubt frustrating for the man, it's not hard to understand from a fan's perspective why the likes of Pac, Cotto and Mayweather are going in different directions than a walk down Sugar Lane.

Zab Judah, however? Et tu… Zab? I mean, this is getting ridiculous. Zab is a flipping trial horse at this point, floating on his fame as a what-might-have-been weirdo who's fought (and mostly lost to) the best of his generation. And rumor has it that Zab is passing on an opportunity to fight Mosley in December, reportedly because he's unhappy with Golden Boy's offer of half a mill for the fight (and by the way, Boxing News 24 is reporting that Zab is back on the Mayweather/Marquez undercard against Antonio Diaz… I'll believe that when I actually see him in the ring).

So, wherefore you, Sugar? Andre Berto? Doesn't want the fight yet – his promoter, Dan Goossen wants to build it a little (not to mention that Berto evidently doesn't want to cut weight during the holidays… I wonder if he'll have the same problems around Easter… and the 4th of July… and Arbor Day…). Paul Williams? Dah… no thanks. Mosley's bold, but not that bold.

What it all seems to boil down to is that there's nobody really, nobody that HBO will sanction anyway. Nobody except for good ole Josh Clottey, which is… man, what a pill to swallow for Mosley. Clottey is a damn good fighter with no Q rating whatsoever who's just coming off a loss. The fight does absolutely nothing for him except (I believe this is the case) get a mandatory out of the way as far as his WBA belt goes.

But just as he was for Cotto, Clottey is likely to prove a very tough out for Mosley. It's easy to imagine a scenario in which Clottey wins that fight, and all of these other massive paydays that Shane is fantasizing about will go right out the window.

On the other hand, I wonder if he wouldn't be better off. Because if he beats Clottey, something tells me the same nobodies will be lining up to fight him next year as there are right now. I don't see Pacquiao or Mayweather ever fighting Shane, at this point. Why would they? And Cotto? If Cotto beats Pac, no way. And if he loses, is Mosley still dying for a Cotto rematch? Somehow I doubt it.

The only real, definitive fight waiting for Shane is Berto, whenever Berto is ready for it (which could be "never" in my estimation). So here's what Mosley has to look forward to in the next eight months or so – a fight with Josh Clottey and then maybe… maybe… a welterweight unification bout with Berto. I ask you… is it really worth it? Does he need the money that bad?

Source: sportingnews.com