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
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