Will the Real Shane Mosley Please Stand Up
by Phillip Diaz
11/16 - Actually will the real Shane Mosley please show up in his rematch bout on November 20th on HBO versus the reining WBA jr. middleweight champion Winky Wright? That’s the question on the minds of Mosley’s fans and on the minds of boxing fans in general. Once upon a time Mosley was on top of the boxing world. 'Sugar' was just coming off a spectacular victory over the Golden Boy Oscar De la Hoya in 2000. De la Hoya was still golden at the time having only one loss, albeit controversially at the hands of the than undefeated Felix Trinidad. There was no controversy about Mosley’s victory over Delahoya; he won what should have been a unanimous decision. Although Shane had to settle for a split decision, there was little doubt who the better man was that night in Los Angeles.
Since that eventful night in Los Angeles Sugar has been less than sweet. Yes there have been flashes of the fighter who was once anointed as the second coming of Sugar Ray Robinson, but those flashes have been few and far between.
In his last five bouts Mosley has sported a record of 1-3-1, losing twice to Forrest, once to Wright and he has also had one no-contest vs. Raul Marquez. Mosley’s lone victory during that span was against Oscar Delahoya and although it was by no means a robbery, many still feel to this day that Oscar deserved the nod, with or without the volume up. Yes Mosley got the decision and the titles, however he looked far from spectacular in doing so.
In Mosley’s next match he even looked less spectacular in his attempt to unify the jr. middleweight division vs. reining champion Winky Wright. Not that anyone ever looks impressive fighting a slick southpaw, especially Wright. From the start Mosley was dominated, out classed and quite frankly there were times during the fight that Wright made the befuddled Mosley look like a one-dimensional slugger. Wright put on a virtuoso performance winning a lopsided unanimous decision.
Mosley’s future as a boxing star seems to be hanging in the balance, of course if he loses to Wright for a second time his career would not be DOA but it would definitely be on life support. A loss would put Mosley in a rather precarious position; he would have very little leverage in future purse negotiations without a belt around his waist as opposed to being recognized as the jr. middleweight champion where he can pretty much call all the shots.
Than there’s Mosley’s new trainer Joe Goosen, who recently resurrected the career of one boxing’s hottest stars Diego” Chico” Corrales. However Corrales is different animal, he’s younger than Mosley and has much more upside at this point. Perhaps a change was needed, I mean with his Father in his corner Mosley’s career was headed in a downward spiral, than again Jack was obviously good enough to take Mosley to the top of both the lightweight and welter divisions.
One shudder’s to think where Mosley’s career would go if he loses to Wright for a second time. Would we see Mosley fighting fringe contenders on Friday night fights looking to regain the glory of yester year? Would HBO dare use Shane Mosley as cannon fodder for rising star and 2000 Olympic Gold medallist Jermain Taylor? Maybe Mosley will retire and live happily ever after with millions of dollars and the satisfaction of knowing that he gave it his best.
Of course after all this is boxing and the odds on lather are miniscule at best, it isn’t going to happen.
So will the real Shane Mosley show up in Las Vegas on November 20th to battle Winky Wright? Can the real Shane Mosley even beat Wright; perhaps that’s the problem. Maybe the real Shane Mosley is the same fighter who lost twice to Forrest, looked unimpressive vs. Delahoya and was dominated by Wright. If that’s the case than perhaps Joe Goosen is too little too late.
Come November 20th look for Shane to show up and give it his best, just like he’s been doing since he first laced up a pair of gloves. My prediction is that the real Shane Mosley will show up and even make this fight much more competitive than the first. In the end however it will be to no avail as Wright will impose his size, skill and will on Mosley in route to another unanimous decision.
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