WHILE the Joshua Clottey-Manny Pacquiao parade is making the rounds, team Mayweather is reportedly undecided on whether or not to accept the fight against Shane Mosley.
I don’t blame Floyd Jr.
The “Sugar” man is a difficult fighter to figure out. He wins fights he’s not supposed to and loses those he was supposed to walk through.
CONSIDER. Shane was formerly an undefeated lightweight champion when he took on the Oscar dela Hoya.
Sure, Shane beat Oscar in the amateurs but this time around, the “Golden Boy” was the superstar. He was also taller, bigger and had arguably been in there against better opposition.
Coming in to the fight, Oscar was predictably pegged as the favorite.
The fight was close with both fighters having their moments. Oscar was strong in the early stages, but faded a bit in the championship rounds, allowing Shane to escape with a split decision win.
Riding on the crest of that euphoric win, Shane proceeded to win his next three fights via the short route. He was number one on everybody’s pound for pound list.
Was he supposed to win that fight? Not really, by most accounts.
ENTER VERNON FORREST. The “Viper” had beaten Shane in the amateurs, but hey this was the pros. And c’mon, this is Sugar Shane Mosely we are talking about.
During the fight, Shane must have felt like his buddy Oscar as he was knocked down and dominated by the same man he could not beat in the amateurs.
He was supposed to win this time, but he didn’t. He couldn’t do any better in the rematch either six months later.
OSCAR 2. In his next bout, Shane had a “No contest” against nondescript Raul Marquez. How well would he fare in a rematch against the “Golden Boy?”.
Despite having beaten Oscar in the first match, Shane was pegged as the underdog on account of his dismal performances against Forrest and primarily because Oscar was on a bit of a roll himself—having recently annexed the two titles at junior middleweight.
Déjà vu. But once again, this time around he was not supposed to win.
But he did. It was close and controversial, but he got the win nonetheless.
WRIGHT WAS WRONG. Finally, Shane became a bonafide superstar. He was right back on top and what a way to go about it, repeating over the Golden Boy.
Up next was tricky southpaw Winky Wright.
He was a good fighter, but there was nothing special about him. Shane had been in there with southpaws before and being a pretty intelligent fighter, everybody thought he could outbox Winky Wright.
He was supposed to win this time. Déjà vu. Wrong again. He couldn’t. Twice.
ANOTHER COMEBACK. Again, Mosely went back to the drawing board and retooled. He revitalized his career by wining five consecutive fights, two of those being high profile TKO wins against Fernando Vargas.
Surely, he was back. For good.
Unfortunately, Miguel Cotto couldn’t care less. The surly and burly Puerto Rican had other plans and he dismantled Shane Mosely over 12 close, fairly fought rounds. It was a good, tough match, but Cotto clearly deserved the unanimous decision win.
MAKE MINE A MARGARITO. In his next fight, Mosely stopped brawler Ricardo Mayorga in the 12th but not after being tagged by numerous right hands.
And so it was with some trepidation for his fans to see the “aging” Mosely lined up to fight a monster at welterweight- Antonio Margarito.
Fresh off a brutal stoppage win over Cotto, many thought the “Tijuana Tornado” would walk through Mosely. (to be concluded on Sunday)
LAST ROUND. It’s on Last Rounder James Babiera of Abellana National School Class of ’54. Cheers!
(jingo_quijano@yahoo.com)