A Shame for Sugar Shane Mosley

By Boxing News - 12/02/2013 - Comments

mundine59274By @BoxingMuse: Three weight champion Shane Mosley looked a shell of his former self during his performance in Sydney, Australia against Anthony Mundine. The fight ended before the start of 7th round with the fight doctor and referee in agreement that due to Mosley suffering back spasms the bout should be stopped. Mundine who is a two-weight world titlist (WBA & IBO titles) himself now has a TKO win over the American legend.

Mosley in his prime, which can be estimated over ten years ago, approximately around the victories over De La Hoya was an extremely talented fighter. Shane may well be remembered as one of the best lightweights of all time and a certain hall of famer. It is sad to say we haven’t seen vintage Mosley since his iconic victory over boxing’s bad boy Antonio Margarito. We witnessed glimpses of brilliance in the early stages of his following fight against Mayweather Jr. in 2010; specifically that incredible right hand Shane landed which almost saw ‘Money’ meet the canvas. It is fair to state we saw a solid performance from ‘Sugar’ in his previous bout against 22 year old Pablo César Cano but nowhere close to the Shane Mosley that dazzled boxing fans with his speed, astute style and impressive combinations.

Without taking anything away from Mundine, who is former WBA super-middleweight champion and IBO middleweight champion (the same title boxing’s current danger man Gennady Golovkin now possesses) put on an excellent display against a faded great. Although the Australian is 38 years old himself, Mundine beat his older opponent with size, reach and calculated pressure.
Mosley who is 42 years old surely has to be contemplating retirement but it may be a case of a formerly elite fighter continuing to fight way past his prime until he has nothing left. It is possible Shane could recover from the medical issue with his back and could get a rematch against Mundine.

Mosley’s only previous losses have been against a who’s who of boxing’s best such as Forrest, Wright, Cotto, Mayweather, Jr., Pacquiao and Alvarez. In my opinion Mundine should not be on this list, although an underrated and talented fighter he does not rank with this calibre of boxers.

There are always options out there for someone with the fame of Mosley, especially as he competes around the welterweight division and I’d expect challenges to still come Mosley’s way if he were to carry on his career. One foreseeable fight would be against Juan Manuel Marquez, who is coming off a loss to Tim Bradley or even Brandon Rios who was decisively beaten by ‘Pac-Man’ last weekend. The issue would be weight could Mosley make welterweight these days or even a catch-weight near the division, another question is would Marquez and Rios be willing to go north of 147 pounds. Or perhaps Shane could have a farewell fight against an over-matched opponent so fight fans can see the last of a legend and Mosley can hang his gloves up and say goodbye to the game with a victory.

When it is all said and done, I hope people will remember Shane Mosley as one of the finest pugilists of a generation who fought anyone, the last of a dying breed. Only a fighter can decide to call it quits but without a doubt, father time becomes the biggest performance factor in the late stages of a boxer’s career.

What is your opinion on Shane Mosley future and the Mundine fight?, feel free to write your comments below and also if you want to ask me a question or comment on any of my articles (negative or positive) please follow and tweet me @BoxingMuse or even if you just want a debate on any boxing matter!



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