By Manuel Perez: In a move that comes to no surprise, former welterweight champions Shane Mosley (44-5, 37 KOs) and Zb Judah (36-5, 25 KOs) have reportedly come to an agreement for a bout to take place on May 31st, which will be shown HBO PPV. Neither of them currently have titles, but because of their combined popularity the bout will likely bring in a lot of fans interested in seeing this showdown.
Both fighters are at point in their careers where there are lesser options available for big-money fights. Judah, only 30, originally a junior welterweight, has lost three out of his last six bouts, and has struggled against the top welterweights in the division. In recent years, Judah has lost to Carlos Baldomir, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Miguel Cotto. As for Mosley, 36, he is coming off a close 12-round unanimous decision loss to Cotto, a bout that was incredibly entertaining in which Mosley came from behind to win in the last rounds of the fight.
Mosley would figure to be the tougher fighter here, with a lot more left in the tank than Judah. However, Judah has the quickness and explosive power to make it difficult for Mosley if he decides to make it a war. In his bout with Cotto, Judah was giving him big problems in the first half of the fight, stunning him twice with big shots. Cotto, though, turned the fight around with two separate low blows that caused Judah to weaken and fight more cautiously the remainder of the way.
With Judah already having lost to Mayweather and Cotto, this effectively removes two of the four welterweight champions from potential opponents for him, leaving Kermit Cintron (IBF) and Carlos Quintana (WBO) as the available fighters. Neither of them are as popular as Mayweather or Cotto, and both seem to have other options available to them other than a bout with Judah or Mosley.
As for Mosley, he’s already fought Cotto, and Mayweather has a scheduled fight with De La Hoya coming up later this year, and doesn’t plan on fighting before that. Mosley attempted to arrange a bout with WBO welterweight champion Quintana, but nothing came of that. Without a champion to go up against, Judah is perhaps the best bet for Mosley.
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