Mosley Wants Winner of Pacquiao-Hatton – But Do They Want Him?

By Boxing News - 04/14/2009 - Comments

mosley45659By Eric Thomas: It comes to no surprise that Shane Mosley (46-5, 39 KOs) wants to fight the winner of the May 2nd bout between Ricky Hatton and Manny Pacquiao. It’s also not that much of a shock that Mosley isn’t interested in fighting Paul Williams right now. Obviously the big money is in fighting Hatton and Pacquiao rather than Williams, who bring huge risks for the shorter 5’9″ Mosley without the big payday that Hatton or Pacquiao would bring. A fight against 6’2″ Williams would likely end in a loss for Mosley, as he’s had trouble against taller fighters like Vernon Forrest, losing twice to him.

Mosley was also beaten twice by Winky Wright. Williams easily defeated Wright last Saturday night by a 12-round unanimous decision, so it’s understandable why the 37-year-old Mosley might not want to fight him now – or perhaps ever.

On the other hand, a fight against either Hatton or Pacquiao would give Mosley a huge advantage because he’s two to three inches taller than both of them and is accustomed to fighting bigger fighters due to Shane fighting as a light middleweight from 2003 to 2006. Mosley would likely have a weight advantage as well in a fight against Hatton or Pacquiao.

As much as Mosley would like to fight either of those two fighters, I’m not so certain that Mosley is the number #1 choice for Hatton or Pacquiao. My guess is that they won’t want to fight Mosley because Miguel Cotto is out there for both of them, is the more popular fighter than Mosley, and is younger as well.

Fighting a 37-year-old like Mosley sets up a situation where Hatton or Pacquiao might not get much credit should they beat him, and if they lose to him – which is a possibility because of Mosley’s size advantage – then both of them would take a huge hit in terms of popularity.

The far better choice in my view is for Hatton or Pacquiao to take on Cotto. If Mosley wants to fight someone, let him fight Williams or wait a year or three and see if Floyd Mayweather Jr. looks in his direction. The Mayweather Jr. option doesn’t look viable for Mosley, at least for now.

At 37, Mosley’s not in the position to wait around for years because he’s going to be declining as a fighter sooner than the younger fighters. Hatton doesn’t have Mosley on his radar screen and wants to fight Juan Manuel Marquez and then Mayweather in his next two fights.

After that, Hatton plans on calling it a career, so it looks as if Pacquiao is Mosley’s only hope. I doubt that will happen either, because it would be foolish for Pacquiao to take on Mosley with Cotto out there.

If he’s not interested in fighting Williams, then Mosley might be better off going after Andre Berto, the WBC welterweight champion. Berto is beatable, has fought largely no one and is looking for a big money fight. I think Mosley would have a good chance of getting that bout because Berto has far fewer options that Hatton and Pacquiao do.



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