By Jordan Sargent: As Shane Mosley (46-6-1, KO’s 39) stood with his arm raised after demolishing a literally “heavy handed” Antonio Margarito, the world celebrated a return to form of a modern day legend. Before the bout Mosley was the betting underdog and Margarito was coming off an astonishing stoppage of an undefeated Miguel Cotto.

So one would assume this was a golden opportunity for “sugar” to cash in. However, it would be around another 15 months until he would step back into the squared circle only to be out-boxed by a classy Floyd Mayweather. This would be followed up by a below- par performance against light middleweight Sergio Mora resulting in bore draw. The 15 month period where Mosley was inactive may have been valuable time lost for the fighter, especially when considering his age. So does Mosley deserve a shot at Pacquiao?

When looking at his form no he does not. Even though a loss to Mayweather is no disgrace, Mosley’s performance against Mora left a lot to be desired and when considering Mora just lost to Bryan Vera it decreases the value of the draw even further. Taking this into account Shane’s form does not possess the credentials of Juan Manuel Marquez and when considering Mosley’s age his hunger may not be as great as the undefeated WBC welterweight champ Andre Berto. Nevertheless, Mosley is still a big name in the sport and money made the fight happen. So the question is has Mosley got enough left to compete with Pacquiao?

We saw glimpses of a dangerous Shane Mosley against Mayweather in the early rounds from his powerful right hand, and of course a good right hand is a useful weapon to have against a southpaw.. But still, it’s difficult to imagine Mosley returning to the previous P4P number one we all remember, and even more so against Pacquiao, a man who is at his peak and is one of the greatest fighters of our era. Pacquiao has seemingly passed through the weight classes with ease and will present Shane with incredible speed along with a high work rate. “The Pacman” will enter the ring in immense condition as always and when considering Mosley’s age this could be perhaps be his toughest challenge. It would be nice to see Mosley take the shape of his pal Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins, who appears to be ageless.

I believe this fight will present Mosley with a win-win situation as he has nothing to lose and everything to gain. If Shane loses then he is just multi-weight world champion and future hall of famer who’s time has ran out, and there is no shame in that. But if he wins, he is an all time great who is past his best and has over come the odds to defeat an incredible fighter in his prime. Of course many including myself will pick Pacquiao to win, it’s just when considering what’s to gain one can only hope through motivation, that this fight will be competitive and we witness “Sugar” Shane’s last stand.