By John F. McKenna (McJack): Former three division champion “Sugar” Shane Mosley (46-7-1-1 NC, 39 KO’s), who faces Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (39-0-1, 29 KO’s) on May 5 at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, has now been relegated to the status of a trial horse. As much as Mosley would like to say that he feels stronger than he ever did and can still perform at a high level, the fact remains that he has not won a fight in over three years when he scored a 9th round TKO over Antonio Margarito in January 2009.
In Mosley’s next fight in May 2010 he was totally outclassed by WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr., although he did rock Floyd in the 2nd round of that fight. After the Mayweather fight Shane fought to a twelve round draw against Sergio Mora in September 2010.
Next Top Rank CEO Bob Arum was able to convince WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao and his trainer Freddie Roach that “Sugar” Shane was still a viable challenger. The selling point for Uncle Bob was that Mosley was a household name and had a huge fan base. Arum was right. The Pacquiao – Mosley fight in May 2011 did 1.3 million in Pay Per View (PPV) buys.
Again Mosley was badly outclassed and after being floored by Pacquiao in the 3rd round of that contest he chose to get on his bicycle and run for the balance of the fight. Shane had a look of surprise and fear on his face at the time of the knockdown. In fact at one point in the Pacquiao fight Mosley implored his trainer Nazim Richardson to stop the contest.
The thought that this once supremely talented and proud warrior at 39 years of age was reduced to begging his trainer to stop a fight he was engaged in is not only troubling but indicates how far “Sugar” Shane has declined as a fighter. But here he is a year older ready to be a stepping stone for a fighter who is on the brink of pugilistic stardom in the name of “Canelo” Alvarez. For Alvarez, defeating a fighter like Mosley will look good on his resume, even if his skills are severely diminished from what they once were.
For Mosley it is now a question of having another payday against a name fighter. And now at 40 years old Shane’s skills are sure to have diminished from where they were a year ago. Once the downward spiral begins for a fighter it never miraculously turns around.
One of the most painful things this writer every witnessed was the Muhammad Ali I idolized being bludgeoned into submission by Larry Holmes. Even Holmes had no more stomach for it and wanted the fight to be over. Hopefully Mosley recognizes his own mortality and hangs up the gloves after the Alvarez fight.
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