Chris Trotman - Getty Images
Shane Mosley believes Canelo Alvarez and Golden Boy have booked him as a pushover. (Photo by Chris Trotman/Getty Images)
Sugar Shane Mosley says he's in shape and ready to go on May 5 against Canelo Alvarez, and that he's not going to be the old man that Alvarez and Golden Boy believe he is. From an interview at RingTV.com:
"I think that he's disillusioned. I think that Golden Boy and his entire team are disillusioned with what they believe is going to happen with this fight. It's an illusion. It's not what it seems. I'm not what they think that I am. I'm not over the hill. I'm not done. I'm not what they think. I think that they'll find out. In fact, I'm sure that they'll find that out when we're in the ring the night that the fight happens."
Mosley (46-7-1, 39 KO) will face Alvarez for the WBC junior middleweight title on the Mayweather vs Cotto undercard at the MGM Grand, live on pay-per-view.
We've already been over this fight quite a bit, and even though many of you will probably believe I'm giving the fight too much attention, I expect I'll have more and more and more to say about this fight all the way until May 5. It's the sort of fight I find ghoulishly fascinating -- I'm right at that point in my life as a boxing fan where more and more of the guys I grew up watching are either retired or should be, or are really close to the end. When you've seen the vast majority of someone's career unfold, the warning signs get a lot more clear, a lot louder. The Mosley situation is like being next door to a nuclear power plant emergency siren.
[ Related: Alvarez vs Mosley Breakdown ]
But I do find it nice to know that Mosley does realize why he's being brought in: They think he's going to be a pushover and a name value scalp for young Canelo. Oscar De La Hoya and Richard Schaefer can bark out their sales pitch all they want, and say that Mosley is a Hall of Fame-bound warrior and a great fighter still, but Shane Mosley doesn't seem to be pushing the same idea. He's saying he's ready and says he'll win, because of course he believes that, but he's also giving the real reason he's in this spot. Golden Boy doesn't think that he can win, and believe he's a shot fighter.
If they really thought Mosley was going to be a test for Canelo Alvarez, they could have signed up someone else for less money. They're paying more to be safe.
Still, if you clip this part of what Mosley says and take it out of context, it's realistic for the critics of this fight, too, and a valid statement against what Golden Boy are trying to sell with Alvarez vs Mosley:
"I think that Golden Boy and his entire team are disillusioned with what they believe is going to happen with this fight. It's an illusion. It's not what it seems. I'm not what they think that I am."
0 recs | 12 comments
*Mosley is disillusioned*
Thomas Hill - February 11, 2012
mosley...
Shane Mosley needs 2 Go out on His Shield in this Fight. I rather remember him going All out then remembering him how he ran in the pac fight. Just do it. Go for the Ko and get this kid outta There! OR get KO’d himself.
DiE_HARDFER - February 11, 2012 via mobile
The word we’re looking for here is delusional, people, not disillusioned.
/nerd
El Destruyo - February 11, 2012
I agree. That’s the word.
Apprentice - February 11, 2012
+2
Matt Mosley - February 12, 2012
Or deluded
but definitely not disillusioned.
Doesn’t really make sense.
Matt Mosley - February 12, 2012
This is kind of random, but is there anybody here that thinks Canelo would beat the 2004 Mosley that lost to Winky Wright at 154? I’m sure I will get people pissed for saying it, but Mosley has NEVER been good at this weight (unless he faces a burned out Fernando Vargas), and I wonder if even the slightly past-his-prime version of Mosley in ’04 may have lost to Canelo at this weight.
Kory Kitchen - February 11, 2012
I think that was more of just a terrible stylistic match-up for Shane. I think he was still good enough to whoop Canelo, even at 154.
Sammlung - February 11, 2012
Canelo is going to stop Mosley
I noticed something lately about Mosley. He does come to fight. But once he gets tagged and realizes that he’s in a no-win situation and is getting outboxed, he goes into survival mode, and starts trying to protect his streak of never being stopped, which in my opinion is very cowardly.
If Shane fights all 12 rounds like he’s trying to win, he will be KO’d. I can see Shane backpedaling and pretty clearly running from about round 5 of this fight.
Zfan - February 11, 2012
Shane said the same thing before Mayweather and Pacquiao…
@korykitchen, I think 2004 Shane stops Canelo in a war. Winky Wright had a great jab and very tight defense, and was also longer than Canelo…Shane’s first big sign of slippage was the Mayorga fight when he was being outboxed by Mayorga and his power bailed him out…
mambocowboy - February 11, 2012
How can you be ‘disillusioned’ with something that you just created. I doubt anyone has any false illusions as to what they have contracted. Quite the opposite.
They know exactly what they are paying Shane to do.
Gibve the kid a little work. And Lose.
pakinpower - February 11, 2012
What he said was reiterations of one thing, which was “Let me at ‘em, I’ll show ’em.”
They all do that, I guess, but some (few) have more evidence than others; some like Mosley have only what seems to everyone else like a lonely and potentially disastrous faith in themselves.
He could have beaten the hell out of Alvarez a few years ago, and he still remembers that. I remember when I ran marathons every two weeks, competed in full-copntact martial arts, and lots of other things. I obviously never came close to Mosley’s ability, but I still, at nearly 60 years old, think about it and still imagine myself at that level of ability.
But, I’m done. He’s done. He needs a new challenge, a career.
DrRck - February 11, 2012
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