“I’m a real fighter, I’m a dangerous fighter…this will be the most dangerous fight Pacquiao will be in” – Shane Mosley Shobox 360
This past Saturday night fight fans witnessed what they like to call a letdown a huge letdown. Shane Mosley made a lot of noise and claims before he entered the ring with the Pound for Pound champion on Saturday night but in the end it was ALL talk(and even more glove touching).
After feeling each other out the first couple rounds Manny got to Mosley and dropped him in the 3rd. At that particular time, it felt as if it would end up being a short night for Pacquiao. However, Mosley was able to recover and take the fight the distance without taking more punishment than he had to. Mosley himself stated after the fight he wasn’t willing to take risks with Pacquiao. It showed as the second half of the fight was hard to watch and at times frustrating. Mosley had been in the ring with Cotto, De La Hoya, Margarito, Forrest, Mayweather, and Vargas and stood toe to toe with all of them, yet on this particular Saturday night Mosley looked old and unwilling to fight. In a matter of 12 rounds Mosley showed that he no longer deserved to get in the ring with the best. Mosley seemed to have lost that fire boxing fans had come to know and appreciate from Mosley. The dismantling of Margarito, Vargas and many others seemed to be a distant memory. Fans were witnessing what Pacquiao seems to do every fight, make great boxers look bad…really bad.
Where does Mosley go from here? Only Shane knows, but to be a headlining PPV fighter? That he is not. However, it wouldn’t be a shock to see him headlining (Roy Jones Jr Bernard Hopkins 2 comes to mind), but that would be unfair to the paying public. Saturday night, Mosley took the money and ran. Perhaps he deserved it; he fought every big name out there during his great career and never backed down, so maybe it was his time to save himself and his body the damage Pacquiao can do. Ask Oscar De La Hoya, who called the fight off after the 8th round of his fight with Pacquiao in December 2008. He knew he didn’t have what it took to compete with Pac that night either.
I hope that is not the case nor do I believe Mosley would do such a thing yet this past Saturday he failed to live up to his bravado and talk he talked for the past few months leading to the fight. If this is the last time we see Shane Mosley fight, he had a hell of a career. You can never say he didn’t fight the best in his time. He never passed on a fight and hopefully fans will remember Mosley when he fought De La Hoya, Wright, Vargas, Mayorga, Cotto,. Hopefully.
And then…
Pacquiao has put De La Hoya and Hatton into retirement, maybe 3rd time’s a charm? Mosley too?
This past Saturday marked the 4th year passing and 6th year anniversary of arguably one of the best fights of all time. Diego Corrales vs Jose Luis Castillo. As I have the last couple years, I re-watched the fight between these two men. It still gives me the Goosebumps. Anytime someone tries to tell me boxing is boring, all I do is let them borrow my copy of the fight, it usually changes their mind. Perhaps part of me was hoping that the Pac-Mosley fight would have been something close to that fight. Wishful thinking.
More wishful thinking. Edwin Valero passed away in April of 2009. What could have been between Valero and Pacquiao maybe would have been close to Corrales vs Castillo.
Negotiations for a 3rd go around between Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez is almost finalized. Makes me wish a Valero-Pac fight was possible. I am not interested in a 3rd fight between the two, especially above 140lbs. Pac has gotten better and shows no signs of getting old in the next 6 months. Marquez on the other hand, has seen his better days. I will be surprised if it goes past 8 rounds.
What’s your opinion should Shane Mosley Retire?
I might sound a bit negative but.. I feel that throughout the years Shane has been slightly OVER rated due to his first win over Oscar. No, I’m not saying that he hasn’t been a outstanding fighter, but I do believe that he’s been given more credit than he actually deserves since that very career defining victory. The kayo over Margarito temporarily revived his career.
Let us consider: After defeating Oscar he scored wins over virtual set-ups like Adrian Stone (who??) and Shannon Taylor (who??) in two very low risk fights and since then he’s had 17 fights, compiling a 8-7 record with 1 no-contest and 1 draw verdict, hardly impressive. During that span he defeated Luis Collazo and Margarito, good wins no doubt. Four of those losses came to fighters like Vernon Forrest (twice), Winky Wright (also twice), all of which were clear defeats and rather uneventful and boring encounters, if we well remember. Later came the defeat at the hands of Miguel Cotto and the two lopsided defeats Mayweather and Pacquiao. How much credit does Shane deserve for the victories over a spent Fernando Vargas and his surprisingly “too close for comfort” win over crude Ricardo Mayorga?
As I put them together his losses overshadow his wins, the ‘negatives’ over the ‘positives’, in my humble opinion.
I think your very wrong in thinking that jm Marquez has no real shot….
Yea I think shane has done what he came to do in boxing. he had a great career and there’s nothing left for him to prove. Its time to retire.
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