Bleacher Report - Shane Mosley

Shane Mosley Doesn't Realize It's Time to Say Goodbye

Steve Silverman — Mon, 20 May 2013 15:13:09 -0400

Sooner or later, all fighters get the message that it's time to retire.

Count Shane Mosley in the group who will get the message later.

Mosley won a decision over a fighter named Pablo Cesar Cano on Saturday. It was Mosley's first victory since 2009 and the narrow decision was enough for Mosley to send out an Instagram announcement that he was going to continue his boxing career and he has no plans to retire yet.

Mosley (47-8-1) has been fighting professionally since 1993. He fought as an amateur long before that. He is 41 years old and he has little of the speed and quickness that marked his prime fighting years.

But it's hard for fighters to say goodbye, especially for those who have been champions and among the great pound-for-pound fighters of his era. Fame is addicting to all athletes; boxers seem to get caught in its anaconda-like grip more than most.

Some of the most noteworthy fighters who stayed around too long include Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali, Roberto Duran, Sugar Ray Leonard, Evander Holyfield and Julio Cesar Chavez.

There's one obvious reason that boxers refuse to hang up their gloves once their reflexes start to dull, their speed starts to wane and their combinations lose their sting.

Money.

Mosley, who has been through a divorce, said on Twitter that he still has enough money and he is not forced to remain in the ring to survive economically.

My #boxing post about @sugarshanem's future as an active fighter is now on @yahoosports sports.yahoo.com/blogs/boxing/s…
— Kevin Iole (@KevinI) May 20, 2013

It's the public adulation—or the memory of it—that keeps fighters putting their bodies at risk.

Mosley has to know his days of fighting Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather and Saul "Canelo" Alvarez are over.

His victory over Cano was about one year after Alvarez trounced him and took a lopsided decision. Pacquiao took him apart in May, 2011 in a one-sided decision. Mayweather did the same to him in May, 2010.

Mosley has not won a fight since he pounded out a TKO over Antonio Margarito in September, 2009. Mosley is 3-4-1 in his last eight fights.

Mosley could put himself on a dangerous path. If he decides he can work himself back into contention by beating inexperienced or lesser fighters, he could eventually get himself a higher profile fight.

What happens then? What happens if he gets back into the ring with an angry and motivated fighter like Robert Guerrero or Devon Alexander? That's when Mosley could find himself flat on his back and in serious trouble.

That's how older fighters get hurt badly.

But Mosley, who once had a dominating skill set, is not worried about that. He wants to keep fighting and he's not worried about the consequences.

Some promoter will always give Mosley a chance to get back into the ring. Until he stops selling tickets.

When the public stops responding to him, he'll be forced to say goodbye because he won't get the kind of paydays that make it worth his while.

But for now, Mosley is still in the game.

He's clinging desperately to hope and glory when it's time let go and move on to the next phase of his life.

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Mosley vs. Cano: Sugar Shane Should Head Back to Retirement After Unanimous Win

Dan Talintyre — Sun, 19 May 2013 22:35:40 -0400

After announcing his retirement from the sport almost 12 months ago, "Sugar Shane" Mosley stepped back into the ring this weekend and emerged with a unanimous points decision over Pablo Cano.

Now, the 41-year-old Mosley needs to step back out and into retirement once more.

He's ended his four-year losing streak and seemingly justified himself once more as a boxing winner. And should he head back into retirement now, he can bow out a winner—which is probably what the legendary boxer wanted from the moment he first stepped into the ring 19 years ago.

A former champion in three divisions, Sugar Shane made quick work of the 23-year-old. Cano controlled the opening few rounds of the fight, but with his experience and strengths kicking in, Mosley started to up the tempo and pull away from his opponent in the final few rounds of the fight.

All three judges scored the fight 115-113 for Mosley.

The win marked the first time that Mosley had won a fight since defeating Antonio Margarito in 2009, with heavy losses to Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao and Saul Alvarez in recent years crippling his status in boxing's elite and eventually bringing him to the point of retirement.

After all, he is 41 years old.

It's definitely understandable that he wants to come back and end that losing streak and finish his career on a positive note given all the success he's had before.

However, it's time for Mosley to give it up for good.

His best years are well behind him, and as Sports Illustrated's Bryan Armen Graham highlights, that's shown most clearly in the demise of his professional record.

Sugar Shane's reflexes aren't the same, and his skills have slipped also.

His mentality might be the same and his durability still strong, but there comes a point when Father Time starts to catch up with every boxer, and that time has seemingly come for Mosley.

He is but a shadow of what he once was, and in order to protect the great legacy that he built for himself over the years, he needs to give it all up now.

After all, what would he rather be remembered for?

Would he rather his reputation remained as one of the most talented lightweights of all time and a superstar who won multiple world titles in three weight classes?

Or would he rather be remembered as they guy who couldn't let go?

It's for Sugar Shane to make that call.

Hit me up on Twitter for more sports goodness: Follow @dantalintyre

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Mosley vs. Cano: Sugar Shane Should Call It Quits After Ending Losing Streak

Tyler Brooke — Sun, 19 May 2013 01:43:28 -0400

After being winless for the past four years, Shane Mosley was finally able to end the streak on Saturday night against Cesar Cano.

After such a difficult stretch of fights, Sugar Shane needs to finally retire and end his career on somewhat of a high note.

At 41 years old, his best boxing years are certainly behind him. He has a respectable career record of 47-8-1 with 39 knockouts, but the recent winless streak put a blemish on a successful career. If he continues trying to fight, that record will continue to look worse and worse.

Even in the fight against Cano, who is a relatively average fighter, Mosley had his struggles. Even though he was able to win this fight by unanimous decision, there were times in the fight where Mosley seemed to be staggered.

According to a report by ESPN.com before the fight, Mosley believed he lost before due to injuries, saying:

"The last few fights I lost because of injuries, but I'm well," said the 41-year-old Mosley (46-8-1, 39 KOs) after the weigh-in. "My body tells me I'm well, so we are still going to be doing this for a while. Cano is a tough fighter, but I shouldn't have any problems beating him and being on my way to win a world title."

If Mosley is now having trouble with mediocre competition, how can he expect to continue fighting at a high level like he used to?

Back in the day, Sugar Shane was one of the best fighters in the world. He held titles in three weight divisions, holding the IBF Lightweight, WBC Welterweight, WBA Welterweight and several other Championships. He started his career with 38 consecutive wins before falling to Vernon Forrest in 2002. He has two big wins in his career against the great Oscar De La Hoya.

Now, it’s pretty clear that Sugar Shane can’t keep up with the competition. He's lost unanimous decisions to both Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, Jr. since 2010, and it’s pretty obvious that he’s unable to pull off an upset against any solid fighter at this point in his career.

Coming out of retirement for a fight is nice, but now Mosley has the opportunity to end his career officially with a win. Not every fighter can say that, and it would do a lot to keep a positive reputation on one of the better fighters of this generation.

It’s been a great career for Mosley, but now it’s finally time to hang up the gloves for good.

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Mosley vs. Cano: Preview and Prediction for Sugar Shane's Comeback Fight

Tim Daniels — Sat, 18 May 2013 15:00:12 -0400

Shane Mosley returns to the ring Saturday night to face Pablo Cesar Cano. After a brief retirement and more than a year between fights, Mosley must prove he made the right decision to return with a strong performance against a fighter 18 years his junior.

"Sugar Shane" was originated slated to return against Paulie Malignaggi last month, as reported by Dan Rafael of ESPN. Before the deal fell through, Mosley talked about his desire to return to the sport after some promising sessions in the gym.

I was thinking about it and running a little bit and I said, "You know what? I think I can do this." I'm holding my own in the gym no matter who I work with. I really love this sport. I love to do it. When I am in the gym, I can see myself improving.

Even though there's a major difference between the gym and the ring, Mosley clearly felt good enough about his form to give it another go. Since an agreement with Malignaggi couldn't be reached, he'll face off with Cano instead.

The biggest question mark for Mosley heading into the bout is his speed. It was one of the attributes that made him so difficult to face in his prime. Like all aging fighters, however, he's lost some of that quickness as his career has dragged on.

It's one of the main reasons why Mosley has three losses and a draw in his last four fights. He continued to go up against top-end competition like Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao, but he wasn't able to keep pace with those superstars of the sport.

In his last fight, which came in May 2012, Mosley wasn't able to make any type of inroads against rising star Saul Alvarez. It was a thoroughly lackluster unanimous-decision loss that sent a clear signal he wasn't ready to fight opponents of that caliber.

Cano represents a clear drop in the level of competition. The 23-year-old Mexico native lost to the aforementioned Malignaggi in his last fight, albeit by split decision.

Mosley must be prepared to handle Cano's power. Cano possesses enough striking ability to turn the fight into a one-sided demolition if the veteran isn't ready to defend.

At the same time, Cano is susceptible to the counterattack and hasn't faced a fighter with the type of experience and track record Mosley possesses. It's new territory for him. Mosley must capitalize on that early in the fight.

Ultimately, it's a very winnable fight for Mosley. Cano is an opponent who doesn't feature the elite quickness that's been giving him trouble in recent fights, and "Sugar Shane" clearly believes he's still got a couple wins left in the tank.

Whether he does or not will probably be pretty obvious by night's end. While this fight could go either way, Mosley gets the benefit of the doubt one more time.

Prediction: Mosley by unanimous decision

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