Mosley vs. Alvarez: Why Boxing Needs Canelo to Prevail over Sugar Shane

With a career record of 46-7-1-1 and world titles in five different weight classes, there is little doubt that "Sugar" Shane Mosley is one of the all-time greats and a future Hall of Famer.

That said, though, the world of boxing desperately needs rising star Saul "Canelo" Alvarez to defeat him on Saturday night.

Aside from Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, boxing severely lacks star power. At just 21 years old, though, Alvarez already has an incredible 39-0-1 and the look and personality to be a bona fide star. There don't seem to be many such fighters coming through the pipeline, so Canelo's success is of great importance.

He has started to dispatch of some solid competition—such as Kermit Cintron, Alfonso Gomez and Carlos Baldomir—and is beginning to gain plenty of traction and recognition among fans. A fight with Mosley is huge for him as Mosley is a name brand.

He simply can't afford to lose. It would effectively curtail any momentum he has gained.

Beating Mosley won't be a walk in the park, but Sugar Shane is clearly on the decline. Over his past three fights, he has lost decisively to both Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, and he fought Sergio Mora to a disappointing draw.

If Alvarez is the future superstar that everyone expects him to be, then he needs to be able to beat a fighter on the downside of his career who is 19 years older than he is.

As things currently stand, there just isn't much interest in a fight unless it features Mayweather or Pacquiao. This has been an issue for quite some time, but with the supporting players aging and retiring—and very little intriguing new talent coming to the forefront—things have finally come to a head.

Boxing needs to develop new stars, and Alvarez can be one.

At 21 years old, he could very well have at least 15 years of good fights left in him. He has already beaten some of the better fighters in his weight class and is the WBC light middleweight champion. Realistically, the sky is the limit in terms of what he can achieve.

Again, though, a loss to Mosley would really hurt his development.

Whether he wins or loses on Saturday night, Mosley doesn't have much time left in the sport. He's 40 years old and seems to have a great future ahead of him as a promoter, so there isn't much sense in continuing to fight.

I get the feeling that he took this fight in order to be a gatekeeper and perhaps to score one more big victory to cap off his career. But that's not what boxing fans want to see.

Mosley has a chance to play spoiler. If he wins, that is precisely what he'll do. He'll spoil a promising career. It obviously isn't Mosley's responsibility to ensure that Alvarez succeeds and becomes the next big thing in boxing, but there are plenty of people who are hoping that he goes quietly in this fight.

Boxing is in a bit of a depression at the moment and it needs somebody to come along and save it.

A fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao might do the trick. Failing that, Alvarez could be the only hope. Alvarez has a ton of pressure on his shoulders and a lot of fans counting on him to take the next step.