Shane Mosley vs. Saul Alvarez Results: Sugar Shane Needs to Retire

Sugar Shane Mosley put up more of a fight than anyone thought he would against Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, but he needs to make sure this was his last fight. 

In the end, Alvarez won via unanimous decision, 119-109, 118-110 and 119-109, and it might have even been closer than that. 

However, despite the promising effort against an undefeated Alvarez, and despite the aspirations of being the next Bernard Hopkins, who seems likely to fight until he's about 64, the 40-year-old Mosley is going to pay if he keeps boxing.

First, the positives of Saturday's battle at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, which will be a contender for Fight of the Year. 

Mosley, for his current skill level, was terrific. He stood head-to-head, toe-to-toe with "Cinnamon" and delivered and connected on a lot of solid punches throughout the fight. He threw an array of jabs, hooks and undercuts and understandably surprised the WBC light middleweight champ a bit. 

For the most part, Mosley didn't look like he was 40 years old. He lasted all 12 rounds and, at times, showed an impressive combination of speed and power. Speed and power that we were only expecting to see out of the 21-year-old Alvarez.

Let's put it this way: As a 40-year-old, Sugar Shane is in as much shape as most 40-year-olds are fat. It's downright scary how good he looked.

Two words. Sen. Sational.

However, there were clear negatives, too.

In order to attack Canelo with the ferocity and effectiveness that he did, Mosley had to go all out and had to open himself up. As a result, Alvarez connected with some absolutely huge punches.

Some of the uppercuts Alvarez landed cleanly were almost painful to watch. Shane never went down, but he looked wobbly at times and damage was clearly inflicted. At the end, Mosley's face was a blurry mess. His cheekbone likely broken.

ESPN's Stephen A. Smith summed it up pretty darn well:

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I don't care that Sugar Shane is still standing/throwing. He's taking too much punishment. This could end badly!

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"— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) May 6, 2012"

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Again, Mosley proved that he is still in the shape necessary to keep boxing. 

But he just took too much punishment. If he keeps pushing himself in the sport, he's going to get brutally beaten and risk serious injury.

What's more, Mosley has had a brilliant career and has nothing left to prove. He could keep going, but he shouldn't keep going.

Despite losing to Canelo Alvarez by decision, this was the perfect—okay, almost perfect, but good enough—way for Sugar Shane Mosley to end a storied career.

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