The Old Shane Mosley Was Replaced by an Old Shane Mosley

Sugar" Shane Mosley was once a great fighter.

Way back in 2001 when he, twice, beat a prime Oscar De La Hoya.

Since then, he's a very pedestrian 8-5-1 with losses to Vernon Forrest, Winky Wright, and Miguel Cotto. The same Miguel Cotto who was dismantled by Manny Pacquiao.

The reason he got the Mayweather fight was because he beat Antonio Margarito way back in January of 2009.

Margarito the Cheater who was probably 50 percent of his usual self after having plaster casts removed from his wraps.

On Saturday night, after a 16 month layoff, he looked every bit the tired and aging fighter searching for one last payday.

He got it.

By the sixth or seventh round, he was cooked.

The whispers coming into the fight were that he didn't have a good camp. That he over-trained and was tired trying to make weight.

He looked it.

Unlike Floyd Mayweather Jr., nobody can ever question Shane Mosley's heart. The man fought everyone from a prime Oscar De La Hoya to Vernon Forrest, Winky Wright, Fernando Vargas, and Wilfredo Rivera.

But the old Shane Mosley didn't step into the ring on Saturday. A Shane Mosley who had gotten old took his place.

For three rounds he looked great—then nothing.

He had Mayweather in a lot of trouble in the second, and couldn't finish him. He let him off the hook.

As the fight progressed, hos stamina was gone. His quickness was suspect. His power was nowhere to be found. He wasn't getting hit with big shots, he just looked like he was gassed.

People are calling Floyd Mayweather's fight a "Picasso".

Not exactly.

More like a Picasso poster. A good imitation of a master, but far from the real thing.

As I watched the HBO 24/7 series prior to the fight, I just couldn't understand Shane's game plan. He was the one who called out Mayweather after the Marquez fight. Yet, suddenly, he was taking the high road and refusing to get into verbal jousts with Mayweather.

Huh?

Just from the series, it didn't look like he was having a good camp. His entourage wasn't loose like Mayweather's or Pacquiao's camps. They looked tense and nervous.

Maybe Shane knew he was stepping into a fight he couldn't win and didn't want to say too much? I really don't know.

He could fight Mayweather Jr. again and the outcome would be the same. Mosley just doesn't have the skills to compete with the top fighters any longer. I hope he retires, but he probably won't.

I'm not sure if he saw anything in his performance against Mayweather that would convince him to keep fighting. I sure didn't.

I'm not making a lot of this fight for Mayweather. Yes, he won convincingly, but he should have won convincingly. He didn't do anything, in my mind, to silence his critics.

He needs to get into the ring with Sergio Martinez, Paul Williams, or Timothy Bradley.

Or, he needs to finally man-up and face the Pacman.