Shane Mosley: The 5 Biggest Fights So Far for Manny Pacquiao's Next Opponent
Just a year and six days after Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and "Sugar" Shane Mosley touched gloves and duked it out at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, one of those combatants will finally take to the ring against the boxing world's biggest draw, Manny Pacquiao.
It just isn't the man everyone had been buzzing about.
Pacquiao and Mosley will take to the ring May 7, and questions have already begun to swirl about whether or not Mosley can hang with the younger and more accomplished Pacquiao.
Mosley has battled his way to a split draw and a resounding loss in his last two bouts, so the 39-year-old welterweight is no longer the best in the business. With Mayweather ensnared in a domestic violence case, though, Mosley became the best option.
Read on for the five biggest fights in the 17-year career of Mosley, a three-class boxing champion.
5. Mosley Vs. Philip Holiday, Aug. 2, 1997
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Mosley captured his first professional title with this win over Holiday at the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut. It took a unanimous decision after all 12 rounds, but Mosley looked in control throughout.
At the time, the win ran his professional record to 24-0 and made him IBF Lightweight champion.
4. Mosley Vs. Jose Miguel Cotto, Nov. 10, 2007
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Madison Square Garden hosted Mosley and Cotto in 2007, with Mosley chasing the WBA welterweight title. The fight also went all 12 rounds, but Cotto got the victory by unanimous decision. Mosley landed several good punches, but Cotto never seemed in serious danger of losing this fight.
The loss set Mosley back only briefly: He would win his next two bouts.
3. Mosley Vs. Antonio Margarito, Jan. 24, 2009
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Scarcely 14 months after his loss to Cotto, Mosley found his way back into a title match for the WBA Super World Welterweight crown against Margarito, billed at the time as the biggest fight of his life.
Mosley owned Margarito before a packed house at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, and the only question seemed to be when he would finally knock his opponent out. The technical KO came in the ninth round, making Mosley champion again.
2. Mosley Vs. Floyd Mayweather, Jr., May 1, 2010
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A fight over 10 years in the making, Mayweather-Mosley touched off in Vegas in May as the biggest fight boxing had seen in some time, at least as far as having two highly marketable foes was concerned.
Mosley, an underdog in the fight, was able to put Mayweather on the ropes with a small barrage in the second round, but that was virtually his only highlight. Mayweather won a commanding and unanimous decision, costing Mosley the title he had earned with his win over Margarito.
Mosley finished a split draw with Sergio Mora in September, marking a tough stretch of his career that may signal bad things to come in May against Pacquiao.
1. Mosley Vs. Oscar De La Hoya, June 17, 2000
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Mosley was a name serious boxing fans knew from the start, with his smooth and tactical fighting style making him a favorite of boxing purists. It was his duel with De La Hoya, though, in the Staples Center in the summer of 2000, that put Mosley on the map for the entire country.
De La Hoya was perhaps the most noted boxer in the world at the time and still very much in his prime, yet Mosley came right at him. The two battled to a split decision, but Mosley got the better end of it and won both the WBA and IBA welterweight titles.
The victory sent him to 35-0, and he took over De La Hoya's mantle as the greatest boxer of that time.
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