Sugar Shane Mosley Vs Saul Alvarez: OFFICIAL BOXING BREAKDOWN & PREDICTION – Miguel Cotto – Floyd Mayweather JR Undercard

By Geno McGahee

This Saturday, Miguel Cotto will be trying to be the first man to defeat Floyd Mayweather, JR., but that is not the only interesting fight on the card. The supporting bout is a very intriguing showdown as the old lion, 40 year old, Shane Mosley, 46-7-1, 39 KO’s, takes on the young lion, 21 year old, Saul Alvarez, 39-0-1, 29 KO’s, in a 12 round bout for the WBC Light Middleweight Title.

Mosley has faced just about everyone in boxing. He has been in the ring with Oscar De La Hoya (twice), Floyd Mayweather, JR., Manny Pacquiao, Miguel Cotto, Antonio Margarito, Ricardo Mayorga, Fernando Vargas (twice), Winky Wright (twice), and Vernon Forrest (twice). Mosley hasn’t ducked anyone and is a fighter in every sense of the word. Like most true fighters, they must be convinced to hang up the gloves. Mosley has never been knocked out, which is the goal of the young Alvarez on Saturday night.

Mosley has held the lightweight title, welterweight title, and light middleweight title. He was an unbeatable lightweight with a mixture of speed and power and he was so talented that he could move up in weight and mix it up with the bigger guys and get the best of them. The problem he faces is now is his battle with father time.

The recent track record for Sugar Shane is not very good. In his last six fights, he has compiled a record of 2 wins, 3 losses, and 1 draw. His recent victories were over an over the hill Ricardo Mayorga and a plaster-less Antonio Margarito. In his defense, he has lost to the top of the game, dropping decisions to Cotto, Mayweather and Pacquiao. His draw was against the awkward Sergio Mora, and an old fighter with diminishing reflexes would have an issue with a mover. If the boxer comes right at Shane, he has a chance to land, which is great news for the older fighter. Alvarez is a tank that will try to plow him over. There will be opportunities.

Alvarez is a budding star in boxing. When Floyd and Manny leave the game, he will be ready to take it over as boxing’s biggest deal, but he has his hands full with a determined and cagy veteran opposing him. Alvarez has beaten some notable foes like Kermit Cintron (KO-5), Alfonso Gomez (KO-6), Lovemore Ndou (W-12), Carlos Baldomir (KO-6), and Jose Miguel Cotto (KO-9). Mosley is the best opponent, even at 40, that he has ever faced. This is a calculated risk by Team Alvarez. The odds are that he will be able to beat Mosley down and be the first to stop him, accomplishing what Mayweather and Pacquiao could not, but there is risk. No matter how spent Mosley is, he still has power in both hands and is physically strong. Alvarez could be running into a minefield.

Alvarez has looked fantastic in sparring sessions and is very motivated for this fight. Most have written Mosley off, but he has been written off before. People have been telling him to retire for nearly 10 years, noting his diminished reflexes, but he proceeded and continued to win and upset certain fighters that were brought in to make a name for their self against him. Alvarez is a truth machine in this fight. If Mosley is too old for the sport, he will be carried out on Saturday night. If this great fighter has one great fight left in him, we may see the Mexican superstar run into a right hand that drops him for the count.

The most likely scenario here is that father time will be too much for Mosley. He’s got a fresh, hungry, and powerful puncher that will tear into his body from the opening round and gradually tear him apart. History will be made with Alvarez being the first to stop Mosley, somewhere in between round 6 and 10, but there are certainly risks going in.