Manny Pacquiao Vs Shane Mosley: Legalized Execution in Boxing
By Geno McGahee
I, like many of you, have come to the realization that we will not get the fight we all want with Floyd Mayweather, JR., 41-0, 25 KO’s, finally taking on Manny Pacquiao, 52-3-2, 38 KO’s, but what we’ve gotten in its place is an absolute joke.
In his last bout, Pacquiao easily beat the “Hands of Plaster” minus the plaster, Antonio Margarito, with a dominant decision. No surprise there. It was a mismatch with an edge and Bob Arum played that angle. He brought the bad boy in…and he was now going to get punished for his sins, or maybe he’d win and another controversy would emerge. Whatever the case, Arum would win because he promoted both fighters.
A May 7th date opened up with an empty slot, reserved for a Manny Pacquiao opponent. Who would it be? Maybe a Christmas wish would bring in Floyd Mayweather, JR., or maybe it would be a third encounter with Juan Manuel Marquez. Would Pacquiao really gamble and take on the larger Sergio Martinez? No, no, and no. We have Shane Mosley.
In the late 1990s, Mosley was the premiere lightweight, winning the title in 1997 and defending it eight times before moving up to welterweight. In 2000, Mosley would shock the world and defeat Oscar De La Hoya for the WBC Welterweight Title.
After three defenses, Mosley would meet up with amateur rival, Vernon Forrest, and would get knocked down and controlled en route to a decision loss and the first loss on his career record. Mosley would rematch immediately and would suffer another defeat, similar to the first. As good as Mosley is, he has never been able to adjust very well.
In 2003, Mosley was looked at as damaged goods and De La Hoya saw an opportunity to avenge a defeat against a lesser fighter. Mosley was a lesser fighter but still won a unanimous decision. He would lose his next two fights, both to Ronald “Winky” Wright at light middleweight.
After a couple of wins over decent, not great, opposition, he took on a shop worn Fernando Vargas. Both men were considered well past their prime and this 2006 showdown was a way to eliminate one of them and allow the other one final decent payday. It was an even fight but Vargas became too damaged to continue and the fight was stopped in the tenth round.
Mosley would stop Vargas in the rematch with a left hook in round six. Vargas has nothing left and was rather easy prey. Sugar Shane moved on.
In 2007, Shane took on the undefeated Puerto Rican Superstar, Miguel Cotto, and handled himself well. No matter how shot Mosley may be, he has always been tough and strong and used his experience and grit to go the distance in a losing effort. Mosley’s performance really put him back on the map of big name “opponents” for up and comers, and that’s how he ended up facing Antonio Margarito.
Prior to his Margarito challenge, Shane eked by Ricardo Mayorga, getting the knockout in the final round in a very close fight. One judge had Mayorga winning after eleven rounds. It was more evidence that Mosley was no longer an elite player in boxing, but that all changed on the night of January 24th, 2009.
The then WBA Welterweight Champion, Antonio Margarito, had just come off the best win of his career, a stoppage of Miguel Cotto. It was a feel good sort of victory, where the people looked at Margarito as a tough guy that never got a break and fought hard for everything he got…it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. Well, that’s what we thought then until his illegal hand wraps were exposed and it was proven that he was using Plaster of Paris, turning his hands into deadly weapons, which is the only reason he ever defeated Miguel Cotto, and I would bet that he would have lost to Kermit Cintron as well had he not been cheating.
Without the loaded gloves, Margarito is a mediocrity, and was pummeled by Mosley, but the victory was an illusion. Margarito was so overrated that the victory seemed very impressive, when, in actuality, Mosley was merely beating up a guy that wasn’t much without loaded gloves.
In May of 2010, Mosley was exposed by Floyd Mayweather, JR., as a totally spent force, dominated for twelve rounds and chased around the ring. Mosley landed one punch of note in the entire fight. Floyd had a field day with his over the hill opponent, and Mayweather was smart enough to know exactly what condition Shane was in even prior to signing to fight him. He understood that he was not facing anything near a prime Mosley. He was facing an old man and beat him up with ease.
Sugar Shane attempted to rebound by taking on an “easy” opponent in Sergio Mora, and it wasn’t so easy. An ugly draw after twelve rounds let the boxing world know that the 39 year old great lightweight was spent, but the money signs appeared in the eyes of Arum and was quick to jump at a match up with the prime Manny Pacquiao and old man Mosley.
I did what I could to save everyone 60 bucks when Margarito faced Pacquiao. That sham was bad for the sport as it rewarded bad behavior and gave the casual fan and the non fan the impression that the game encourages the loading of gloves. Margarito should have been banned for life and I’m happy to know that I at least convinced a few people not to rent. Now, here we go again.
Shane Mosley is a 39 year old man with a lot of heart and not a lot of reflexes, and when you put those two things together, we are going to see a terrible beating. The ER will be waiting with a bed reserved for “Sugar” Shane. Don’t be fooled by his name. He has absolutely no chance to win outside of a lucky punch or Pacquiao throwing a punch and accidentally hitting himself and knocking himself out. This is such a disgusting mismatch, that maybe it’s a ploy.
Maybe it’s being used to get Floyd Mayweather, JR., into the ring, and let’s hope so. I don’t think that anyone is excited about Pacquiao beating up an old man.