Shane Mosley is back, if he ever left

[RokSki]

In a welterweight contest Saturday night, 'Sugar' Shane Mosley dominated Luis Collazo tonight, knocking him down late in the fight and winning a unanimous 12 round decision by scores of 118-109, 118-109 and 119-108. .

Collazo rose to prominence from his strong - some would say victorious - recent performance over undefeated Ricky Hatton. Though Hatton was awarded the decision, Collazo's stock rose significantly after the bout.

For Mosley to be so dominating over such a highly regarded fighter bodes well for his future prospects. Mosley displayed his trademark handspeed, excellent defense, and combination punching. With the knockdown of the rugged Collazo, Mosley served notice that he still possesses a considerable amount of power for the 147lb. division.

With his stirring victory, Mosley is all but guaranteed at least one more megafight (and mega-payday). Miguel Cotto, Floyd Mayweather, and Antonio Margarito are just a few of the names that are being mentioned.

At 35, Mosley has the welterweight division right where he wants it - in his very capable hands.

 

[Chuck~Taylor]

I'd like to see Mayweather and Mosley.

 

[RokSki]

I'd like to see Mayweather and Mosley.

Man, me too. And soon, before Mosley slips for real. Mosley would give PBF the toughest fight, IMO, because he has the speed to get to PBF, and the power to do damage when he finds him. I hope this happens.

 

[nafselon]

I would hardly call Collazzo "highly regarded". He's a young fighter with a questionable heart and hunger for the game. The Hatton fight was there for him from the beginning until the end (I actually thought he won, but Hatton is GROSSLY overrated to begin with) and he never truly asserted himself.

Mosley is just at a higher class and the result was hardly a shock. I actually thought he'd TKO him. Nonetheless Shane is one of the good guys in the business and I'm happy to see him catch this second wind.

 

[shotglass]

Sugar Shane is who he is, frankly. He's always going to beat the bottom 98 percent, and he's always going to lose to the top 2 percent. It's not like he has a mach level.

 

[nafselon]

Sugar Shane is who he is, frankly. He's always going to beat the bottom 98 percent, and he's always going to lose to the top 2 percent. It's not like he has a mach level.

He's lost to two guys, one of whom, Vernon Forrest, basically smothered him in the second fight and refused to exchange. He lost twice to Winky Wright, who is probably the second best boxer on the planet. Mosley IS part of the Top 2 percent.

 

[Uncle_buck]

Mayweather v Mosley would make for a great June bout. And maybe a fight that Mayweather will get excited for. It seems he has been going through the motions recently and paid more attention to the show before the fight than the challenge inside the ring. This is a contest that both men would get their juices flowing for I'm sure.

On a side note and as a Brit it is refreshing to see some Hatton backlash on here. Whilst I think he is a really good boxer he is not as out of the world great as people (certainly the British boxing press) are making out. Yes this is the sport of hyperbole where you have to talk the boxer up but he has beaten none of the cream of the crop in their prime.

I find the UK's fascination in Hatton is more of a result of the dearth of great even just good UK boxers. He is sold as the peoples champ in the UK and he does have this likeable everyman demeanour which appeals to me even.

Until we see the maturation of Amir Khan the UK have no one to hang their hat on (just realised where I've gone there - Sorry) so Hatton will continue to be part of the hearts and minds of the UK fight fans.

Despite not being ready to overstate his importance in the history of the division I think there is merit in any of the top US boxers taking Hatton on. At the end of the day as a boxer you never want to finish your career with journalists and afficionado's saying "yeah but you never faced this guy". If you're a boxer wanting to cement his rep you leave no stone unturned so by that token some of the big gun, big rep Americans need to take him on. Hatton is clearly a dangerous opponent to some of the ring records out there so the risk vs reward atraction is not there.

Dangerous enough to avoid but not good enough in the eyes of the US public to provide the right purse money. If the promoters can get the money right then I think Hatton provides some fascinating match ups in the division and those match ups will answer some credibility questions all round.

 

[John D. Villarreal]

Saw the fight - Shane was great.

Fight was more competitive than the scores would indicate - yet Shane had more of everything & hammered him down the stretch. He looked amazing for 35 & has a legit shot at regaining the title.

Here is what's up

Floyd can't fight Mosley in June as he is fighting De La Hoya in May (Cinco De Mayo MEGA fight). This is being super promoted by HBO and no way anyone is getting out of that fight.

Shane says he will fight in June and can be ready for Floyd in Dec - Floyd says he is retiring after fight with Oscar.

What will happen?

But we always have Cintron, Margaritto (who most are afraid of (including PBF)) & Coto.

Either way Shane is always exciting & never in a bad fight.

 

[nafselon]

Uncle_buck: What's the general thoughts of Joe Calzaghe in the UK? I figured he, not Hatton, would be the biggest thing in UK Boxing.

JDV: No one is afraid of Margarito. Floyd would dispatch of him as easily as he dispatched of Baldomir. Margarito has no posture and his punches are so wide PBF would see them coming 10 seconds before he threw them. He's basically a taller Diego Corrales. Solid fighter but nothing worth giving up a better payday to bother with.

Cotto has more to offer because he's got a great following among Puerto Rican and Hispanic-American fans in general. He's one of the most dynamic body punchers in the lower weights. But his chin is questionable to say the least and his defense is still awful. He hasn't improved in the last three years, which is a shame because he should be unbeatable right about now with his skill level.

 

[cranberry]

I saw the fight too. Shane's hands seemed as fast as ever and he's an excellent counter puncher. I think he frustrated Collazo, who didn't seem to have much on his punches and didn't land very much. A lefty-righty match always makes both fighters seem a little awkward, with their front feet toe to toe. There was an accidental headbutt early in the fight that left a cut over Collazo's left eye. Similar thing happened in Moseley's fight against Raul Marquez four years ago at Mandalay Bay. That time, they stopped the fight. Next up should be the winner of the De La Hoya-Mayweather (May).

 

[nafselon]

I saw the fight too. Shane's hands seemed as fast as ever and he's an excellent counter puncher. I think he frustrated Collazo, who didn't seem to have much on his punches and didn't land very much. A lefty-righty match always makes both fighters seem a little awkward, with their front feet toe to toe. There was an accidental headbutt early in the fight that left a cut over Collazo's left eye. Similar thing happened in Moseley's fight against Raul Marquez four years ago at Mandalay Bay. That time, they stopped the fight. Next up should be the winner of the De La Hoya-Mayweather (May).

Apparently Collazo broke his left hand in the third round which I wasn't aware of so I can understand his lack of activity.

Mosley was supposed to fight Cintron this time, I'm wondering if he'll do it in the summer since I don't see a Mosley-Cotto fight happening for a multitude of reasons the main one being that Bob Arum and Oscar de la Hoya hate each other and would never do a co-promotion.

Still should be a good summer in boxing with Mayweather-DLH, Barrera-Marquez, Margarito-Paul Johnson, both the Klitschkos fighting, etc.

 

[Uncle_buck]

Uncle_buck: What's the general thoughts of Joe Calzaghe in the UK? I figured he, not Hatton, would be the biggest thing in UK Boxing.

Well Calzaghe is highly coveted in the UK as well but his stock has only really risen since he beat a heavily backed Jeff Lacy with a thoroughly good performance last March. That alone made him a contender for our BBC TV sports personality of the year (in what was a pretty bad year for British sports)

Calzaghe has always had this stigma over his career of never really fighting any of the big names in his division and now at 34 coming up 35 with a history of injury problems with his hands, perhaps he has left it too late to crack the US. The likes of Jermain Taylor I fear would have too much for him.

Right now Ricky Hatton is the man. The home town Manchester following has reminds me very much of the sort of following Barry McGuigan had in Belfast, and thousands of British fans mainly from Manchester appear to be following him over to America.

However he is not going to be the man for long, Amir Khan could be the next big sensation for British boxing, that kid is good........ I mean really good

 

[RokSki]

PBF would destroy Cotto, no contest.

Margarito is a different story. PBF couldn't dream of hurting Margarito, and Margaritio's height and activity would definitely bother PBF. The proper comparison for Margarito is not a bigger Corrales, it's a bigger Castillo, who gave PBF all he could handle in their first fight.

Yes, Margarito punches wide, but he throws so many punches that he smothers guys. PBF is scared to death of Margarito, as well he should be. PBF might well beat him, but Margarito has the style and the size to give PBF fits, and he knows it.

I can't wait to see Margarito fight Paul Williams. That is going to be a great fight. And if Margarito beats Williams, Cotto is next. Cotto is an easier fight for Margarito than Williams is going to be. Margarito will blow up Cotto's chin some time during that fight.

I love talking boxing, man. :)

 

[nafselon]

Uncle_buck: Jeff Lacy is also on that overrated bus with Ricky Hatton. Lacy's from the area and to a man my friends and I all called that destruction a week before it happened (got great odds on it too). You're right about his late-blooming status and his injury history but Lennox Lewis was a late bloomer too.

Rokski: Why is anyone drinking this Margarito Kool-Aid is well beyond me. Yeah he's tall and he's slow as ****. PBF couldn't hurt him with a single punch (he couldn't hurt anyone with a single punch) but after he connects on about 115 per round over 8 rounds it's going to get tedious and annoying. Margarito might win as many rounds against PBF at Gatti did (and that's a resounding zero).

Paul Williams will dispatch of him before the 8th round and he'll balloon up into the bigger weight classes. Mark it down.

 

[henryhenry]

how does mosley fare against ray leonard or tommy hearns, circa 1981?

 

[shotglass]

Depends on whether he would enjoy sipping soup from a straw.

No ... not fair to say that against Leonard. Ray would just pick him apart in a unanimous, 120-108 decision.

Hearns would hurt him.

 

[RokSki]

henry:

IMO:

Hearns is too tall for Mosley, and it would be like Vernon Forest versus Mosley, except (like shotglass says) Hearns would probably lower the boom on Mosley (who does have an excellent chin)

Leonard vs Mosley would be a great fight, IMO. Two guys with outstanding handspeed and good power, although Leonard carried more power going up in weight than Mosley did. I'd have to pick Leonard, as shotglass did. I might not make it a shutout in rounds, but I'd say something like 8-4 or 9-3 in rounds.

nafselon - A lot of people feel as you do about Williams vs Margarito. They've sparred some, and it has been said that Williams got the better of those sessions. That has also been refuted, predictably, by the Margarito camp. I think it's going to be an exciting fight, and I wouldn't be surprised if both fighters go down. I guess we'll have to wait and see. I have Margarito inside of the distance, myself. Williams is an awesome, freakishly tall (for the division) talent, but I think he doesn't have enough experience yet to hang with Margarito. Should be a great fight, either way. :)