Shane Mosley
In 1998, the Boxing Writers Association of America selected Mosley as their Fighter of the Year.[ He was also given the same honor by the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2000. In 2000 and 2001 he was named the pound for pound best fighter in the world by The Ring.
Mosley has fought and defeated some of the most recognizable names in the sport, including Oscar De La Hoya (twice), Fernando Vargas (twice), Ricardo Mayorga (twice), and Antonio Margarito. He has also faced several former champions such as Winky Wright, Miguel Cotto, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Manny Pacquiao, and Saúl Álvarez.
Early years
Mosley was born in Lynwood, California and raised in Pomona, California. He has two older sisters, Venus and Cerena.Mosley became interested in boxing after watching his father, Jack, box in street fights. Mosley has been trained and managed by his father since the age of eight.Professional career
Welterweight
Mosley would make two more defenses of his title at lightweight, stopping both Golden Johnson and John Brown, before relinquishing his titles and moving up twelve pounds in weight to welterweight. He scored two consecutive knockouts, setting up a huge fight against Oscar de la Hoya for the WBC welterweight title.De La Hoya vs Mosley
Main article: Oscar
De La Hoya vs. Shane Mosley
On June 17, 2000, Mosley met De La
Hoya in Los Angeles for the WBC & vacant Lineal welterweight titles.
After twelve rounds, Mosley emerged with a split decision victory. During the
fight, neither man was in danger of going down, but both had badly swollen
faces at the end and De La Hoya was bleeding from the nose for several rounds.
Mosley earned a minimum of $15 million, while De La Hoya was guaranteed
$35 million.[7]Light-middleweight
On February 8, 2003, Mosley's bout with former IBF light-middleweight title holder Raúl Márquez ended in a no contest when Mosley accidentally head butted Marquez twice in round three, which caused two very bad cuts above the eyes of Marquez.De La Hoya vs Mosley II
Main article: Oscar
De La Hoya vs. Shane Mosley II
Mosley and De La Hoya faced each
other for the second time on September 13, this time with De La Hoya's Lineal/The
Ring/WBC/WBA light-middleweight championships on the line. Mosley defeated
De La Hoya by a controversial 12 round unanimous decision and joined the
exclusive group of world boxing champions that have reigned in three or more
divisions. Many fans had Oscar easily beating Mosley in this rematch but judges
scored it differently regardless of De La Hoya landing over 100 more punches.
Mosley testified in 2003 that he injected himself with the notorious doping
agent EPO as he prepared for his light-middleweight title fight against Oscar
De La Hoya, according to grand jury transcripts and doping calendars.Return to welterweight
Margarito vs Mosley
Prior to one of the biggest fights of his career, Mosley began training with Naazim Richardson. Mosley regained the WBA(Super) welterweight title from Antonio Margarito on January 24, 2009 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Mosley, now 37 years old, came into the fight as a 4–1 underdog with the bookies after Margarito had spectacularly stopped Cotto 6 months earlier. Prior to the bout, very few gave Mosley a chance of prevailing, with the prevailing view that Margarito was too strong and young for Mosley. The conventional wisdom was that this was a mismatch, which would end in a brutal retirement-forcing stoppage for "Sugar" Shane. A comparison of their last fights; the aforementioned destruction of Cotto by Margarito and a last-gasp knockout by Mosley in a hard twelve round struggle against Mayorga did not bode well for Mosley. Some predicted a massacre. And it was – only it was Margarito that was ruthlessly clubbed about the ring, unable to land any meaningful shots.Mosley eventually TKO'd Margarito in the ninth round, after appearing to win every round up until then, in a massive upset. Sugar Shane utterly dominated Margarito, using his superior hand speed, pinpoint accuracy, consistent body punching, countless huge right hands to the jaw and tying up when Margarito backed him into the ropes, to wear Margarito down and stop him—something that many seasoned boxing observers thought was nigh-on impossible. After knocking him down with a series of heavy overhand rights at the end of the eighth round, Margarito was unable to avoid punches during a heavy barrage from Mosley early on in the ninth, forcing the referee to step in as Margarito slumped to the canvas a second time. Margarito had never previously been stopped. It was a sensational win for Sugar Shane and propelled him back to the upper echelons of the welterweight division and the sport of Boxing, in addition to further cementing his legacy as one of the best fighters in his era.
The fight was marred in a controversy after Mosley's trainer, Naazim Richardson diligently spotted a gauze knuckle pad accessory in Margarito's hand wraps, illegal because it had been previously used, which had to be redone three times before the commission's officials were satisfied.
The fight was for Margarito's WBA title and the vacant Lineal welterweight championship of Cyber Boxing Zone (CBZ).[The Ring did not recognize this bout for its vacant welterweight championship despite the fact it pitted The Ring #1 ranked welterweight, Antonio Margarito, vs. The Ring #3 ranked welterweight, Shane Mosley. Coming in the bout, Margarito had just TKO'd the previous The Ring #1 ranked welterweight and current The Ring #2 ranked welterweight, Miguel Cotto.[ After the fight, Mosley was named The Ring's #1 ranked welterweight.
Mayweather vs Mosley
Main article: Floyd
Mayweather vs. Shane Mosley
On May 1, 2010, Mosley fought
undefeated Floyd Mayweather, Jr.. Boxing purists had called for the fight for
over ten years. Mosley's WBA title was not on the line because Mayweather
refused to pay WBA sanctioning fees. On the fight night, Mosley stunned
Mayweather with two right-hand shots in the second round. Mayweather recovered
well and dominated the remainder of the fight with superior reflexes and his
effective counter-punching style, eventually beating Mosley in a wide decision
on the scorecards to win Mosley's Lineal welterweight championship.On May 22, 2010, Shane Mosley was stripped of his WBA (Super) welterweight title, due to not making a mandatory defense, which in turn made WBA Champion Vyacheslav Senchenko the sole WBA titlist in the welterweight division.
