Shane Mosley's career = Somewhat of a Disappointment

[albsur2006]

Now I know I may get bashed for saying this so I just wanna say first that I'm not bashing Sugar Shane Mosley. I think that he has always been one of the best P4P fighters in the world and one of the true sportsmen in boxing. He's always been willing to take on everyone and he always gives the fan a good fight.

But I was thinking about it now that we're reaching almost month 8 of his inactivity, Shane Mosley's career IMO is a disappointment. I mean after his MONUMENTAL win against Oscar De La Hoya, I thought "this guy right here could be as big as Oscar." I mean Shane was young, undefeated, a champion, a good looking dude, had p4p skills, American, exciting, fast, had a chin, and was great to watch. I thought the guy could have a profile as big as Oscar's. And now I'm sitting back and I'm wondering why the hell this dude never amounted to any of that. I mean after the second Oscar fight (after the Forrest losses), he was back in the limelight again, and he could have made a huge double digit payday for the third fight with Oscar, and used that platform to crossover even more. But instead he chose a fight with Winky Wright. Now I really wanted to see that fight but I knew that fight would do nothing for Shane; if he won, he wasn't gonna look great, he was already a P4Per, and there wasn't a ton of money on the table, and if he lost then he would lose a lot because Winky really had no following yet (I love Shane for taking the fight but in terms of his career and financially, it made no sense). So he lost and then he lost again. Then came the Vargas fights. I thought they were decent business moves because they put Shane back on an HBO PPV stage and gave him some good checks. Plus, the first win actually added to Shane boxing legacy. Great, it looks like his career is back on track. So he fights a couple fights and now he lands a big fight with Cotto. Honestly, I thought Shane was gonna steamroll Cotto but Cotto was TOUGH. Long night. Fast forward to the late rounds, Cotto was obviously done, and Shane didn't finish him off or pick up on the fact that Cotto was hurt with something. We were screaming at the screen wondering why Shane was letting Cotto go. It was yet again another frustrating moment in Mosley's career. Cotto barely won the fight but deserved to win. So Shane jumps in there with Ricardo Mayorga next, everyone is thinking WHAT IN THE HELL is Shane Mosley doing? This dude has said he's never been about the money but now he's taking this fight? If that was the case then YOU SHOULD HAVE MANAGED YOUR WHOLE CAREER THAT WAY!!! But whatever, Shane was gonna blast through Mayorga. WRONG!!! And the thing about that fight that won't show up on Boxrec is that Shane looked horrible and was in a LIFE AND DEATH battle with Mayorga. He just sucked it up and pushed it to another level in the 12th (honestly, he really deserves credit for that). Then comes the Margarito fight, and FINALLY...FINALLY, Shane Mosley comes through on a big stage and pulverizes Tony, I mean he beat the dog shit outta Tony. He's the undisputed welterweight champ, the fight sold out Staples Center, he did a great rating on free HBO, he's on top of the world. But Shane Mosley once again finds a way to disappoint, HE'S BEEN INACTIVE FOR CLOSE TO 8 MONTHS!!! There's really no fight scheduled yet so he could be inactive for 11 months or even longer before it's all said and done. He's chasing around Manny Pacquiao, begging and pleading for a fight like Manny Pacquiao is giving out handouts and food stamps. It's disgraceful. For a champion like Shane Mosley not to capitalize on his reclaimed glory after the Margo fight, by at least staying busy with rescheduled Judah fight, or take a risk and fight Paul Williams, or give Berto a bigger cut and take him on in a fight that HBO would love to get behind, or move up take a Sergio Martinez fight or SOMETHING...ANYTHING!!! It's just ridiculous to me. I started thinking about this and realized I have to rant on this. Once again, I'm not making any type of statement on Shane Mosley's heart, I'm just saying I'm really disappointed with how his career has turned out because I expected GREATNESS and STARDOM from him.

Does anybody see what I'm saying or am I way off base?

[killersheep]

Now I know I may get bashed for saying this so I just wanna say first that I'm not bashing Sugar Shane Mosley. I think that he has always been one of the best P4P fighters in the world and one of the true sportsmen in boxing. He's always been willing to take on everyone and he always gives the fan a good fight.

But I was thinking about it now that we're reaching almost month 8 of his inactivity, Shane Mosley's career IMO is a disappointment. I mean after his MONUMENTAL win against Oscar De La Hoya, I thought "this guy right here could be as big as Oscar." I mean Shane was young, undefeated, a champion, a good looking dude, had p4p skills, American, exciting, fast, had a chin, and was great to watch. I thought the guy could have a profile as big as Oscar's. And now I'm sitting back and I'm wondering why the hell this dude never amounted to any of that. I mean after the second Oscar fight (after the Forrest losses), he was back in the limelight again, and he could have made a huge double digit payday for the third fight with Oscar, and used that platform to crossover even more. But instead he chose a fight with Winky Wright. Now I really wanted to see that fight but I knew that fight would do nothing for Shane; if he won, he wasn't gonna look great, he was already a P4Per, and there wasn't a ton of money on the table, and if he lost then he would lose a lot because Winky really had no following yet (I love Shane for taking the fight but in terms of his career and financially, it made no sense). So he lost and then he lost again. Then came the Vargas fights. I thought they were decent business moves because they put Shane back on an HBO PPV stage and gave him some good checks. Plus, the first win actually added to Shane boxing legacy. Great, it looks like his career is back on track. So he fights a couple fights and now he lands a big fight with Cotto. Honestly, I thought Shane was gonna steamroll Cotto but Cotto was TOUGH. Long night. Fast forward to the late rounds, Cotto was obviously done, and Shane didn't finish him off or pick up on the fact that Cotto was hurt with something. We were screaming at the screen wondering why Shane was letting Cotto go. It was yet again another frustrating moment in Mosley's career. Cotto barely won the fight but deserved to win. So Shane jumps in there with Ricardo Mayorga next, everyone is thinking WHAT IN THE HELL is Shane Mosley doing? This dude has said he's never been about the money but now he's taking this fight? If that was the case then YOU SHOULD HAVE MANAGED YOUR WHOLE CAREER THAT WAY!!! But whatever, Shane was gonna blast through Mayorga. WRONG!!! And the thing about that fight that won't show up on Boxrec is that Shane looked horrible and was in a LIFE AND DEATH battle with Mayorga. He just sucked it up and pushed it to another level in the 12th (honestly, he really deserves credit for that). Then comes the Margarito fight, and FINALLY...FINALLY, Shane Mosley comes through on a big stage and pulverizes Tony, I mean he beat the dog shit outta Tony. He's the undisputed welterweight champ, the fight sold out Staples Center, he did a great rating on free HBO, he's on top of the world. But Shane Mosley once again finds a way to disappoint, HE'S BEEN INACTIVE FOR CLOSE TO 8 MONTHS!!! There's really no fight scheduled yet so he could be inactive for 11 months or even longer before it's all said and done. He's chasing around Manny Pacquiao, begging and pleading for a fight like Manny Pacquiao is giving out handouts and food stamps. It's disgraceful. For a champion like Shane Mosley not to capitalize on his reclaimed glory after the Margo fight, by at least staying busy with rescheduled Judah fight, or take a risk and fight Paul Williams, or give Berto a bigger cut and take him on in a fight that HBO would love to get behind, or move up take a Sergio Martinez fight or SOMETHING...ANYTHING!!! It's just ridiculous to me. I started thinking about this and realized I have to rant on this. Once again, I'm not making any type of statement on Shane Mosley's heart, I'm just saying I'm really disappointed with how his career has turned out because I expected GREATNESS and STARDOM from him.

Does anybody see what I'm saying or am I way off base?

He is in Legacy mode just like B-Hop, only really looking for marquee fights. He's already had over 50 fights why settle for anything less than meaningful. He has also stated he's not looking to fight the young guys coming up, plus he's going through a divorce and he's in his late 30's.

[DaxxKahn]

Actually Mosley has had a great career but the bad on his part has been management, promotion etc......He was always overshadowed by DLH and Trinidad when he was always a better fighter then either of the two.......

I think instead of saying his career has been somewhat of a disappointment it is more like it is disappointing the treatment he has been given during his career...Even the media has somewhat made him a backburner fighter.....

[JazMerkin]

Actually Mosley has had a great career but the bad on his part has been management, promotion etc......He was always overshadowed by DLH and Trinidad when he was always a better fighter then either of the two.......

I think instead of saying his career has been somewhat of a disappointment it is more like it is disappointing the treatment he has been given during his career...Even the media has somewhat made him a backburner fighter.....

As much as I like Mosley, part of that is his fault. He's never really sold himself to anyone other than your hardcore fight fan. Many casual fans either don't know who he is or have an association with him through only Oscar & the steroid controversy (his name comes up often in wider sports stories about drug abuse).

He's not that far behind Mayweather & Pacquiao in terms of his fight legacy, in many eyes probably equal, yet he remains off the radar of many. Part of this is story & personality, which Mosley lacks in terms of selling himself. When Mayweather did an open workout in London, people came from all over & Sky estimated that over 3000 people turned up throughout the day. I reckon Pacquiao could do similar, maybe not quite as much, but I still reckon he'd have at least 1000+ throughout the day. Mosley might get a few hundred at best. Some of that is poor management, but its not like Shane hasn't had the opportunities to catapult himself into super-stardom, hell he beat Oscar TWICE.

[Violent Demise]

Mosley's been champion in 3 weight classes. He's made millions. And he's going to the Hall of Fame when retires. I want a disappointing career like that.

[THE THIRD MAN]

Shane Mosley is one of the best Lightweight champions ever.His finest moment was the first DLH fight at 147lb, he was great in that fight, he won it fair and square. He looked invincible at 147lb then inexplicably loses to Forrest twice? He beats DLH again in a very dubious decision and has had many mediocre performances since until he teaches Margaritio a lesson.
You can't change what has happened in the past, i would have liked him to face Tszyu in 1999 before DLH for example, but he can fight Cotto again and that is something i want to see. This inactivity is hurting him currently at his age and he must look at fighting again soon.

[match]

The guy's never been stopped (proving one of the best chin's in boxing history), stamped his legacy as arguably the greatest lightweight in history along side Roberto Duran, gave Oscar his first true loss when he was in his prime, and went after every fighter the boxing public wanted to see him in the ring with. The words 'Mosley' and 'Disappointment' do not belong in the same sentence.

[match]

The guy's never been stopped (proving one of the best chin's in boxing history), stamped his legacy as arguably the greatest lightweight in history along side Roberto Duran, gave Oscar his first true loss when he was in his prime, and went after every fighter the boxing public wanted to see him in the ring with. The words 'Mosley' and 'Disappointment' do not belong in the same sentence.

ps-everything north of welterweight is beyond his optimum weight classes, you don't knock a guy for knocking people out when their doing it above their best weight class.

[Gandalf]

I see little wrong with his career. He has always been willing to fight whoever is out there, even if it might be a high risk/low reward fight like with Winky. Forrest just seemed to have his number. I think he turned things around extremely well against Margarito after looking somewhat shot against Mayorga. No doubt this current inactivity is hurting him. I can see him following up Margarito with a lazy showing like the Mayorga one due to inactivity and rustiness. He's 38, should have fought by now just to stay busy and keep the bank balance ticking over. You earn nothing by doing nothing ans sitting and waiting....and waiting....and waiting.

A Berto fight sounds reasonable and is one Mosley should win, but it will be interesting to see how sharp he is.

[Taeth]

I see things wrong with his outcome as a boxer, he is perhaps the only athlete who had all the intangibles that Sugar Ray Robinson had, he had power, speed, stamina, durability, speed, competitiveness, and an impenetrable chin, but I think his dad coaching him was one of those situations where his potential wasn't fully utilized, he never box in a pure sense the way he could have, he was/is way too robotic, his jab isn't sharp, he doesn't have a good cross, and he tends to load up too much on hooks which limits his combinations.

Mosley is a prime example of why its wrong to say I just love talent/athleticism because who had more of these two things than SHane Mosley? He has the perfect boxing body, and I don't think he is all that.

[Taeth]

The guy's never been stopped (proving one of the best chin's in boxing history), stamped his legacy as arguably the greatest lightweight in history along side Roberto Duran, gave Oscar his first true loss when he was in his prime, and went after every fighter the boxing public wanted to see him in the ring with. The words 'Mosley' and 'Disappointment' do not belong in the same sentence.

Who did Mosley beat at lightweight to deserve recognition alongside the original Leonard, Duran, etc.?

[GAME]

I dont really agree with this topic title. He has had one of the most successful careers of the modern era. I dont know by what standards that it would be disapointed unless people were expecting him to eclipse Sugar Ray Robinson or summat.

[Master]

You are way off base. He is an ATG no matter what he does now. He has taken risks that Mayweather would never take and the fights he has lost were against exceptional fighters.

[generalbulldog]

The only thing I agree with the OP in that Shane Mosley is a disappointment in that he didn't market himself enough to be as big as Oscar considering he was the first guy to beat Oscar soundly in his prime and had many other tangible qualities that should have been appealing tot he public. Big in the boxing world? Yes he is. But mainstream public appeal he is still not very well known. That's just how it is sometimes when you have the wrong marketing team.

[match]

The guy's never been stopped (proving one of the best chin's in boxing history), stamped his legacy as arguably the greatest lightweight in history along side Roberto Duran, gave Oscar his first true loss when he was in his prime, and went after every fighter the boxing public wanted to see him in the ring with. The words 'Mosley' and 'Disappointment' do not belong in the same sentence.

Who did Mosley beat at lightweight to deserve recognition alongside the original Leonard, Duran, etc.?

His list of opponents does not equal Duran's (don't know why you said Leonard as he fought virtually his entire career at welterweight and above), but Mosely essentially never lost a single round as a lightweight and is universally considered as the only 135 lber who could have possibly beaten Duran.