“Sugar” Shane Mosley: Still Sweet?

As a sports fan, I always find it sad when a good name is sullied by allegations of steroid use. Athletes found guilty of knowingly committing such an offense in order to enhance their individual performance have found that it carries with it a stigma that has proven neigh impossible to shake off. The tag (which says cheater on it)

tends to linger in the public’s consciousness and in some cases has eclipsed entire career accomplishments, past, present, and future. That is why, as a Shane Mosley fan, I was naturally relieved when the former three-division champion was absolved of charges that he had intentionally taken Tetrahydrogestrinone (THG) – a so-called “designer steroid” that had been previously undetected by drug tests – prior to his second clash with Oscar de la Hoya in September of 2003.

In an official statement, Mosley wrote, “I was told these completely legal supplements would increase my stamina and (help) my recovery time in training.” This adamant claim was backed up by the results of a subsequent lie detector test, which revealed that he was indeed telling the truth when he said that he had never knowingly consumed performance-enhancing stimulants. An innocent man he may be, but the whole thing still hangs over his head like a big black cloud!

In a world that largely believes there to be no smoke without fire, the fact remains that Mosley’s reputation has been unavoidably tarnished as a result of his name being so publicly linked with BALCO (the company responsible for THG), in an ongoing scandal involving top athletes alleged to have used steroids. The first step towards distancing himself from the controversy that has plagued his career will take place this Saturday night, when he makes his welcome return to the welterweight ranks to take on the once beaten up and comer, David Estrada.

The junior-middleweight division ultimately turned out to be a bridge too far for Mosley, who stubbornly gave it his best go. He may have been able to pick up a couple of titles, but long-term success there was never on the cards. The reality is that he is a blown-up lightweight and in boxing, size does matter; he had no business even competing in such a high weight-class. Welterweight should have been his last stop, but sometimes in life, you have to go where the money is, and for Mosley, the prospect of a multi-million dollar rematch with De La Hoya was enough to lure him up to the 154-pound terrain. His mistake was to stay there.

A new division meant a fresh start, and that is exactly what the doctor ordered for Mosley after dropping a pair of clear-cut decisions to amateur nemesis, Vernon Forrest. He was at a point in his career where a change of scenery was needed; apart from a third fight with Forrest, there were no lucrative match-ups left for Mosley at welterweight, nothing of any significance was keeping him there. In hindsight, moving up was the only viable option he had. It also offered him the chance to join a select club of those who have won world titles in three separate weight-classes, how could he refuse? The rest as they say is history.

Now 39-4 (35 KOs) with one no-contest, Mosley is back where he belongs and has his sights firmly set on his upcoming opponent, David Estrada as the two meet over ten rounds in a non-title bout on this weekend’s ESPN PPV card at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas. Speaking on his move back down to welterweight, Mosley recently had this to say, “After my fight with Winky, I was trying to maintain my weight and get down a little bit because I knew I was going to 147. My punches were coming off a lot harder in my second fight with Winky and I thought that was fine. They were a lot quicker and a lot sharper. I think I am going to be phenomenal. I’ve been sparring with guys like Andre Robinson – he was a pretty good guy coming up and I’m very sharp.”

On the face of it, he sounds very positive and self-assured which is a good sign; but with only one win in his last six fights, I can say with confidence that a loss on Saturday would almost certainly close the book on his illustrious career; he cannot afford to slip up, it is as simple as that.

Don Caputo can be reached at don_caputo@hotmail.com