Mosley out to prove it's not over

LAS VEGAS – He may be 39 but Sugar Shane Mosley doesn’t act his age, at least, not in the ring. In his last two fights, Mosley showed signs of slowing down. The wear and tear of a long career may be catching up and taking a toll.

But Mosley insists he’s far from finished.

What keeps him going is his mission to silence his critics. He’s motivated by the “naysayers” and pumped up by remarks that he’s over the hill.

Mosley has the chance to prove his detractors wrong in challenging WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao in a scheduled 12-round title bout in Las Vegas this morning (Manila time).

In his most recent outing last September, Mosley looked a bit shop-worn and struggled in escaping with a split 12-round draw with Sergio Mora in Los Angeles. Mosley would’ve lost the decision if he hadn’t stepped it up to win the last two rounds. The late surge could be an indication that Mosley still has the endurance to suck it up. Before that bout, Mosley was outpointed by Floyd Mayweather in a one-sided affair. The judges’ scores of 119-109, 118-110 and 119-109 clearly indicated Mosley’s inferiority. He had his moments in the second round when two overhand rights nearly toppled Pretty Boy but couldn’t follow up. As the fight wore on, it was evident that Mosley couldn’t keep in step with the quick-moving Mayweather.

At this stage of his career, Mosley has everything to gain and nothing to lose in battling Pacquiao. If he loses, Mosley will pay tribute to the world’s No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter who’s a 6-1 favorite. If he wins, Mosley will suddenly become a headliner – 10 years after he occupied the pound-for-pound throne where Pacquiao now sits.

“The goal now is to beat Manny Pacquiao, shut the naysayers up and to go down in history as one of the greatest fighters who ever lived,” says Mosley in an interview with Danny Flexen in London’s Boxing News (April 7, 2011).

Mosley calls the naysayers his haters. “They keep me going,” he adds, quoted by Flexen. “I’ve always been that way, since I was a little boy. ‘You can’t do it,’ ‘he can’t do it’ and I prove them wrong. I love proving people wrong.”

It was that way when Mosley shocked Oscar de la Hoya in winning a split 12-round decision in Los Angeles in 2000. Sugar Shane wasn’t supposed to beat the Golden Boy. In their rematch three years later, Mosley did it again.

Mosley is in the twilight of a career that started in 1993, two years before Pacquiao turned pro. He has won world titles in the lightweight, welterweight and superwelterweight divisions. In contrast, Pacquiao has claimed championships in eight classes. Mosley isn’t interested in duplicating Pacquiao’s feat – which will probably never be duplicated or surpassed. All he wants is respect, the recognition that will come from upending Pacquiao.

As for his future plans, Mosley says he hopes to rival Golden Boy and Top Rank in the promotions game.

“The things that I want to achieve in the game now are after I finish my career,” he says. “I want to be one of the top promoters out there. I want to have a nice, strong team that I can rely on and trust, that we can go out and can make a difference in boxing. Those are my real goals, my future goals.”

Mosley also dreams of a secure future for his four children. The oldest Shane Jr., 20, is an aspiring amateur superwelterweight. He has three children with former wife Jin Sheehan, a Korean-Irish American from New York – Najee Jamarr, 8, Taiseki Justin, 7 and Mee Yon Jinae, 6. Last year, Mosley and Jin divorced with the former wife asking for close to $10,000 a month to pay for clothes, jewelry, cosmetics, a massage therapist and a personal trainer. The couple married in 2002 and Jin used to be Mosley’s manager despite an apparent dislike for boxing. Writer Brent Alderson once commented that the divorce has “negatively impacted Mosley’s net worth as well as his prospects of retiring financially secure.” It’s a logical reason why Mosley continues to fight.

At the moment, Mosley’s love interest is Cuban-Mexican model Bella Gonzalez who recently predicted Pacquiao to lose by an eighth round knockout.

Mosley blames his former wife for messing up his career. A TV reality show on Mosley’s life will likely touch on his relationship with Jin.

Mosley used to be a minority partner in Golden Boy but broke off ties to link up with Top Rank and seal the Pacquiao deal. “I’d rather take my chance with my own company than with Golden Boy,” he says. “By me being a partner in the company, I’ve never received more than $19,000 for anything and as of now, they’ve paid me back a sum of $1,000 for my part in Golden Boy.”