By Chris Robinson
The Manny Pacquiao-Shane Mosley fight was a hard one to swallow. It's always a shame when a heavily hyped event fails to live up to its expectations and seeing Mosley go through the motions against Pacquiao inside of the MGM Grand over the course of 48 slow-paced minutes was about as tough as it gets, whether from the perspective of a fan or journalist.
At 39 years old we knew that Shane wasn't at his peak but there still seemed to be something missing from his performance, as he seemed to be in retreat mode after tasting the canvas in the third round. A recent clip on the final installment of Showtime's Fight Camp 360 series was very revealing, as it showed Mosley pleading with his trainer Naazim Richardson late in the fight to stop the bout because he claimed he couldn't move.
It would later be revealed that Mosley suffered a pretty bad blister in the fight, one that his team claims was severe enough to affect his mobility against Pacquiao. Upon hearing the news I instantly flashed back to a conversation I had while in Mosley's camp with one of his sparring partners, former champion DeMarcus 'Chop Chop' Corley, who had told me that he was going to be designing some custom shoes from Shane for the Pacquiao fight.
Taking everything in, I tracked down Corley recently to get his opinion on whether or not it was indeed his shoes that Shane was wearing during the fight and whether they may have caused the blister on his foot.
"Yeah, the black and gold, those were the shoes that Corley Sports came out with," DeMarcus confirmed to me. "I'm glad you mentioned it. I have been hearing about that and I heard about it the night of the fight in the dressing room. I don't know what caused his feet to blister up. Shane Mosley trained in them before, we had them two weeks prior to the fight. He worked out in them and he actually worked out in two pairs."
Corley himself and other pro fighters, including IBF cruiserweight champion Steve 'USS' Cunningham, have worn his shoes without any complaints so it was peculiar to hear of Mosley's foot get tore up the way it did. Continuing on, Corley offered up a reasonable explanation as to why things went so wrong.
"Shane wanted a special pair of shoes for this fight," Corley continued. "He wanted the shoes with the sole made lower than what my shoes originally are made. If you looked at that shoe he had on and if you look at the shoe I am going to fight on Friday, I refuse to fight with shoes with a low sole to the ground because I can't get no traction the way I want to. I need a little padding and I need to be able to move. Shane wanted the shoes to be made with a low, low sole, so I called the manufacture company and had them make a special pair with the sole real low.That's why his shoes was made different than the rest of the shoes."
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Corley also added that he hasn't had a chance to talk to Mosley about everything and is dying to know exactly what happened. The former WBO junior welterweight champion was curious as to whether Mosley had gotten a pedicure before the fight, as Corley himself does on occasion, because that can cause the skin on the bottom of the feet to get soft and easier to tear, he claims.
Interesting stuff but while Mosley's fight is in the rearview, Corley is looking at a fight with unbeaten Puerto Rican prospect Thomas Dulorme on Friday night at the Roseland Ballroom in New York on the undercard portion of an ESPN Friday Night Fights card. Corley comes into the bout having lost six of his last seven but insists he is more than just your typical opponent for the 21-year old.
"I'm looking forward to the Dulorme fight. I don't know too much about the kid besides that he's 11-0 with 10 knockouts. It's very dangerous [for him]. Hopefully he's able to withstand the pressure, the power, and the experience that I'm going to bring to the table for this fight. It's a great test for him," Corley stated.
The 37-year old finished up by adding that he always comes into the ring in great shape because he is approaching the end of his career. I asked the often-dapper pugilist if getting into the fashion business was one of his goals outside of boxing and he affirmed that he has already launched a series of boxing shoes and will be looking to make boxing apparel as well.
Here's to wishing 'Chop Chop' the best this weekend and beyond.