By Lyle Fitzsimmons
I'm sick and tired of Shane Mosley.
The multi-division champion has long been one of my favorites, both for obvious skill in the ring and affable demeanor outside it.
He's a good fighter, and more importantly in the long run, a good guy.
But the constant rant that he's the No. 1 welterweight in the world and the accompanying whine that every fighter within 10 pounds seems to be avoiding him is getting old.
To counter his claims, I'll prevent a few facts.
In late 2007, after beating the not-quite-Murderers Row of David Estrada, Jose Luis Cruz, Fernando Vargas and Luis Collazo, he made a grab for the WBA welterweight crown then held by Miguel Cotto.
And lost. Decisively.
Not on a robbery. Not on a verdict that prompted protest. But unanimously in the eyes of the judges, who gave Cotto 21 of a possible 36 rounds across three scorecards, with one round even.
I had it 8-4 for Cotto and found no reason to change after several replays.
Somehow though, revisionist history seems to have taken hold.
At least to Shane.
Cotto and Mosley, as everyone knows, took diverging paths after their bout.
The Puerto Rican lost for the first time a few months later, by TKO to Antonio Margarito in 11 brutal rounds. He's since bounced back, re-belted with a pair of wins and is on the verge of cashing out in Las Vegas with Manny Pacquiao in November.
Mosley, meanwhile, got back to winning with a tough dispatch of Ricardo Mayorga, then solved the Margarito riddle after the Mexican's pre-fight gloving techniques were exposed to a less-than-amused athletic commission in California, calling into question all his past wins.
Most notably his defeat of Cotto.
Regardless, though their experience with a common foe was different, the result of their own encounter isn't.
Cotto beat Mosley.
And until that result is reversed in the ring or until one of them falls dramatically from the stage at 147 – C comes before M in my ranking alphabet.
But that's not all from Shane.
He recently said Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Cotto “are prima donnas who just want to fight for money. I'm a real fighter. I'm supposed to be an old man walking on crutches and (expletive deleted), and they are basically saying they want to fight everybody else.”
Ummm, Shane, I hate to be a bother... but that's nonsense.
Mayweather was interested in a fight with Mosley in 2006, but was turned away and moved to other things – namely stopping an unbeaten Ricky Hatton and taking care of Oscar De La Hoya in the biggest financial fight in the sport's history.
He's fighting this month against the consensus No. 2 in the world – Juan Manuel Marquez – which serves as a logical springboard to everyone's No. 1, Pacquiao, should he do his own part and beat Cotto.
If there's a reason to blame “Money” for taking that path, I'd love to hear it.
Meanwhile, Pacquiao has been busy with his own Hatton/De La Hoya double and subsequently made a choice to pursue Cotto – based at least partially on his defeat of Mosley – to cement status atop the 147-pound class.
If he'd fought Mosley, people would have said "Why didn't you fight Cotto?"
If he defeats Cotto, no one bemoans "Why didn't you fight Mosley?"
And as for Cotto himself, it's hard to understand Mosley's logic when the result of their fight is barely dry on the page.
It's not as if it was five years ago. It's not as if Mosley has reinvented himself.
In fact, chances are very good that if they got together in the same Madison Square Garden ring tonight, the second 12-round get-together would end with the same result as the first.
And the general reaction would be... "Yaaaaawn, so what?"
With that the case, if I'm advising Miguel, hell yes I'd pursue a big fight with Pacquiao over a rematch.
It makes business sense. It makes legacy sense. It makes competitive sense.
And it makes sense to the fans that will come out in droves to watch at $55 per.
Regardless of the grumpy old man.
Sorry Shane, I hope we can still be friends.
* * * * * * * * * *
This week’s title-fight schedule:
SATURDAY
IBO super featherweight title – Kempton Park, South Africa
Zolani Marali (champion) vs. Ji Hoon Kim (No. 25 contender)
Marali (20-2, 13 KO): First title defense; Held IBO title at 122 pounds (2003-04)
Kim (18-5, 15 KO): First title defense; Won 10 straight since 2006 (10-0, 9 KO)
FitzHitz says: Marali by decision
WBA super middleweight title – Herning, Denmark
Mikkel Kessler (champion) vs. Gusmyr Perdomo (No. 1 contender)
Kessler (41-1, 31 KO): Second title defense, second WBA reign; Seven title-fight wins (7-1, 5 KO)
Perdomo (16-2, 10 KO): First title fight; Unbeaten since 2007 (2-0, 2 KO)
FitzHitz says: Kessler in 9
WBO mini-flyweight title – Tepic, Mexico
Donnie Nietes (champion) vs. Manuel Vargas (interim champion)
Nietes (24-1-3, 14 KO): Third title defense; Unbeaten since 2004 (13-0-2, 6 KO)
Vargas (26-3-1, 11 KO): First title fight; Two-fight win streak (2-0, 1 KO)
FitzHitz says: Nietes by decision
WBO bantamweight title – Tepic, Mexico
Fernando Montiel (champion) vs. Alejandro Valdez (unranked)
Montiel (39-2-1, 29 KO): First title defense; Former WBO champion at 112 and 115 pounds
Valdez (21-3-2, 15 KO): Second title fight; Lost WBC title shot in 2008 (KO 2)
FitzHitz says: Montiel by decision
WBO junior flyweight title – Hato Rey, Puerto Rico
Ivan Calderon (champion) vs. Rodel Mayol (No. 1 contender)
Calderon (32-0-1, 6 KO): Fifth title defense; Unbeaten in 17 title fights (16-0-1, 2 KO)
Mayol (25-3-1, 19 KO): Fourth title fight; Technical draw with Calderon in June 2009
FitzHitz says: Calderon by decision
WBO junior lightweight title – Hato Rey, Puerto Rico
Roman Martinez (champion) vs. Vicente Martin Rodriguez (No. 9 contender)
Martinez (22-0-1, 13 KO): First title defense; Won 15 straight fights since 2003 (15-0, 8 KO)
Rodriguez (25-2-1, 13 KO): First title fight; Unbeaten since 2008 (4-0-1, 3 KO)
FitzHitz says: Martinez in 10
Last week’s picks: 1-0
Overall picks record: 33-10 (76.7 percent)
Lyle Fitzsimmons is an award-winning 20-year sports journalist, a full voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and well aware – uh oh – that he just wrote a column criticizing one of the sport’s most popular fighters. Reach him at fitzbitz@msn.com or follow him at twitter.com/fitzbitz.