by David P. Greisman
Six years ago there was a fantastic foursome, and a “Sugar” was among them.
And while Shane Mosley may not be on the same level as Ray Leonard, the comparison is needless, as it is currently unnecessary to ponder how Mosley, Oscar De La Hoya, Felix Trinidad and Fernando Vargas measured up against Leonard, Thomas Hearns, Marvin Hagler and Roberto Duran.
For the nostalgia for better days between welterweight and middleweight was spent last week; this time it is not about a quandary, about wanting more out of fresh blood, but about redemption, about the saving graces of aging faces.
Those faces were attached to heads that obstinately clashed on Saturday night, which were attached to the bodies of Shane Mosley and Fernando Vargas that stepped into the ring to reclaim old glory, and to set up new possibilities for the future.
The future has apparently passed by the quartet. De La Hoya is on his farewell tour, only a couple years behind schedule, with the last stops being Ricardo Mayorga and possibly Floyd Mayweather Jr. Trinidad retired shortly after a one-sided beating, only to come back and then return to Puerto Rico, embarrassed once again.
Mosley had gone 3-4 since 2002, losing twice each to Vernon Forrest and Winky Wright, outpointing De La Hoya and then going the distance in wins over David Estrada and Jose Luis Cruz. But the bouts against Estrada and Cruz went deeper than expected, and Mosley seemed less inclined to throw combinations than in his smoother, more successful days.
And Vargas had been away, resting his body from the wear and tear of injuries. When he came back against Raymond Joval and Javier Castillejo, the ferocious one was now tamer, more defensive, attempting to prolong a career that now seemed to have fizzled out early. Having won his first title at age 21, he had been just as precocious as he was ferocious. Now, although he wasn’t atrocious, he also wasn’t attracting the same kind of buzz he once had.
Hence when Vargas-Mosley was not only announced, but announced for pay-per-view, the talking heads (including this one) derided the fight as coming six years too late, when both men were undefeated, capable and budding superstars. Now they were shells of their old selves, awkward, holding on for that last gasp, using their name recognition to take in a good payday.
Revenge may smell sweet, but redemption feels just as good.
Not just the redemption of cashing in paychecks boosted by pay-per-view, but the knowledge that one has proven critics wrong while proving to one’s self that one could still do it, that an aging prizefighter still had that one last good fight in him, at a bare minimum.
Rare is it that a crossroads fight involves two pugilists both going the same direction, that bearing being downward, and even rarer is it that both men can turn their careers around, however momentarily, when most signs indicated otherwise.
But there was Mosley, flurrying away in combinations, and there was Vargas, having ditched the shoulder roll of recent, instead bulling, mauling and mixing boxing with brute force. And while the reincarnation wasn’t complete, as the wear and tear of time still showed some, it was a welcome surprise to get more than one expected.
It was an even fight, Mosley taking the first few stanzas before Vargas began his comeback, and when the fight was stopped in the tenth, the scorecards were split. Knowing how close the tallies must have been, Vargas protested, despite swelling around his left eye that rivaled the growths on Hasim Rahman (against Evander Holyfield) and Pramuansak Posuwan (against Fernando Montiel). Vargas couldn’t see, but he couldn’t stop fighting, nor was he letting Mosley pull away.
And thus the winner wins, and the loser does, too.
Vargas will likely move up to middleweight, where he can add his name to the list of many who wants to face Jermain Taylor, another young champion that is, amazingly, only one year Vargas’ junior. In the meantime, old foes Ike Quartey and Winky Wright are possibilities, and with the careers of all having taken so many different turns, the variables make any rematches intriguing.
Mosley, too, is done with the 154-pound division, returning to welterweight where he will try and get a fight against Mayweather, another match-up that is coming way later than the initial anticipation. “Sugar Shane” is 34 now, and his career could wind up soon, too.
There’s a big difference between Vargas-Mosley coming six years too late and Mayweather-Mosley coming seven or eight years tardy, for while Vargas had slipped just as much as Mosley had in recent times, Mayweather is peaking, and Floyd’s interest may be piquing at another big name with another big pay-per-view windfall.
But enough about piquing, and enough critiquing, for this past weekend was not about capabilities of past nor future. Instead, it is about the present, and it was quite a present to see both fighters redeemed, and once again held in high esteem.
The 10 Count
1. Having followed Calvin Brock since briefly before his knockout of Clifford Etienne early last year, his appearance on the Vargas-Mosley undercard against Zuri Lawrence was a mixed blessing. While Brock stopped Etienne and came off of the mat to outpoint Jameel McCline, he had since toiled in the darkness, beating opponents of lesser caliber while stuck in neutral. Brock’s sixth round kayo of Lawrence was sensational and scary, but the previous portions of the fight were a bit too even for someone regarded as the future of the heavyweight division. Yet he beat Lawrence exactly as he needed to, and now Brock needs to build on his momentum in order to ensure that “his year” does not keep getting pushed into the distance.
2. It’s generally sad when a formerly well-regarded champion cannot make weight and is no longer even a fraction of what he once was, and as such, I was glad to hear former flyweight and junior bantamweight titlist Mark “Too Sharp” Johnson mention, following his knockout loss to Jhonny Gonzalez, that he wanted a homecoming bout and then retirement. In his prime, Johnson was so good that few of the big names wanted to fight him, and even when he was on the downturn he was still too good for kids like Fernando Montiel. Now, though, time has caught up with Johnson, and hopefully he can take the time to catch up on everything he had been missing during his long career.
3. Thanks to the brevity of the Brock-Lawrence fight, and perhaps due to clamoring from fans, writers and maybe the promoters, HBO broadcast a tape of welterweight prospect Joel Julio’s undercard fight. It also helped that Julio has now knocked out each of his last eleven foes, meaning that showing his stoppage win over Wilmer Mejia would not be a lengthy affair.
Julio got the victory after Mejia quit in his stool following the second round, complaining of hand pain, although the two times he hit the canvas likely played a part, too. Now 27-0 with 24 knockouts, Julio may be facing fellow unbeaten prospect Carlos Quintana in June, with the winner moving into position to contend for a title.
4. How silly did Russell Jordan look during his ring introduction on ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights, donning a Spider-Man mask before losing via fifth round stoppage to Oscar Diaz? While “Spider-Man” is Jordan’s nickname (and he did get squished), there’s a tremendous difference between wearing a Spider-Man mask with eyeholes cut out, and making like Bernard Hopkins and attempting extravagant intimidation via an executioner’s mask.
5. Sticking with the Friday Night Fights card at the Turning Stone Casino in Verona, N.Y., a brief note to ring announcer Henry Jones. Mr. Jones, in the case that a fight goes a distance and there is a majority decision (as happened twice on the televised portion of the card), you do not read a fighter’s name until you’ve read all of the tallies on the three scorecards. Otherwise, you’ve ruined the suspense, although, to be fair, the fighters didn’t seem to catch on.
6. Now that Shane Mosley and Fernando Vargas have received their redemption, it’s time for junior bantamweight Jose Navarro to get the same. In January of last year, Navarro went to Japan and got ripped off in a controversial split decision loss to Katsushige Kawashima. Since then, Navarro has stayed busy with two wins against pedestrian opposition, while Kawashima lost what should have been Navarro’s title to Masamori Tokuyama. On Monday, Navarro will return to Japan to face Tokuyama, and hopefully this time his plane ride home will not be accompanied by a sick, empty feeling.
7. Junior lightweight phenom Edwin Valero continued his streak of first-round knockouts, stopping Whyber Garcia in the opening stanza. Yet this win was not just another in a line of record building exercises; instead, it was an elimination bout for the right to face WBA beltholder Vicente Mosquera. It is key that Mosquera is from Panama, and that both the WBA and Valero are situated in Venezuela, as Valero is under a medical suspension in America due to a revelation that he suffered a head injury years ago. For even if the suspension is not overturned, Valero could challenge Mosquera in or near either of their home countries in front of an excited crowd, providing the opportunity to cash in on the hype.
8. Speaking of fighters who’ve suffered head injuries, Joe Mesi will return on April Fool’s Day (I’m restraining myself here) after a nearly 25-month layoff, facing journeyman Ronald Bellamy. A brief look at Bellamy’s 14-4-4 (9 KOs) record notices only one recognizable name, a third round knockout loss to Timor Ibragimov, brother of heavyweight prospect Sultan Ibragimov. Aside from Ibragimov, the 41-year-old Bellamy’s 22 fights include multiple appearances against fellow tomato cans, including four bouts with Leon Turner (Bellamy went 3-1 against the 2-12 Turner), three against Curt Render (Bellamy went 3-0 against the 6-18 Render), two against Earl Ladson (Bellamy went 1-1 against the 12-8 Ladson), and two against Clarence Goins (Bellamy went 2-0 against the 6-24-2 Goins).
Despite the seemingly safe nature of Mesi facing Bellamy, I’m sure that whenever Mesi fights from here on out, viewers will shudder whenever he gets rocked by a hard shot or victimized by a rabbit punch, especially with the hits behind the head recalling the blows from Vassiliy Jirov that caused the bleeding on Mesi’s brain.
9. Two interesting fights that were worth looking forward to have been delayed or canceled by injury. The March 25 bout between Marco Antonio Barrera and Jesus Chavez is off for the moment, thanks to Chavez getting hurt in training camp. Also, an April 15 meeting between comebacking pugilists Vernon Forrest and Ike Quartey has been called off due to Forrest suffering another injury. While a Chavez-Barrera fight would be interesting and entertaining whenever Chavez heals, the latest in a string of injuries for Forrest may indicate that it is time for the former welterweight champion to hang up his gloves.
10. This coming weekend should be heaven for boxing fans, with multiple cards of note, both on television in the United States and off the airwaves. Friday has three different networks showing live boxing for channel surfers, thanks to Fox Sports Net and Showtime putting their broadcasts on the same night as ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights. And then the following day, channel clickers have Joe Calzaghe-Jeff Lacy on Showtime and Miguel Cotto-Gianluca Branco on HBO. Add in Arthur Abraham’s middleweight defense in Germany and the Juan Manuel Marquez-Chris John fight in Indonesia, and next week’s Fighting Words should be chock full of news, notes and nagging.
