By Robert Morales
"Sugar" Shane Mosley on Tuesday had just spent several hours snowboarding down the slopes of Big Bear Lake, Calif. Only a couple of weeks earlier he was in the last days of his training there for what turned out to be a spectacular ninth-round technical knockout of Antonio Margarito on Jan. 24 at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Hey, some guys go to Disneyland after a big win, Mosley goes snowboarding.
"When you first start, you won't like it because it's hard to do," Mosley said via telephone. "But once you learn, you don't want to stop. It is so much fun."
Fun is being 37 and beating the daylights out of a 30-year-old world champion.
"It meant a lot to me because people were starting to doubt me and doubt my skills and saying I'm too old," Mosley said. "So it meant a lot, not just to beat Margarito or have a controversial decision, but to beat him that way. People say, 'Wow, 'Sugar' Shane is still here and still in contention in a major way.' "
Mosley was more than likely already headed to the Hall of Fame. Even though he had not been a world champion for nearly five years - unless you count the interim welterweight title he won in February 2007 with a victory over Luis Collazo - Mosley had already won titles in three weight classes. When he beat Margarito, he became a two-time welterweight champion.
But if his place in Canastota was in doubt, it's not anymore.
"I look at this definitely as a career-defining fight, to show people where I rate among the all-time greats," Mosley said of the win over Margarito. "Because to have a great fight and then fall back a little bit and come back again later on and have the same type of fight, same type of excitement and same type of win, only great fighters can do that."
The first "great fight" Mosley referred to was his June 2000 victory over Oscar De La Hoya. That split-decision victory also came at Staples Center. The question is, which victory was more tremendous? Mosley did not knock out De La Hoya, like he did Margarito. But Mosley was only in his third fight at welterweight when he took on De La Hoya eight years and eight months ago.
Furthermore, Mosley never even fought at junior welterweight, moving straight to welterweight from the lightweight division.
"In the scheme of things, it's just as big," Mosley said of the stoppage of Margarito versus that first of two wins over De La Hoya.
"Both fighters were big and both had there significance at the time when I was fighting them. When I fought Oscar the first time, people knew I was a great fighter, but they didn't how great I was.
"Both if us were in our primes and we had a great fight and that was the start of the great 'Sugar' Shane. And then a couple of lapses here and there and this fight right here was probably equally as great because there were a lot of people that doubted me."
Mosley found some irony in the two victories.
"In both fights, people said I was not strong enough, that I was quick, but not strong enough to weather the storm of Oscar and Margarito," Mosley said. "I was stronger in both fights."
Mosley used the words "great feeling" when asked to describe the rush he had while he was dismantling Margarito before more than 20,000 in a fashion few thought possible. He spread the credit around quite nicely, heaping praise upon his trainer, Naazim Richardson, as well as his sparring partners.
"Everybody was on point," Mosley said.
So, who's got next? Although there apparently has been some initial discussion regarding a fight between Mosley and fellow champion Joshua Clottey, Mosley made no mention of Clottey during this interview. He did mention Floyd Mayweather Jr., but he said it is doubtful - at least in his mind - that Mayweather would want to go there at this point.
"I definitely would like a fight with Mayweather and, hopefully, it could happen," Mosley said. "Fans would love to see a great match with Mayweather. But I'm not going to wait around for him because I don't think he really wants to fight me, especially coming off retirement, in his first fight back.
"But I definitely want a fight with (Manny) Pacquiao or (Ricky) Hatton or maybe even (Miguel) Cotto again. I don't know right now. I haven't really been talking with Richard (Schaefer). I have kind of been all over the place, doing interviews and just having fun and enjoying my win."
Schaefer is CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, of which Mosley is a partner.
Gomez: Mosley Knew He Would Win
Eric Gomez, matchmaker at Golden Boy, recalled a conversation he and Schaefer had with Mosley prior to Mosley signing to fight Margarito.
"When we sat down with Shane, it was Richard and I and we went over different possibilities of opponents and how much money he can make," Gomez said. "He told us, 'I want Margarito, get me Margarito. I don't care what the numbers are, I want Margarito.' And Richard and I looked at each other. Shane said, 'Believe me, I can beat this guy. I've watched him, I've studied him and I can beat him.'
"And he was right, man. You had to say he had somewhat of a chance. But you didn't expect him to pound him like that."
Mosley: Most of The Blame For Wraps on Capetillo
Margarito and his trainer, Javier Capetillo, will be called on the carpet Tuesday by the California State Athletic Commission to explain the illegal hand wraps Margarito allegedly was found to have before the fight with Mosley. Margarito and Capetillo were both suspended last week by the commission for a "foreign substance" found in the wraps that has been described as plaster-like in many reports.
Interestingly, Mosley said that Capetillo should be held more responsible than Margarito.
"I wouldn't put much blame on Margarito," Mosley said. "He's going there to get his hands taped and he just wants to fight. If they blame anyone, they should put it on the coach."
Wouldn't a fighter, simply from experience, know if something was rotten in Denmark? Mosley was asked. But he didn't budge.
"I put the blame more on the trainer because the trainer knows better," Mosley said. "He (the fighter) is not looking in there and saying, 'What are you doing there? What are you putting in there?' "
It's a matter of trust, Mosley intimated.
"Naazim took it upon himself to go to the coach's meeting to see what is legal or not legal and then applied it to my hands," Mosley said. "This is my first time working with Naazim, so I don't know if what he is doing is legal or not legal.
"It was Capetillo's job to go to the meeting to see what was legal or not legal. And I like Capetillo. I've known him for a while now. He seems like an all right guy. But it was his duty to see what was legal or not legal."
Espinoza: Vazquez-Lunas Completely Erroneous
Frank Espinoza, manager of Israel Vazquez, on Wednesday was disturbed about the report on BoxingScene.com that said a fight between Vazquez and Filipino Rolly Lunas was in the works for April 23.
"It is total bull***t," said Espinoza, who said he has never had any contact with anyone tied to Lunas. "I don't even know who Rolly Lunas is. I don't even know who wrote it. But there has been no conversation whatsoever. It is just total bull***t."
Espinoza was peeved. He said that Vazquez hasn't even been cleared to fight after having had surgery to repair a torn retina in his right eye. Espinoza said Vazquez went to the doctor and January and was told he wasn't ready. Vazquez has another appointment scheduled for next Tuesday.
Vazquez told this reporter in December that if his doctor says he should not fight, he would follow his advice and retire. Espinoza remains hopeful things won't pan out that way.
"I think we're still optimistic because the doctor hasn't given us a 'No,' " Espinoza said. "He hasn't given us any idea that is the case. Right now he is in recovery mode. He is progressing slowly and it's just a matter of time."
Vazquez had to give up his World Boxing Council super bantamweight title because of inactivity. But he was subsequently named "Emeritus Champion" by the WBC, the same title afforded Vitali Klitschko when he was forced to retire because of injuries. It means that if and when Vazquez comes back, he would immediately be given the opportunity to fight for the 122-pound belt without having to take a tune-up.
But Espinoza said he was hopeful that Jorge Arce would find a way to beat super flyweight champion Vic Darchinyan on Saturday. Since Arce has already called out Vazquez, Espinoza would welcome Arce into Vazquez's super bantamweight division for what would be a fight between two of the more popular Mexican fighters.
And, what about the possibility of a fight between Vazquez and Darchinyan?
"We'll fight him, too," Espinoza said.
But, Espinoza said, he would rather Vazquez take on Arce because Arce is Mexican and he has a bigger fan base.
"I look at this as Mexican versus Mexican," Espinoza said. "Arce sells tickets. He has a big following. Darchinyan doesn't really bring any fanfare, like when you have two Mexicans with fanfare."
Robert Morales covers boxing for the Los Angeles Daily News, Long Beach Press-Telegram, and BoxingScene.com
