By Tom Donelson
Shane Mosley has put himself back in the big picture, which means he has become more marketable for big money fights. Just a few years back after his second defeat at the hands of Winky Wright; boxing pundits were writing Mosley off but in boxing, a fighter can reinvent himself. (After Ken Norton defeated Muhammad Ali in their first fight, Howard Cosell declared that Ali would not win his title back. We all know how that turned out.)
Mosley's one-sided shellacking of Fernando Vargas put him back in the driver seat for a big payday. The obvious match-up is Floyd Mayweather. This is Mosley's biggest payoff. Mayweather wants De La Hoya for the same reasons that other fighters such as Cory Spinks wants De La Hoya, he is the biggest payday in the ring.
The problem is that De La Hoya has stated that he won't fight in 2006 and he is recovering from injuries sustained in his victory over Mayorga. De La Hoya doesn't need to fight and in a strange way, Mosley can be De La Hoya's proxy. As the CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, De La Hoya can still profit from a Mosley-Mayweather bout without having to suffer from any punches thrown in his direction.
There are other battles that can be made if Mayweather's fight can't be made. Cory Spinks is also looking for a big money fight. After his upset victory over Roman Karmazin, Spinks and his people made it clear that they want a big money fight and the winner of the Mosley-Vargas was one of their targets. While a Spinks-Mosleybout may not make the same money as a Mosley-Mayweather, it is a still moneymaker. Spinks brings one thing to the table- a crowd filling up the Saint Louis Savvis center. A Spinks-Mosley battle would also be a pay-per-view event so for both fighters, this bout means big money.
Among the Welterweights, there is Ricky Hatton. The "Hit Man", like Spinks, can bring a loyal fan base to any fight and that means dollars to any promotion. Ringtalk's Pedro Fernandez observed that Mosley's camp ought to consider the winner of the Baldomir-Gatti fight. There are two reasons for this fight. The first is that Mosley can capture a Welterweight title. Baldomir-Gatti winner will control what most people consider the true welterweight champion, so Mosley has something to negotiate with. This may come in handy if Mayweather's camp chooses not to fight Mosley just as they so far have ignored Antonio Margarito despite eight million dollars put on the table for Mayweather.
The second reason is that if Gatti wins, Mosley has another opportunity for a big money fight. Gatti, like Spinks or Hatton, has a loyal fan base and can sell out any arena in New Jersey, New York City or Philadelphia. And there are enough people that would pay for a Gatti-Mosley pay-per-view.
Mosley has options and all of them involve big money. Rarely does a fighter find himself in a position that he would have to work hard not to make any big money. Mosley is a win-win position no matter which path he chooses.
What about Fernando Vargas? Vargas is being written off and it may a bit too early to write him off. On the negative side, Vargas showed that he might be too slow and much of his skills have eroded.
On the positive side, Vargas has already defeated the new holder of the WBA version of the middleweight title, Javier Castillejo. Castillejo upset Felix Sturm this past weekend. Ahead on all the scorecards, Sturm was cruising before Castillejo stopped him in the tenth round. Vargas has shown that he can beat Castillejo and a rematch could give Vargas a middleweight title. Can Vargas beat Taylor? No, for Vargas has neither Taylor's hand speed nor his power, but he could be competitive with other middleweights and the one thing that Vargas brings to any bout are full arenas.
Vargas is, like Arturo Gatti, a fighter who is not quite great but he is a good fighter and fans appreciate his warrior mentality. Over the years, Gattis has been written off so many times and like the Phoenix, he has risen from the ashes to be part of a big fight program. Vargas can pull off a career like Gatti by posting an occasional big win and some exciting fights to keep his career rolling.
