By Jake Donovan

It’s amazing how one fight can change everything.

Prior to his welterweight title fight with Antonio Margarito earlier this year, Shane Mosley was constantly on the tip of every welterweight’s tongue. The belief was that the former three-division world champion reached that point in his career – well beyond his sell date, but still enough notoriety to where his name looks good on any résumé.

The height of the “we want Shane” frenzy came in the period between his 12th round knockout of Ricardo Mayorga and the aforementioned Margarito fight. Those who called out his name were quick to do so after he looked every bit of his 37 years of age in struggling with Mayorga throughout their September clash before delivering the highlight reel ending.

Those same fighters suddenly went quiet once January 24, 2009 rolled around.

Going into that night, Mosley was a considerable underdog and, in the minds of many, one fight away from retirement. Margarito was regarded as the best welterweight in the world and seven months removed from the biggest win of his career, an 11th round stoppage of Miguel Cotto, whom had previously bested Shane nine months earlier. 

The formula of A beats B, who beats C, therefore A beats C clearly wasn’t applicable that night. Mosley didn’t just turn back the clock; he made time travel seem believable, turning in arguably the best performance in a career already regarded as can’t miss for the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Margarito was never in the fight, overwhelmed throughout and dropped in the eighth before being taken out early in the ninth round of their HBO-televised affair.

With a single dominant performance, Mosley went from once-was to king of the heap.

On the strength of that performance, everyone else in or around the welterweight division went from putting him on blast, to suddenly exploring other options.

“I don’t understand it,” Mosley joked with in an exclusive interview with Boxingscene.com. “Before, I was the guy everyone couldn’t wait to get into the ring with. Now I’m the man, and all of a sudden everyone is ducking and dodging me.”

For now, it’s lonely at the top. The scenery isn’t completely unfamiliar to Mosley, who experienced similar troubles lining up notable fights at lightweight as well as his first tour as welterweight kingpin.

However, it was understandable why others wouldn’t be in a hurry to cross his path back in the day.

Both of those reigns came during the heart of his prime, having moved up from lightweight a decade ago, and his first welterweight reign having begun near the start of this decade. He was undefeated, in his mid-20’s and regarded as pound-for-pound the best in the world, or pretty damn close to it. 

Today, you’d think more fighters would be willing to take a chance on the 37-year old version of the Californian. He’s since lost five times and struggled to victory in fights as recently as last September.

Yet when he searches for the same fighters who were calling him out… crickets.

But Shane has no intentions of letting anyone off the hook. Despite his present status as the man to beat at welterweight, he now dares all comers to step up and prove their worth. Rather than waiting for someone to step forward, he instead puts out his own all-points bulletin to everyone at or near the welterweight limit.

First on the list is whoever will be the last man standing in the year’s most anticipated bout, to date.

“I want to put it out there to all of the fans, that I have every intention of challenging the winner of the May 2 fight between Ricky Hatton and Manny Pacquiao. Whoever wins that fight, will most likely be looking to add another title to their collection. So I want to challenge the winner to move up and fight for my title, and for the pound-for-pound title.”

The latter status is the reason Shane still gets up in the morning these days.

“I was once the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. I’m back on everyone’s list, but my goal is to be at the top. Right now a lot of people regard Pacquiao as the best. He’ll still be the best if he beats Hatton. If Hatton wins, then he’ll be considered the best.

“Either way, I want the winner. I want the opportunity to become the pound-for-pound best again. I’d be the only fighter to do it twice, that many years apart.”

Some would question why Mosley would willingly sit on the sidelines until May 2 before making his next move, but it actually makes all of the sense in the world. Also high on his wish list was a rematch with Cotto. His reasons are two-fold: to improve on his near-miss in their fantastic November 2007 battle; and because such a fight today would crown a new lineal champion.

The problem in making that fight is that Cotto is being steered toward another alphabet unification match, this with Joshua Clottey in a bout scheduled for June 13, assuming both sides come to terms.

Andre Berto is the lone other welterweight alphabet titlist. He was one of several who pined for a Mosley showdown pre-Margarito. They even fought a week apart in January, which would make both fighters available for, say a head-on collision in their next fight.

At last check, Berto’s handlers were looking in other directions for his next fight, hoped for May 30. Several fighters have been suggested; none were named Shane Mosley.

There’s always the occasional stay busy fight. Perhaps a feasible option a decade ago, but not today.

“I’m sticking around for the super fights,” insists Mosley. “After the Margarito fight, I wanted to fight Cotto again, but in Las Vegas. His people want to keep him in New York, so since nobody else is looking to fight me, I’d rather just wait to see what happens on May 2, and then make a move to fight the Hatton-Pacquiao winner.”

One name that keeps popping up is that of former welterweight and pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr, who hasn’t fought since his 10th round knockout of Ricky Hatton in December 2007.

When active, Mayweather was high on Mosley’s wish list, though the fight never materialized. It’s a fight Shane still wouldn’t mind, though he believes that Mayweather would first look elsewhere should he elect to end his retirement.

“I think he’ll come out, but it will be to fight someone like (Juan Manuel) Marquez,” believes Mosley. An interesting side note is that Marquez would possibly be the one fighter to stand in the way of Mosley-Pacquiao or even Mosley-Hatton from becoming a reality.

Most pound for pound lists have Pacquiao and Marquez in the top two spots, with high demand for the fierce rivals to throw down for a third time.

But Mosley, a corporate member of the Golden Boy Promotions company that promotes Marquez, has a solution that would make everybody happy.

“Marquez is already calling out Mayweather. He don’t believe Pacquiao will fight him again. I don’t believe Mayweather will fight me when he first comes out of retirement. It makes more sense for Marquez to fight Mayweather, me to fight Pacquiao or Hatton, and then maybe the winners can fight each other after that.”

Nothing like thinking ahead. The only problem is getting from here to there. For now, the back-up plan is the winner of the Miguel Cotto-Joshua Clottey unification match in June – “three belts, plus The Ring belt, it’d be worth it for everyone.” If neither happens… well, Shane still isn’t going anywhere, but won’t be very pleased with having to search for a Plan C.

“It would be very disappointing if I went the rest of the year without a big fight. You’d have to ask what boxing is coming to now if these guys don’t want to fight the best fighters. It’d be very disappointing if it came to that.”

But it wouldn’t be enough to force him out of the spot, even if a career-redefining win would be a nice way to go out.

“I just believe that I’m still young and feel good. It’s in me, it’s in my gut. I can’t retire yet.”

With the desire to continue on comes the patience in allowing the next super fight to materialize.

“I’m willing to wait until the end of the year, if it meant waiting for another super fight. For now, my plan is to see what happens on May 2, but to let both Pacquiao and Hatton know that whoever wins, I want them next.

“If I can’t get that fight, then we’ll make an offer for Miguel Cotto to come out to Vegas to fight me.”

Even if it means going upwards of nine months waiting for Plan B (or C) to go into effect. However long it takes, all that Mosley wants at this stage of his career is the chance to prove what he has left to offer the sport.

“Whenever that next big fight comes around I’ll be ready.”

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com and a voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Please feel free to contact Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com.