Leonard Ellerbe on Shane Mosley:
I have a great deal of respect for Shane Mosley. He's had an outstanding career and he's one of the most likeable people you will ever meet in the sport of boxing, but his comments to Brian Kenny were just another example of why he's delusional and doesn't have a clue to what market value is all about. In his interview with ESPN, he mentions his fight with Margarito had well over 20,000 fans, which was the biggest sellout ever at Staples Center and they did a $1.5 million live gate, which is true, but he fails to mention that anyone with any common sense knows that the Latinos comprise the vast majority of the population in East LA and they were there supporting Margarito. Also, I was sitting ringside at the Mayorga fight at the Home Depot Center, which is Shane's backyard, and there were less than 4,000 fans there and they did a $500,000 live gate and he was the headliner on the HBO card. The only other time I can remember where he was the A-side of anything was the Collazo fight, where once again, there were less than 5,000 fans there at the Mandalay Bay and he did another $500,000 live gate. So three of his last four fights, the live gate has totaled under $4 million, with the other fight being the Cotto fight at MSG and we all know who the A-side was in that fight. So what is he talking about being an attraction? Truth be told, the main reason why his fight purses in his last two fights have totaled about $4 million is because he's not an attraction. These are the facts and as one of Floyd's business representatives, that's all we can deal with are the irrefutable facts. He's made the worst business decisions of any elite fighter arguably in the last 10 years when it has comes to his career. Whether it be turning his boss down in a third fight for $10 million after beating him twice, going to fight Winky Wright in back-to-back fights for a little over $5 million or having an opportunity to fight Floyd in November 2006 for a career payday, $8 million, but instead he chose to get dental work done and take a family vacation after coming off a tremendous performance in the Vargas fight. Just a couple years ago after losing to Winky twice, he was fighting on an ESPN undercard and from there, an HBO undercard fight on Barrera's show. These are just a few examples of why he is very bitter and jealous of Floyd. He is truly a great fighter, who will eventually get his opportunity, but attempting to disrespect Floyd is not going to get it done. Floyd's not going anywhere. We're going to line these guys up one by one, but he can't fight them all in one night. To make these mega-fights, it always takes both fighters to bring something to the table. Shane recently said he wanted to fight Mayweather at 50/50; this is the main reason why I think he's delusional. That's why he's out there making these desperate attempts of calling out fighters at this point of his career, because he has no leverage. Percy, this is the same guy who says he won't fight Paul Williams because he brings nothing to the table. Floyd has worked his way from the bottom to the top with a lot of hard work, inside and outside the ring, to put himself in this position to be the top dog. Shane can fool some of the media, but he's not going to fool the fans.
The Floyd fans are going to have a field day with this.