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Welterweight champion Shane Mosley pulled no punches two weeks ago in calling out long-time rival Floyd Mayweather. Sugar Shane bluntly accused Mayweather of ducking him and challenged him to a megafight. See below:
Mayweather was obviously not amused, and responded in kind.
"Since Shane is running his mouth and trying to be disrespectful, he just moved down the hit list," Mayweather retorted. "One thing I promise my fans, they're all going to get it one by one.”
The “hit list” is part of Mayweather’s newly signed 5-fight deal with Golden Boy Promotions. According to Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, 3 verified names on the list are Manny Pacquiao, Miguel Cotto, and Shane Mosley.
What many people may not know is that Mosley and Mayweather have been waging a war of words and callouts for over 10 years. In 1998, a young Floyd Mayweather tried to secure a fight with Mosley, who was then an undefeated champion and knockout artist at lightweight. Perhaps wanting the fight to build up, Mosley turned down the still relatively unknown Mayweather.
In 2000, Mayweather again tried calling out Shane. But Mosley had a bigger, multi-million dollar fish to fry in Oscar De La Hoya. In his signature fight, Mosley jumped 2 weight classes to welterweight and beat the Golden Boy in a classic performance.
On the other hand, Mayweather slowly built his name up from 2001-2005, most notably with wins over the late Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo (2X). In January ’05, Mayweather again called out Mosley, who was rumored to be returning to welterweight after decisive decision losses to Winky Wright.
Nothing ever materialized, as Mosley only had 2 fights in 2005 against lower-level competition, in part to readjust himself to welterweight after years away.
But in 2006, Mosley jumped back to 154 for two lucrative fights against Fernando Vargas. The entertaining scraps resulted in back to back knockouts for Mosley. At this time, both men had their best chance to date to face each other, as Mayweather had several possible PPV dates in 2006.
Unfortunately, Mosley cited a commitment to his family to take a vacation as a reason not to face Mayweather. Additionally, he likely had to the foresight to see his recent weight-jumping could be his undoing against Floyd. Shane’s comments on this matter can be heard at the 8:50 mark, and he reiterated his stance later in the year after easily KO’ing Vargas in their July 2006 rematch.
So here we are in 2009, with both men well into their 30s. What could possibly prevent this fight from happening now?
Manny Pacquiao.
It’s no secret that Mayweather’s July bout with Juan Manuel Marquez is setup for a blockbuster, record-breaking showdown with Pacquiao. With that fight potentially on the table, Mosley will remain out in the cold.
But if Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum (Top Rank) plays hardball at the negotiation table, we could possibly see Mayweather-Mosley before the year is out.
Arum is currently trying to entice Pacquiao to face Miguel Cotto, who must first get by Joshua Clottey later this month. Since Cotto is also a Top Rank fighter, that fight would be far easier for Arum to make then dealing with Mayweather).
Floyd can equally turn to Mosley, also promoted by Golden Boy, to make an in-house megafight. The two winners could then face off by 2010.
Confused?
Such is life in the world of boxing. Preferably, I’d like to see Mayweather-Pacquiao while both guys are red hot (assuming Mayweather handles business next month). In the meantime, Mosley has the option of a fan-friendly barn burner with young gun Andre Berto, or possibly the winner of Clottey-Cotto.
Whatever happens, as long as these talented fighters face off, boxing fans win.
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