Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Boxing notebook:

Mosley says Wright represented well

The Golden Boy may deliver a golden goodbye today

Wright-Williams Weigh-In

Steve Marcus

Boxers Shane Mosley, left, and Oscar De La Hoya talk during an official weigh-in for middleweight boxers Winky Wright and Paul Williams at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada, April 10 2009.

Forgive "Sugar" Shane Mosley for being a little partial and pulling for Winky Wright during his fight with Paul Williams Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

The 37-year-old Mosley — the same age as Wright and also a stablemate in Golden Boy promotions — was looking for his good friend to put on a show like Mosley did against Antonio Margarito in January.

And, of course, continue the trend that the so-called “older boxers” have showed in the last few months that they aren’t quite ready to hang the gloves up yet.

“I think he made a big statement for him to fight like he did after being off for 21 months and stepping into the ring against one of the premier boxers in the world,” Mosley said.

While the 27-year-old Williams got the best of Wright, Mosley said he was pleased with the former champ’s representation of not only himself, but “their era” of boxers.

“I think it says a lot for our era of fighters,” said Mosley, who included fellow Golden Boy boxers Juan Manuel Marquez, 35, and Bernard Hopkins, 44, in the conversation.

Marquez TKO’d Juan Diaz in February, while Hopkins handed Kelly Pavlik his only career loss last fall.

“Even now a lot of the guys around my age group are continuing to win big fights and knocking people out,” Mosley said. “Our era is doing pretty good.”

So when will the WBA welterweight champ return to the ring?

“I’m really hoping to fight the winner of Ricky Hatton and Manny Pacquiao,” Mosley said. “Either fighter would be an exciting matchup for me.

“If not, I’ve got a few other options as well. I hear Floyd (Mayweather) is coming back. Maybe he needs a tune-up fight.”

A Golden Farewell?: It’s quite likely that Hall of Famer Oscar De La Hoya could be calling it quits today.

Click to enlarge photo

Oscar De La Hoya sits in his corner during a welterweight fight against Manny Pacquiao at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday, December 6, 2008.

The 36-year-old De La Hoya has called a noon press conference to discuss his future plans.

De La Hoya, despite suffering a lopsided loss to pound-for-pound champ Pacquiao in Las Vegas in December, has reached iconic status in the sport.

The Los Angeles native is the richest fighter of all time, he has won world championships in six weight classes and accumulated a career record of 39-6 with 30 knockouts.

However, the Golden Boy has struggled lately, losing four of his last seven — including his loss to Pacquiao, when he wasn’t able to come out of his corner after the eighth round.

De La Hoya said if he indeed does hang ‘em up, “I’m content with my career."

"I'm content with what I've accomplished," De La Hoya told the Associated Press last weekend. “As an athlete who's very competitive, you always want more, but in the back of your mind you start thinking about all the wins and what you've accomplished for the sport. That's what makes it so difficult. You think, 'I can still do this.'"

Ring talk rather than family: World Boxing Organization welterweight champion Miguel Cotto and International Boxing Federation welterweight champion Joshua Clottey are holding a news conference in New York today to announce their title fight set for June 13 at Madison Square Garden.

While Cotto would rather talk about his upcoming bout, he spent part of Monday outside of a courtroom in his hometown of Caguas, Purerto Rico answering questions about his fight last week with uncle and trainer Evangelista Cotto.

Police say the two exchanged blows last Wednesday after a heated argument about training. Witnesses said they were quickly separated, but Evangelista Cotto later drove to his nephew's home and threw a cement block through a window of the boxer's 2009 Jaguar.

While Cotto said Evangelista would no longer be his trainer, he called the dispute an "unfortunate situation" and said neither he, nor his uncle, want to press charges.

Andy Samuelson can be reached at [email protected] or 702-948-7837.

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