Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Speed may make difference

The speed, the quickness, had commentators, writers and fans using descriptive words such as "dazzling" and "blinding" in their summations and analysis.

Shane Mosley was fast for a fighter. As fast or faster with his feet and fists than anybody in the game.

First as a lightweight and then as a welterweight, Mosley rose to world championship status. He could hit and not be hit, which is always an effective strategy.

But that was years ago. That was past tense.

Or is it?

"They think they're fighting a 'shot' fighter," Mosley's promoter, Gary Shaw, said Wednesday, referring to Mosley's Saturday night opponent at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Oscar De La Hoya. "They think he's lost it.

"They're wrong."

Mosley turned 32 this week and hasn't won a fight in more than 25 months.

It has been more than three years since his greatest boxing triumph, his split-decision victory against De La Hoya in Los Angeles.

He's looking to have history repeat itself when he fights De La Hoya again, this time at 154 pounds and this time in a pay-per-view bout that is worth at least $4.5 million to him.

"Oscar's dreaming if he thinks Shane has lost that speed," Shaw said. "It's still there (and) there's substance behind his style."

Speed kills -- and if Mosley still has it, he's still dangerous. If he doesn't, he'll be the road kill as De La Hoya extends his career at the expense of another once-great fighter.

"It's very hard to neutralize speed," Mosley said, implying, of course, that any tactics De La Hoya employs toward that goal won't negate the underdog's most noticeable skill. "Speed is always a good thing."

Yet that speed was on hiatus, if not gone forever, as Mosley lost consecutive fights to Vernon Forrest and settled for a no-contest with Raul Marquez in his three most recent outings. Once unbeaten and unbowed, today Mosley is 36-2 and looking to make amends.

"I took things for granted," he said of the downward spiral that dropped him from the list of the sport's elite. "I beat De La Hoya and I got complacent."

Promoter Bob Arum, who handles De La Hoya and is the lead promoter in this fight, says Mosley and his management team made an error in judgment in not capitalizing on that earlier win.

"The mistake they made was in going for the easy paydays against lesser guys," he said. "After he beat Oscar, Mosley should have been fighting (David) Reid, (Fernando) Vargas and guys like that. "

Arum said that instead of lining up lucrative but unexciting HBO bouts for Mosley, they should have "tried to turn Shane into a star. But they just didn't want to take those risks."

Mosley fought Antonio Diaz, Shannan Taylor and Adrian Stone -- each a decent but beatable fighter -- in the year after defeating De La Hoya before running into Forrest and unexpectedly losing twice in a span of six months.

Just like that, his career and marketability were greatly reduced if not returned to zero. The rematch with De La Hoya, always on the back burner, emerged, perhaps as Shaw claims, because De La Hoya's people believed now was the time to get revenge for the loss in LA.

"Now you don't know what to expect," admits Mosley's father and trainer, Jack. "But Shane has the ability to create some things right on the spot."

What Mosley intends to do is just what he did in the first fight: strike quick, get in and get out, and land more punches than his slightly bigger, slightly stronger rival.

He says he'll be able to do it not only because he has retained his edge, but because De La Hoya is the one who has flat-lined if not fallen into decline.

"The only difference I expect to see from Oscar is that he'll jab a couple of times, take a half step back and then throw," Mosley said. "He gets hit more times than he used to (and) he doesn't look as sharp.

"Maybe he's aging."

De La Hoya, 30, has said he will retire if he loses to Mosley.

Mosley says that's not an admission a fighter should make.

"I don't think it's a good mentality to take into the ring," he said. "But he wants to get into the next phase of his career. He doesn't have that much to prove.

"If I was him, maybe I'd feel the same way."

De La Hoya, 36-2 and with Hollywood and boxing promotional duties beckoning, has been bet up to a minus 250 in the sports book at the MGM, with Mosley a plus 210. It's a minus 185 that the fight will go its fully scheduled 12 rounds and a plus 165 that it won't.

The entire arena, 16,268 seats, is sold out.

Those looking for another way to see the fight can order it at home (but only if they have a satellite or subscribe to Cox Cable's digital service) for $49.95, or see it for $50 on closed circuit at one of 16 local outlets that will have seating for a total of 30,000 customers.

"The only reason I took this fight is because it's historical," Mosley said. "I'm fighting for honor and historical reasons."

To say nothing of rejuvenating his career.

"Yes, no matter what happens," Mosley said, when asked if he would continue to fight even if he loses Saturday. "I'm a fighter. I'll be around for a while."

If that's true, he had better be quick about it.

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