Recently I caught up with boxing legend ‘Sugar’ Shane Mosley. He spoke about Shawn Porter vs Keith Thurman, Amir Khan vs Canelo Alvarez, his next opponent and how he wants to be remembered after his boxing career is over.
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What has it been like sparring Shawn Porter, has he impressed you?
“Yeah he is really impressive. I think of him as my little brother. He has a style and build very similar to mine. He has a lot of power and he moves really good.
I taught him some little tricks before he fought Broner, but other than that, his dad teaches him everything right. Kenny is a great trainer. I even had him train me for my fight against Mayorga.”
Will you be gunning for the winner of the Shawn Porter vs Keith Thurman fight? Which one would you like to face?
“I actually would prefer to fight Thurman, but I hope Porter wins. I say that because I am good friends with Shawn and won’t fight him.
I like Thurman too, but I don’t hang out with his family at his house like I do the Porters. So I don’t think I will be fighting either cause Porter is winning that fight.”
What do you think of Amir Khan’s decision to fight Canelo Alvarez?
“I think it’s a bad choice. I don’t understand it. He has balls but one thing I have learned is sometimes balls is a bad career decision. For example me fighting Vernon or Winky.
Yeah it was ballsy, but it definitely hurt my career. I could have baby sat it and not taken those and tried to stay undefeated forever, I would have made a lot more money like that.”
If the chance to fight Liam Smith came around again would you be up for it given how talks went last time?
“Yeah they never wanted to make that fight. They just wanted some publicity for me talking about it. They came back with all kinds of crazy stipulations thinking I wouldn’t agree, but I agreed to all of them just to get the belt.
So then they had to say the WBO wouldn’t sanction me cause I wasn’t rated, which is just dumb cause I fought Pacman (their super champ) just 4 years ago.”
Shane Jr (your son) is also a pro boxer, talk to us a little about him.
“Shane is a great fighter. He builds muscle fast, great rhythm, strength, coordination, and athleticism. He dances like he is a pro, he bowls like he is a pro, he runs like he is a track runner.
I mean all around this kid just excels at everything. He has been around boxing his whole life so he knows the little things that most people don’t know until 30-40 years in the game. He will be world champion.”
You looked in great form in your last fight against Patrick Lopez, when will we see you back in the ring?
“Finding an opponent that works is hard. I have fought an older Mayorga and a younger Olympian who no one really knows and got little respect after. I need to fight someone with a good record so people can respect the win and trust that I deserve to be back at the top of the sport fighting top guys. The problem is these top guys know I am a problem and so do their promoters.
I have a name and I can knock you out. For promoters who like to babysit their top guys I am too much risk and not enough reward until the fans get back behind me and believe I should be there. So I am trying to find that sweet spot where the win earns me the respect and the promoter will let them fight me when there isn’t $10 million on the line.”
(Shane’s KO win over Patrick Lopez via HoopJab):
So many people seem interested in your finances, why do you think that is?
“Because unhappy people like to see the mighty fall. It makes the talentless people who will never make millions with hard work feel better about themselves. Fortunately for me I don’t care about what people think, which is why I still have millions of dollars ironically.
If I cared what people thought I would start flossing my money and spending it reckless, but that’s why these guys who everyone thinks has money go broke. I drive a Chevy Volt most days. I eat at home most days. I have a house in Vegas, Big Bear in Cali so I don’t have to waste money on hotels. I am cheap. So people can think I am broke, and I prefer it that way. So they stop asking for money all the damn time.”
What is your greatest achievement in boxing?
“My greatest achievement was honestly the fight I did against Mayorga for the second time. No one would give me a fight, and I went out and made it happen on my own. I am very very proud of that. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done. The people that stood by me and helped me with that have a friend in me for life.
It’s easy to back someone when they are in top, not so easy when everyone says they are finished. Now the tides are changing. Today everyone asks me when is my next fight. It’s nice. I plan to shock some people and shut some haters up.”
When you do retire what legacy do you want to leave in the sport?
“I want it to inspire people to keep pushing. When they fail, or when everyone is telling them they should quit or can’t do it, they remember when everyone said the same thing about Mosley when he fought Oscar, when he fought Margarito, when he fought Mayorga the first time, and when they told him he should retire and he came back at 44 like Foreman or Leonard to win the World title.
If he can do it then I can too. With hard work and never letting people tell you what you can or can’t do, humans can achieve greatness. That’s my legacy. I have worked hard and ignored the haters my whole life. That’s why I am great. I never gave up.”
(Image source and credit: Boxing.com)
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