If you didn't know Shane Mosley is fighting this Saturday, you could be forgiven. After all, the future Hall of Famer who was once recognized as the pound-for-pound champion, hasn't beaten a world-class opponent since 2009, and all of his latest big-name opponents (Floyd Mayweather, Canelo Alvarez, and Manny Pacquiao) topped him.
But the 44-year-old continues to fight on, and he'll do so again Saturday night on CBS Sports Network against relative unknown David Avanesyan (21-1-1, 11 knockouts) in Glendale, Arizona. The victor becomes the mandatory opponent for the winner of next month's Keith Thurman-Shawn Porter world title matchup.
Clearly, Mosley (49-9-1, 41 KOs) is far past his prime, as his 1-4-1 record from 2010-13 would attest. But he's won two straight, including a knockout over former world titlist Ricardo Mayorga last August, and he's actually looked better than expected.
Something to consider, though: Mayorga looked embarrassingly bad and spent most of his time clowning around instead of trying to punch Mosley.
His opponent Saturday is sure to perform better than Mayorga, but Mosley said he plans to put on a boxing clinic vs. Avanesyan.
"I’m not just going to win. I’m going to annihilate him,” Mosley said, via Ring News 24. “In 2009, they said I was done but they were wrong. I’m glad people know this is a real competitive fight. It will be a challenge, but when I win, the world will know.”
More importantly than anything in a boxing ring, though, Mosley had to play the role of good Samaritan earlier this month during a multi-car smashup on a Los Angeles highway when Mosley, who did not crash his car, noticed a bleeding baby in one of the crashed vehicles and got the child to safety. Then, Mosley and his girlfriend followed the family of the baby to the hospital to make sure the parents received the baby bag they had accidently left behind.
4car pile up on the 405 right in front of me. My quick reaction time saved my family. Hope the baby &the father we stopped to help are ok
— Shane Mosley (@ShaneMosley_) May 1, 2016
Great job by Mosley in that instance.
But regarding his career, the real question is this: Why is Mosley, who's being trained for this fight by the legendary Roberto Duran, continuing to fight? Even if he gets by Avanesyan -- and, though Mosley is about a 2-1 underdog, there's a good chance that he will -- he'd only have a slim chance to win against either Thurman or Porter.
Is it for the money? After all, Mosley went through an expensive divorce with his ex-wife (also, his former manager) in 2010 (she reportedly even took his championship belts with her), and he's trying to get a promotion company off the ground (he told the Los Angeles Times that he spent $1 million to put on the Mosley-Mayorga promotion).
But Mosley claimed in 2015 that he didn't need the money, saying, "I have millions and millions of dollars ... I want to prove everybody wrong. They're saying I'm washed up. I want them to see I'm still better than a lot of guys. I can still fight. Like [51-year-old] Bernard Hopkins, I feel good, I don't drink. I just work out."
That kind of dedication might lead to his success Saturday night. But he's still 44, and it probably won't lead much further than that.
Jermain Taylor looking for a comeback?: As reported by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette this week, former undisputed middleweight champion Jermain Taylor received a suspended sentence of six years after he pleaded guilty to felony gun and battery charges.
But since Taylor (33-4-1, 20 KOs), who's had recent struggles with drugs and alcohol, is not going to prison, that means he can fight again. And it sounds like that it's what he wants, particularly since his attorneys say the man who once commanded million of dollars for his fights is now broke.
After losing four of five fights from 2007-09, Taylor has won five straight since 2011 -- and has looked fairly decent in doing so -- and lifted a middleweight belt off Sam Soliman in his last fight in 2014. As Bad Left Hook points out, trainer Pat Burns, who has been working with Taylor in Florida, spoke in court and said Taylor hasn't failed a drug test in eight months.
Deontay Wilder ready to fight: With Alexander Povetkin failing a drug test less than two weeks before his title fight vs. Deontay Wilder -- costing Wilder a $4.5 million payday -- the WBC released a statement this week saying that Wilder can make a voluntary defense of his title. Povetkin had been Wilder's mandatory opponent, but now, according to the L.A. Times, Wilder is looking at a possible defense against Chris Arreola (36-4-1, 31 KOs), who's already fought for the heavyweight title twice but lost to Vitali Klitschko in 2009 and Bermane Stiverne in 2014.
The WBC's ruling was welcomed by Wilder's camp.
"He wants to get into the ring, so we are going to try to figure something out but I think it's a fair assumption to say he would fight this summer," promoter Lou DiBella told ESPN. "Obviously, you're not going to do a fight without television, so we need to see about that. We're turning our attention to it now that the ruling has been made."
Canelo-Golovkin update: Unfortunately for fight fans, there isn't much of an update, aside from the report that there hasn't been any negotiating between the two sides. Canelo Alvarez gave up his WBC middleweight belt last week (yet remains the recognized middleweight champion), because the organization would have forced a purse bid between his camp and that of Gennady Golovkin.
Alvarez and Golden Boy Promotions said they gave up the belt so they could have more time to negotiate a deal with Golovkin. But so far, nothing has happened.
“I can confirm that nothing has been forthcoming from Golden Boy since they informed the WBC of their decision,” Golovkin promoter Tom Loeffler told World Boxing News this week. “We are still hopeful that the fight with Canelo can be made and are open to continuing the discussions as soon as Golden Boy are ready and willing to do so.”
Remember these answers from Alvarez after he beat Amir Khan regarding a fight with Golovkin?
It seems as if we're a long way from that kind of confidence that this deal will get done.
