SHANE MOSLEY: "I KNOW THAT I'M CAPABLE OF WINNING THE WORLD TITLE AGAIN"
By Ben Thompson | April 16, 2013
"What made me really want to come back is that I wanted to bring my father back in the corner with me so we can get some glory together, because I know that I'm capable of winning the world title again. Having my father in my corner with me would be like a Cinderella story, and then grooming my son to be the next is like a Cinderella story. This is what I want to do. There's nothing else in the world that I really have the passion for than to be in the ring fighting," stated multi-division world champion and future Hall of Famer "Sugar" Shane Mosley, who talked about his upcoming May 18 return to the ring when he faces Pablo Cesar Cano. Check out what else he had to say about the fight and much more!
BT: What's going on, Sugar Man?
SM: Man, you know, just keeping myself working; working hard.
BT: No doubt. So how did the press conference tour go down in Mexico?
SM: I mean, a lot of fans were out there. It was nice. Cancun is beautiful. The resort was nice. My father came out with me, and Bella [Gonzalez], and we had a good time. They treated me with a lot of respect. Everything was great.
BT: How's training camp going?
SM: Training's going very good, very well. I'm looking very sharp. You know, every now and then, Mookie [Cleotis Pendarvis] and his sparring partners are down the street, so I go down there and have some fun with them a little bit and I have some other people come up and I spar with them as well. I'm feeling good. My legs are back, so I'm moving good. Everything's coming along like it's supposed to.
BT: After the Canelo fight, you said you were going to retire, but now that you're obviously fighting on, the critics are going to question the reasons why and wonder if you're just doing this for money. With that being said, ultimately, what was it that made you decide that you still wanted to lace 'em up?
SM: You know, I've been in the gym training, sparring with a lot of guys and working with a lot of guys like Cano and up-and-coming guys, the top 10 guys, and you know, I did good. What made me really want to come back is that I wanted to bring my father back in the corner with me so we can get some glory together, because I know that I'm capable of winning the world title again. Having my father in my corner with me would be like a Cinderella story, and then grooming my son to be the next is like a Cinderella story. This is what I want to do. There's nothing else in the world that I really have the passion for than to be in the ring fighting. But even when I do retire for real, I'll still be in the gym, working out and keeping myself in shape. This is like therapy to me. I love it.
As far as me needing money, I mean, I don't really need it, but everybody can use more money (laughing). That helps to buy the different things that you want to buy. I'm more into investing in different properties and things like that than buying fancy cars and things of that nature; maybe more traveling and investing is my thing. I have my nest egg in my accounts that I can live comfortably on for the rest of my life. But like I said, my passion is boxing and if I can still do it and do it at a top level, then I'm going to do it. Bernard Hopkins is 40+ years old and I'm sure he has money put away, but it's not the money; it's his passion that he has to be one of the greats. The only one to win a title at 48 years old, that's historical. And to do what he loves, I mean, some guys can sit back and just get a wheelchair and really get old because they're not working out or doing anything. Boxing is my love, this is what I want to do. This is why I'm not getting old and I'm looking younger and younger. That's why Bernard looks younger and younger. That's why all these fighters that are older are still looking young because they're running, they're hitting the bag, sparring, doing all these different things and feeling good.
I feel great. I feel like I'm 25 years old. I feel young. I'm in there sparring and working with guys that are 21 and 22 years old and outworking them. They're getting tired and I'm going like 10 and 12 rounds. I'm just going round after round after round, 4-minute and 5-minute rounds, and they're getting tired, getting out, and then getting back in to spar with me. I'm doing great. I'm doing good.
BT: I'm pretty sure this is your first fight down in Mexico, but growing up in California, you got pretty comfortable facing Mexican fighters, right?
SM: This will be my first time in Mexico, but I mean, in California, there's Mexicans everywhere. Even when I go down there now, it's like I'm the main attraction. It's because of me that everybody is really coming. Of course they want to see their hometown guy win too, but even their side is showing me so much love; I'm just getting a lot of love out there in Mexico. It's like I'm fighting at home. I mean, everybody was going for Margarito and Oscar, but I still got that respect from the crowd at the end of the night. That's what I love about the Mexican fans. They show me that respect. Even though they're going to go for their guy, at the end of the day, it's like, "Mosley, he's a warrior." They show me that respect and that's what I love.
BT: Originially, you were hoping to get Malignaggi, but you ended up getting the guy who a lot of people think was robbed against Malignaggi. Stylistically, do you think Cano might be a better matchup for you considering that he won't be on his bike looking to move like Malignaggi would have?
SM: Yeah, I just watched this tape with Cano and Malignaggi and I was like wow. Paulie throws nothing but arm punches. That's going to help Adrien [Broner] out to be able to do what he needs to do. Like you said, I was supposed to fight Paulie, but it is what it is. Paulie was going to be knocked out. I was going to crack the daylights out of him (laughing). He couldn't run from me. He might have made the right decision in not taking the fight. But Cano, he's definitely a come-forward type of fighter, but he's pretty good. He has a decent jab, throws good body shots, he comes at you, and he seems like he's tough. He seems like he's heavy-handed. He doesn't have very much definition, but he seems very heavy-handed and he seems like he's tough. He cuts easy, but he's tough.
BT: What did you think about his performance against Malignaggi?
SM: I was really surprised that he had that type of power, but I kept looking at him as the rounds went on and I see what Cano does that would give people like Paulie trouble. He's a great pressure fighter. He knows how to cut off the ring pretty good. He knows how to break a guy down to the body. He's the type that will take a punch to give a punch. For Paulie, he can't punch; he won't get no respect. Cano just walks right to him, takes two jabs and then throws two body shots, and his punches are harder than Paulie's, so he can do that as long as he can consistently keep his punch production up. For me, or somebody that can punch, he won't be able to do that. [Erik] Morales has a smaller punch, but Morales at his weight division, at 140 or lightweight, he knows how to punch. He couldn't really walk Morales down like that because Morales can punch better than Paulie. Now me, on the other hand, he's going to fight somebody that can really punch. For this fight, I think I'm punching harder than I did for my last fight. My hands are hurting more when I'm hitting the bag, so I think I'm punching harder. He's going to have a lot of problems. He's deceptive with his punching power, but I'm going to be bigger than him and I'm going to be stronger than him.
BT: You're last 3 fights were against Canelo, Pacquiao, and of course Mayweather. Those are probably the 3 biggest names in the sport right now. Obviously every fight is important, but assuming all goes well, do you think this fight will be enough to silence the critics and let them know that you still have some fuel left in the tank.
SM: Well, the thing is, with those 3 fights, I wasn't really at 100%, so I mean, when they say, "Oh, he doesn't have any legs," well guess what? I really didn't have any legs. I had a groin pull, achilles popped, and I was just healing up with Canelo. So really and truly, yeah, you're right, I didn't have any legs, but now I do. That's why I'm going to come back and I'm going to do what I need to do inside this ring, because I know I can still do it. Silence the critics? You know, that's what they are; they're critics. They're going to always be critics so I just gotta deal with that and not listen to them; just listen to my own heart and listen to what I know I can do. So whatever the critics say, let them continue to be critics; that's fine.