err....when he arrived at welterweight Mosley was hyped by many as being in the same class as the other Sugar's....& has repeatedly fallen far short of those expectations.
Shane is a great fighter. I remember a comment that he made along time ago when he said, "I plan on having 5 or 6 loses by the time I retire, because I plan on fighting the best, and when you fight the best you dont always win" I think that tell you every thing you need to know about Shane:good Plus I think that he is the only fighter from 147 down that can beat Floyd
Mosley generally gets a lot of respect among boxing circles. Maybe not "hype", but his relatively low-profile compared to other top fighters of the era (along with his likeable personality) helped him in some manners too. Most top fighters would've gotten more criticism for the illegal PED use. He got some criticism and attention right before the Margarito fight, but nowhere near as much as I could imagine if someone like a De La Hoya or Mayweather were in that situation.
Shane Mosley is one of the greatest fighters of all time. His resume is a "who's who" of ducked fighters over the years.
Shane does not have to fight Williams to prove anything, he has proven himself long ago. Shane is in the home stretch of his great career and wants to fight floyd which is the fight everyone in boxing wants to see - the battle for welterwegiht supremacy - winner meets Pac. floyd ducked Mosley when he demanded $20 million guaranteed. that's how you price yourself out of a fight you are afraid of. floyd didn't demand $20 million for Marquez. Mosley looked as good as SRR ever did vs. Margarito.
Yes Mosley does have to fight Williams if he wants to be the man at 147, he needs to go out and make something for himself instead of crying about no one wanting to fight him. In the old days Shane would never blantantly duck Williams the way he is doing now.
Sugar Ray Robinson lost to Jake LaMotta, Randy Turpin, Carmen Bassillio and Gene Fullmer to name a few. It really negatively affected his overall historical standing for daring to actually fight everyone and not worry about some BS notion of selective perfection. atsch
I was answering why Shane is not getting as much credit as he should. He seems to do well when he has a good style matchup and not well when he doesn't. Other greats like SRL seem to do well all the time. Shane has more trouble than Leonard with guys who do not compliment his style. Ray found a way to win no matter what. More versatile. That is why I think Shane does not get the credit some think he should. Leonard would have beaten Margarito and Cotto the same year.