I am looking forward to this fight as much if not more than any other fight this year. Not only does it fall on 12/26 which will be F&%king awesome for having my family/friends around for the holiday to watch this fight with, but these 2 champions both have a lot of juice left..... Being that I am 32 myself, I prefer to see "older" boxer match-ups....respect to them for being able to stay in such phenominal shape at a time where most men their age are pudgy physically useless slobs.... Let's looks at some of the facts: Clottey, 35-3(20) 32 years old, 5'8", from Ghana, former IBF Welterweight Champion. Mosley, Orthodox, 46-5(39) 38 years old, 5'9", from California, He has won world titles in three weight divisions. He is the current WBA Welterweight Super Champion. On paper, it seems like a great match-up...period. Since the year 2000: Mosley has fought 19 times and all 5 of his losses have come since 2002. He lost 2x to Vernon Forrest, 2x to Winky Wright and 1x to Cotto. All true champions in their own right. Clottey has fought 18 times and 2/3 losses (He was disqualified in contrversial fight for his first loss) have come since 2006. He lost to Margarito and Cotto (Cotto was a very close split decision and many had Clottey winning, including myself). Both true champion fighters....even though Margarito may or may not have plastered his gloves. Now, onto my prediction. First off, and this is critical, this fight is sadly taking place in LA. As we all know....boxing is a very shady sport when it comes to "officials" and it seems that "hometown" boxers have the advantage in decision fights. This fight appears to clearly be one that will come to a decision as Clottey is a defensive master who has only lost fights to close decisions or d/q....I'm not sure how many times he has even been knocked down in his career. Sugar Shane also is a defensive master and has only lost to decisions. This will be a long fight....nobody is thinking KO here....KD? Maybe...but not KO. Age: Typically I hate it when analysts count someone out due to being "older"....but the fact is, Sugar Shane is 38...that's pretty old by boxing standards....Clottey is no young buck either at 32, but 32 is still at the tail end of the "peak years"..... Growing up in Ghana or LA? This is something that more boxing analysts need to look at. LA can be a tough area...really tough. This can breed physically dominant humans. Sugar Shane is physically a monster and has a great career. Ghana can be a tough area as well. Just Google Ghana and see the violent news stories that come up. I would bet money that overall, Ghana breeds harder people.....and this could be advantageous in the boxing world.....will it make a difference in the ring? Maybe not....but maybe it will... Steroids? Sugar Shane told a grand jury in 2003 that he injected himself with the doping agent EPO as he prepared for a fight against Oscar De La Hoya. In 2008 Victor Conte, the founder of BALCO, accused Mosley of knowingly taking performance enhancing drugs. Zab Judah recently refused to fight Mosley due to this fact...or so he said. Clottey has not had any press reveal he has done any form of steroids, but I do not assume he has not done them. His body looks like it has been "enhanced" with something more than merely hard training as well.... In my opinion you gotta assume both these men are using anything and everything to give them an edge in the ring. At the end of the day, they have to train hard and bring their A game to win. Personally I predict Clottey winning by decision as he is fired up to proove he should of won that Split Decision over Cotto and appears to be in his boxing prime. Clottey seems to be faster and more able defensively. You can never count out Sugar Shane, but his age will catch up to him in later rounds is my prediction and that will be his undoing as this will be a long fight. Sugar Shane must dominate Clottey early to win. Sugar Shane beat Margarito because Margarito has no defensive skills. Clottey has tons and this will be key. Mosley was able to use his speed, clinching and in and out attacks to beat up the slower Margarito. This tactic wont likely work against Clottey, because he has much faster hands than Mosley and will be ready for him when he comes in range trying to throw his combinations. More than that, Clottey has excellent power and is capable of delivering it in threes by tripling up on many of his hooks to the head and body. Apart from Mosleys fight against Miguel Cotto in 2007, Mosley hasnt faced anyone with near the capabilities to throw combinations like Clottey in the past two years. I am clearly in the minority to even assume Clottey has a chance to win, but I am rooting for the man from Ghana on boxer day. Who are you rooting for? Why do you think your man will win?
Mosley by easy UD. Clottey is trash and FAR too overrated here. Anyone that fights Cotto gets overrated for a while, HELL Alfonso Gomez was rated high. Clottey is a 4 round fighter, can't beat top opposition having **** poor stamina like that. The man had a blown up BEYOND shot to PIECES Corrales OUT since round 7 of 10 and he couldn't finish him because he ran out of gas. He had Cotto in moments, like I expected and mentioned, where Cotto is vulnerable and he ran out of gas after throwing like three punches. A gatekeeper doesn't beat someone like Mosley.
great post --- I'm going against the grain on this one and predicting a Clottey TKO. why? who did Shane have difficulty with in the past? Vernon Forrest & Winky Wright... I see Clottey as being a more offensively-minded Winky Wright --- similar to an Arthur Abraham type fighter --- Clottey is incredibly sturdy and can stand in the pocket w/ his vintage impenetrable defense and launch powerful straight rights off his defense.... I see Clottey's defense really frustrating Shane - much as it did Cotto.... Shane is a warrior and one of my favorite fighters --- but i think his destruction of Margarito made us all forget about his very average performance against Ricardo Mayorga --- and I think the fact that Margarito was 'found out' before the fight - and unable to use his unfair advantage (in the form of plaster of paris) really played a significant factor in the fight --- just as Shane's superior boxing skills did... Clottey is coming into this fight w/ the most to prove - and I just see his size/strength/sturdy defense overcoming Shane at this juncture of his career... it will be a beauty though - that's for sure.
mosley will win close but clear.... its going to look like the cotto fight but shanes experience will take him over the top
I know I said I wouldn't go against Mosley again, but I'm sticking my neck out and picking Clottey on this one. He can really be an amazing fighter when he opens up a bit and he really surprised me against Cotto how much he opened up.
