A Retirement Home in Canastota New York (Mosley v. Pacquiao)

By Earl Blaney: I can’t remember the last time I was about to watch a fight this bad, probably neither can Shane Mosley.

Mosley is a very good fighter. He has incredible endurance, a great chin and throws heavy, heavy punches. His championship belts at three different weight divisions, his impressive record of 46 wins, and his epic battles against world class competition like Oscar De La Hoya and “Winky” Wright will rightfully ensure him a spot in the International Boxing Hall of Fame located in Canastota New York. The problem for Shane Mosley this Saturday is that he should already be well on his way towards counting down the necessary five years from post retirement to induction. Let’s all just hope that Pacquiao doesn’t offer the IBHF a speedier posthumous option.

I’ve watched boxing a long time and I’ve seen a lot of hype, but I’ve never seen it stretched so absurdly as I have for this one. The Shane Mosley as represented by the press for this fight hasn’t existed since about 2006 when he knocked out an outclassed Fernando Vargas out in the 6th round in the same ring he will step into this Saturday night, which should make it all the easier to notice what a difference 5 years makes. Mosley has shown flashes of his former self much the same as an alzheimers patient degenerates from having “good days” to having very short spurts of lucidity. One thing is for sure, since 2006 good days are increasingly hard for Mosley to come by. Sadly at the endangerment of his health, nowadays, in boxing’s dark ages, any sign of hope promotes theories to suppress an accurate diagnosis.

Mosley’s last "good day" was in November 2007 in his fight against Miguel Cotto. He threw a lot, but to be sure he also got hit a lot. Note: Body quickness goes before hand speed. Mosley lost a close decision to a man nine years younger. Mosley fought well, there was certainly nothing to be ashamed of, but age was the deciding factor in this fight for the first time in Mosley’s career. Mosley himself acknowledged as much in the post fight interviews. That was four years ago.

Since that last “good day” we have only seen flashes of who Mosley used to be. Two of such flashes came recently enough for Mosley to be declared sound for Saturday’s main event. Just because grandpa can find his car keys doesn’t mean he should drive anywhere.The first flash came in the form of two good left hooks in the twelfth and final round against a C plus level fighter in Ricardo Mayorga (sept 2008). Two years previous ODLH had destroyed the same man in six of the most one sided rounds in boxing history. Three years previous to that Mosley had outclassed ODLH for the second time. Again, what a difference five years makes.

I know it can be argued that Mosley was “himself” in 2009 when he knocked out out Margarito in Round 9, by my own scorecard he won 5 of the previous 8 rounds. The question is however was Margarito himself? If it was a “good day” for Mosley, it certainly wasn’t for Margarito who had just been caught with loaded gloves coming out to the ring. The prospects of a career ruined in disgrace has got to be a bit of a distraction.

The last flash we saw of the man that used to be Shane Mosley came in round 2 of the Mayweather fight. A looping right haymaker that shook Flyod, but it wasn’t enough to finish him or even to win the round. Mosley didn’t win any rounds that fight. IF you look at the compu box stats 8 out of the 12 rounds had Mosley landing less than ten punches a round. Let me circumvent the argument that this stat doesn’t mean anything against the ultra defensive Floyd Mayweather. In his next fight against Mora, Mosley also failed to land more than ten punches in 7 of the twelve rounds. His hand speed is gone now too, and we didn’t see any flashes at all.

Another indication of the problem Mosley will have on Saturday is the fact that he is managing an average of about 45 punches a round these days. He hasn’t averaged 60 since on about his 34th birthday he was forced to stop his association with BALCO labs. Manny Pacquiao is coming into this fight averaging 65 punches a round and is known to throw a hundred when he has a good target. He will. And the bad news for the “punchers chance” Mosley fans is the only thing faster than Pacquiao’s hand speed is his foot speed.

There are two positives in this fight. The first is that if Mosley needs a nurse in his old age, he’s lucky he’s fighting a Filipino. We should recognize that this is taking the Philipino international nursing phenomenon to an unprecedented level. Mosley is fighting a guy who will do his best to protect him. Manny Pacquiao will handle the later rounds (if they are allowed by the referee) with kid gloves as he has in his last three fights with Cotto (despite the TKO), Clottey and Margarito. The Second is that this fight will end with a retirement speech by Shane Mosely. It’s for the best ; this way we can go visit him on Sundays at the boxing hall of fame. He'll be with people his own age. It's a nice place and we can only hope that he’ll be happy there.