Last night in Philadelphia, 53-year-old former multi-weight champion Sugar” Shane Mosley returned to the ring in exhibition form and pounded out a five-round decision win over coach-turned-fighter Bob Kofroth. The fight, dubbed a ‘World Light-heavyweight Title’ fight, saw the two men box just one-minute rounds.
Mosley won the decision, and to be fair, Mosley looked pretty good despite being much overweight compared to his prime years, his dazzling years. It was, as is the case with most of these exhibition bouts that are out there (and look like they are sticking around, so long as folks are willing to pay to watch), somewhat sad to see. Mosley, who has been accused of slurring his words some, was absolutely awesome in his prime, his ring displays at both 135 and 147 pounds being nothing short of sublime.
There were, of course, flashes of Mosley’s once super-fast hands last night, and late opponent Kofroth had to take some shots to both head and body. Mosley seemed to be serious at times, having fun and coasting at others. Plenty of fans in the building wanted to see a KO, but it never came.
Now, Mosley is looking ahead, and, quite alarmingly, he called out two former opponents for a rematch: Manny Pacquiao and Oscar De La Hoya.
“Pacquiao. I want to fight Pacquiao, man,” Mosley said to Fight Hub TV when asked who he wants to fight next. “I would fight Oscar [De La Hoya] but Oscar don’t wanna fight, he be talking all this mess but he doesn’t want to fight. I don’t understand it. He should keep my name out of his mouth. I wasn’t even talking about him; he came up and started talking about me. He’s just jealous because I beat him two times. But we might as well do it a third time, with him talking all this mess. He doesn’t want that smoke, though. He really doesn’t.”
Thank goodness, too. Who wants to see Mosley fight De La Hoya again now, or Pacquiao? Pacquiao, though, is still harboring a real desire to box again. In fact, the 45-year-old recently boxed an exhibition of his own (and arguably looked a lot worse than Mosley looked last night, Manny getting a draw with kickboxer Rukiya Anpo, this back in July).
Does Mosley need the money, or is the former champ simply bored, with nothing else to do? Who knows, but let’s all hope Mosley is not thrown back in the ring in a real, actual fight. “Sugar” Shane is a modern great, and we fans who saw him do his thing in his prime wish to remember him that way.
