12.02.07 – By Geoffrey Ciani: Saturday night witnessed a battle between former champions when 35-year-old Shane Mosley squared off against 25-year-old Luis Collazo. This bout was for the interim WBC welterweight crown, which is being temporarily abandoned by Floyd Maytweather, Jr. while he pursues a career payday against Oscar De La Hoya at super-welterweight.
Mosley was coming off of back-to-back wins against Fernando Vargas in bouts that seemed to help rejuvenate his career. Despite this fact, many boxing analysts prefigured that the younger opponent would prove too much for Mosley. Aside from the ten year age difference, Mosley was also moving back down in weight. In fact, this would be only Mosley’s third bout at welterweight since July 2002, and historically speaking, fighters moving down in weight at this late stage in their careers has often proved disastrous.
The first half of the fight was mostly competitive. Mosley was the busier fighter whereas Collazo seemed to be landing the flusher shots. In part, it didn’t seem as if Mosley was fully committing to his punches, but even still, he was landing and throwing at a much higher rate. From the opening bell, Mosley was throwing fluid combinations whilst mixing in the occasional body shot for good measure. Although his combinations weren’t as precise as Mosley would’ve liked, they seemed effective nonetheless, often forcing Collazo into a defensive posture. After six, I had Mosley up 58-56, having given Collazo two rounds.
By the eighth round, Mosley was clearly in control of the bout as he began opening up more. He started committing to his punches with full force, and his combos remained fluid whilst becoming more precise. He did a fine job mixing his punches both upstairs and downstairs, and late in the fight it looked as if Collazo didn’t really want to be there as Mosley’s body attack started to take its toll on his younger foe. Mosley floored Collazo in round eleven with a short right hook that sent Collzao wobbling to the canvas. To his credit, Collazo exhibited heart and courage by rising to his feet, and he managed to make it to the final bell even though Shane appeared to be going for the knockout in the final stanza.
With victory, Mosley positions himself for many intriguing potential match-ups. With names like Miguel Cotto, Antonio Margarito, and Kermit Cintron floating around, the welterweight division has suddenly become interesting again. Furthermore, win, lose or draw, there’s a strong likelihood that Mayweather will be returning to this weight after his scheduled bout with The Golden Boy. With all of these big names fighting in the same division, there’s bound to be some great showdowns in the not-too-distant future.
Mosley looked really good. What impressed me most wasn’t that he was able to outwork and out-hustle his younger opponent (although, no doubt, this was impressive). Rather, I was more impressed with the fact that Mosley was able to maintain a high punch output fairly consistently over the entire twelve rounds, especially considering he looked tired early in the bout. Mosley still possesses outstanding speed, even at age 35, and he appears to be returning to prior form with his new dedication to combination punching.
“Sugar” Shane Mosley was once amongst the pound-for-pound greats in the sport; some even considered him to be tops in that rarified air. Clearly, Mosley is no longer that same type of elite pugilist, however, he’s still one hell of a fighter. Even at age 35, Mosley presents a tough challenge for anyone in the welterweight division, and that includes Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Although Shane is clearly in the twilight of his career, he still has enough time to enhance his legacy. What could enhance his legacy more than a win over the reigning pound-for-pound king? Especially if Mayweather beats De La Hoya?
If Mayweather does beat De La Hoya on Cinco de Mayo, don’t be surprised if we see a mega-bout between Mosley and Mayweather later this year. And if that happens, don’t be surprised when Mosley wins. At this point in time, I’d favor Mosley over any pugilist in the rejuvenated welterweight division. Having seemingly taken drink from the Fountain that long eluded Ponce de Leon, “Sugar” Shane Mosley is back!
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