by Geoffrey Ciani (Interviewed by Jenna J & Geoffrey Ciani) – Last week’s 119th edition of On the Ropes Boxing Radio (brought to you by CWH Promotions) featured an exclusive interview with former three division champion Sugar Shane Mosley (46-6-1, 39 KOs) who is scheduled to face the reigning Pound-for-Pound King Manny Pacquiao (52-3-2, 38 Kos) on May 7 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Shane spoke about his upcoming fight and also touched on other aspects of the current boxing landscape. Here is a complete transcript of that interview:
JENNA J: It is time for our third guest of this week’s show. He is a former three division champion making his seventh appearance with On the Ropes. We’re joined by Sugar Shane Mosley. How are you doing today Shane?
SHANE MOSLEY: I’m doing good. I’m feeling really great about a hard workout I had this morning and I’m doing good.
JENNA: Well we definitely like to hear that. Now you have a big fight against Manny Pacquiao coming up on May 7. How have your preparations been going so far?
MOSLEY: Preparations have been going very well. Like I said I’m training hard. I’m very sore and I’m anxious to get in there and have the fight.
JENNA: Alright now who are you sparring with to prepare for someone like Manny Pacquiao’s style?
MOSLEY: I have a lot of different sparring partners that Brother Nazim brings in and that come at me at different times. I mean have “Chop Chop” is down there, and Ricardo Williams, and Terrance Cauthen. There are a lot sparring partners.
JENNA: Okay, now when you get into the ring with Manny Pacquiao he will most likely be the fastest fighter you’ve ever faced. What are you doing in camp to adjust to someone fighting with his speed?
MOSLEY: Well I don’t know if he’s going to be the fastest that I fought, but he’s going to be very active and he’s going to be pretty much the smallest guy I fought in a long time so that will be great.
JENNA: Alright well the boxing bookies have you as a significant underdog in this bout and it’s probably the most you’ve ever been counted out in any fight you’ve had in your career. How do you feel about that going into this one?
MOSLEY: I feel great! I feel great that they doubt me and they feel that way. That only makes the victory that much greater.
JENNA: Okay, well we’re also joined by my Co-Host Geoff.
GEOFFREY CIANI: Hey Shane! It’s a pleasure to have you back on the show.
MOSLEY: Thank you. Thank you for having me.
CIANI: Shane I wanted to ask you, at the time when Pacquiao did what you did and he skipped over the 140 pound weight class to jump from 135 to 147 to have a mega fight with Oscar De La Hoya, before Pacquiao made that jump did you think he had a chance against Oscar?
MOSLEY: Yeah, I did think he had a chance and knowing what Oscar went through to make the weight at 147 and how weak he was, I figured that Pacquiao had a good chance at beating him.
CIANI: Now were you surprised by the way that he beat him at that time when he first made the jump?
MOSLEY: No, not really. It wasn’t really that I was surprised. It was more that I had seen what Oscar had to do to get to where he had to go. When he was in the ring, talking to Oscar, he said he had nothing. After two rounds he had nothing. He had seen everything but he just couldn’t do anything and that was because he was so weak and I understood that.
CIANI: When we had Ronnie Shields, Emanuel Steward, and a few others on the show, they all mentioned that you matchup much more favorably style-wise against Pacquiao than you did against somebody like Mayweather or even Mora. Do you view that the same way?
MOSLEY: Well Sergio Mora is more of a big guy. He’s really a 160 pounder and I was just a 147 pound guy fighting him. With Mayweather I had some difficulties but I was able to hit him on the chin a couple of times and get him riled up. Stylistically I can probably agree with Ronnie Shields and others.
JENNA: Alright now Shane, some people feel like you look drained in your fight with Floyd Mayweather Junior like having to make the weight of 147 took a little bit out of you. Your last fight was at 154 pounds. How do you think you’ll react to getting down to the weight this time?
MOSLEY: Well I’m pretty much there already so hopefully I’ll be good. I’m already around the weight. I’m in striking distance.
JENNA: Shane, this fight with Manny Pacquiao is going to be part of a reality show “Fight Camp 360”. What is it like to have every moment of your training camp filmed and do you at all worry that certain things that you don’t want out there will get out there.
MOSLEY: They’re around you a lot and they stick the camera right in your face. You just kind of go into your own shell and just do what you got to do and say what you got to say. I don’t really taper the words that I’m saying too much. I just kind of go with the flow and work hard.
JENNA: Well for this promotion it’s actually going to be broadcast on CBS and you’re going to get out to probably the largest audience that you’ve ever been out to. How do you feel about that and the transition to regular television?
MOSLEY: I mean that’s wonderful. For people to be able to reach us that don’t really watch boxing as much is going to be great. I mean I like it and maybe it’s going to show on the pay-per-view numbers as well. That In turn translates into more dollars in my pocket, so I am definitely happy about that.
JENNA: Alright well back to your fight with Manny Pacquiao, every fighter they say has a weakness. When you look at Manny Pacquiao what things do you think you can exploit in the ring?
MOSLEY: He’s going to throw a lot of punches and he’s going to be on his toes. He’s going to be moving and he’s going to try and create angles and stuff like that and try to keep me off balance. He does a lot of great things. Pacquiao’s not the hardest person to hit so I’m going to have a pretty good advantage with being able to hit him. I think it’s going to be an exciting fight because both me and Manny like to fight. We both fight hard and we come to fight.
JENNA: Shane do you think your best chance in this fight is if you can somehow drag Manny Pacquiao into a dogfight?
MOSLEY: Yeah I think that the thing is to be smart about the way I throw punches and what I’m doing. I think it was proven with Marquez and the two other guys that fought him smart. They were able to land good shots. I think with my size it’s going to help me a lot because I’m a lot faster than the guys that he’s fought and my timing is probably a little better than theirs, especially Margarito’s and being that Magrarito was able to hit him a few times I think that I have a better chance of hitting him a lot on the button.
CIANI: When we had Freddie Roach on the show he said that he thought the first four rounds of the fight were going to be crucial and that you were going come out for a quick start, but he seemed to insinuate that if he you didn’t get Pacquiao out of there in the first four rounds that it almost seemed he thought they would coast. If that is indeed their mentality going into this do you think they’re making a mistake?
MOSLEY: Well if that is there mentality they are. Usually it’s been shown in my other fights that I can continue fighting at a high tempo. I even knocked out Mayorga and I always got late knockouts. That could be a mistake. Even with Margarito that was a late knockout. I had to pound him from round to round before I got the knockout so I do have my power in the late stages of a fight as well. He just has to be careful, that’s all.
CIANI: A win over Pacquiao can potentially change your life. What do you think it could do for your legacy at this point?
MOSLEY: I think it’s great for my legacy. Beating a guy like Manny Pacquiao when nobody gives me a chance, that will be one for the history books. Also we just started my own promotional company, Sugar Shane Mosley Promotions that’s going to help as well to recruit young talented fighters to come workout because we all know I can’t do this forever so I might as well help the young talent to come up and do the same thing I had done.
JENNA: If you do win this bout and Manny Pacquiao does not want to do a rematch, a fight that everybody would want to see in boxing would be a fight between you and Sergio Martinez. Do you think that you will be able to go up to middleweight and fight him if you are to win this bout?
MOSLEY: No, I wouldn’t go up to middleweight to face Sergio Martinez because he’s too big. 154 pounds I can get away with where I’m not as strong or whatever, but my body frame is not big enough for that. If Manny Pacquiao doesn’t want to fight maybe I can get a rematch with Mayweather.
JENNA: Okay you say you want a rematch with Mayweather. What do you think you could do differently that would change the result?
MOSLEY: I think that there were little personal problems that I had before that Floyd Mayweather match that kind of drained me a little bit. But I think with this, with me being at my top, I believe when I hit Mayweather again I can maintain the same power and strength that I had throughout the whole fight. So that would be the difference. Rocking Mayweather and then being able to rock him again in the later rounds would be the difference and possibly able to knock him out.
JENNA: Well Shane, I just have a couple of more questions before we let you off the line and I’m curious to get your thoughts on the rematch that’s going to take place in the same month as your fight with Manny Pacquiao, and that’s between Bernard Hopkins and Jean Pascal. I don’t know if you saw the press conference, but what do you think about the feelings both guys have now about each other and how do you see the rematch playing out?
MOSLEY: Well it’s obvious that Bernard has gotten in Pascal’s head. Pascal mentally is feeling that. I think that when they fought the first time Pascal was thinking, “I’m stronger, I’m younger, and I can beat this old man”. Then he found out that wasn’t the case, that Bernard really wasn’t old. The age is really not that age because he keeps his body in shape and now Pascal knows that it’s going to be a different fight this time with Bernard. He knows that Bernard is coming to get him.
JENNA: People say the same thing about you that you have aged pretty well as a fighter. You’ve been able to fight effectively at the age of 39. Do you think you could ever fight as long as Bernard Hopkins has?
MOSLEY: You know I don’t think I would want to fight that long. I think I could, but I don’t think I would want to. I think that I want to go off into another career after I finish what’s done here. I have to give it my 100% all, give it everything I got, beat Pacquiao, we can do a rematch, fight Mayweather, and I think that’s pretty much it for me. Then I will go off and I will stop helping these young fighters become world champions and get into another side of the business.
JENNA: One thing that’s for sure in boxing is victory is never guaranteed. What happens if you are unable to beat Manny Pacquiao? Where do you from there?
MOSLEY: If we get over there on that side of the bridge we’ll think about it and talk about it. I always have winning in my mind and I eliminate the doubt, starve the doubt, and go for what I know and that’s the win, the victory. That’s the only thing that’s in my mind is winning the fight because if I didn’t think that way and I didn’t train that way then there’s no need to fight.
JENNA: Okay well you have winning on the mind. What is your official prediction against Manny Pacquiao when you face off May 7?
MOSLEY: You know I always go for the knockout so I’m going for the knockout. I’m going to be at my best and train hard and make sure that when I fight Manny Pacquiao it’s going to be a night that nobody is going to forget.
JENNA: Okay well Shane usually I ask a fighter what they want to say to their fans, but instead of that I’d like for you to answer your critics. Is there anything you want to say to your critics out there that believe you have no chance in this fight?
MOSLEY: I mean I have nothing to say to the critics. I mean they’re critics and that’s what they get paid to do. I just feel like I know that I’m going to be at my best and don’t be shocked if you see Manny Pacquiao on the floor.
JENNA: For my final question, is there anything you do want to say to your fans and supporters, the ones that believe you will win this fight?
MOSLEY: I just thank God that I have terrific fans and people that love me and admire me and admire my career and everything that I’m doing. Thank you for being loyal fans and thank you for being boxing fans and loving the sport of boxing because that’s what I love, I love the sport of boxing.
JENNA: Shane it’s been great as always speaking with you. We wish you all the best in your upcoming fight against Manny Pacquiao and we’re looking forward to a good fight.
MOSLEY: Thank you, you too.
CIANI: Thank you Shane. Good luck.
MOSLEY” Alright, bye bye. Thank you.
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For those interested in listening to the Shane Mosley interview in its entirety, it begins approximately one hour and eighteen minutes into the the program.
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