By Vitali Shaposhnikov: “Shane went out like a coward. He has nothing left. It was embarrassing,” said James Toney (73-6-3) in a recent interview (http://www.fighthype.com/pages/content9903.html).
There is little doubt that a lot of people share Toney’s opinion on the way Shane Mosley (46-7-1) showed up to his fight against Manny Pacquiao (53-3-0), but I am not one of those people. I am well aware that after the knockdown Mosley went into a purely defensive mode, trying to survive until the end of the fight. When Mosley did decide to throw something at Pacquiao, it was instantly answered with a barrage of quick and powerful counter punches.
Instead of trying to be cowboy and risk it all, Mosley did the smart thing in recognizing that Pacquiao was simply too much for him, and poses a real threat to Mosley’s well being. Taking punishment knowing that you are unable to give some back is ignorant, and is asking for trouble. Boxing has the potential to do anything to one’s body, and allowing that to happen without a good risk-benefit ratio is irrational.
It really irks me when someone like Toney calls a warrior such as Mosley, a coward. Toney used to be a tremendous and exciting fighter; he was the whole package back in the day. Lately, he is failure to his own name as well as his fans. His fights are boring, insignificant, and generally a waste of time. Sure he knows how to self promote, but without backing up his words, they slowly lose any ground and become an annoying background chatter.
Mosley, despite being of age, has been able to get top notch fights. Toney on the other hand, has been bottom-feeding for a long time, only hoping to catch a bigger fish via getting inside their heads with his trash talking. This goes to show that before the Pacquiao fight, most of the boxing community still had hope and respect for Mosley and his will to fight. Some actually picked Mosey to beat Pacquiao, displaying their trust in the seasoned veteran. Toney lost every single one of those people who could give him the benefit of the doubt, thus by talking trash about Mosley he is only showing himself in a more negative light.
Shame on you James Toney, show some respect!