Exclusive Interview: 'Sugar' Shane Mosley

By G. Leon

26/10/2006

Exclusive Interview: 'Sugar' Shane Mosley

Mosley: "Floyd is saying Feb. 24 is his date, but HBO told me different!"

GL: What's the latest and greatest Shane? You've been talking about fighting on February 17. Is that still looking like your target date? "It's going to either be February 17 or February 24, but from the way things are looking it's going to be February 24."

GL: February 24 is supposed to be Floyd Mayweather Jr's PPV date come on Sugarman?

Sugar Shane Mosley: "Well according to HBO that's supposed to be my PPV date. Anything can happen though so we'll see."

GL: Mayweather is fighting Baldomir on November 4, I imagine the winner of that fight is who you want to fight the most now that you're back at 147.

SSM: "Most definitely. Regardless of who it is. You said February 24 is Mayweather's date, HBO says it's mine so I guess we're going to be having one big party on February 24."

GL: Does that mean you think Mayweather is going to beat Baldomir?

SSM: "Baldomir is a lot bigger than Mayweather, but I think Mayweather should be able to outbox him. But you never know what's going to happen. He looked very good against Zab Judah, and with Gatti, we all know how Gatti fights so I don't know if that makes any difference, but he seems to be able to carry his strength to the later rounds so we'll see how he does with Mayweather. I think Mayweather is going to outbox him."

GL: Golden Boy Promotions recently signed Diego Corrales, I understand that you were pretty intrumental in that signing. How do you feel about that acquisition and how did the deal come about?

SSM: "Basically me and my wife were very instrumental in that. Being that me and Diego are very good friends and my wife and his wife are very good friends. We're just looking out for Diego's best interest, making sure he gets what he deserves for his fights. We want him to know what he's getting before he steps into the ring. There will be no more of $1.2M purses turning into $194,000. There will be no more of that with us."

GL: Are you trying to say that he was not being treated fairly where he was?

SSM: "Well, in my opinion I don't think so. But like I said there will be no more of that with him making $1.2M and coming home with $200,000."

GL: I don't know if you've seen it, but Gary Shaw recently came on Boxingtalk and made it clear that his position is he still has Diego under contract.

SSM: "All Gary needs to do is show proof of signature and provide the contract to show what he's talking about. Let him show us a signed contract, but to our knowledge there is no signed contract so we're just looking to move forward with Diego and better his career."

GL: If you're going to be fighting in February when will you be headed to camp?

SSM: "I've been keeping myself in pretty good shape by helping out the other boxers. Ben Tackie just won his fight and I was working with him, I've also been helping out several other fighters in Big Bear. I'm not working out full blown but I'm keeping myself around the gym."

GL: What did you think about Diego's fight with Casamayor?

SSM: "I though that he won the fight. He landed the cleaner, crisper shots. Casamayor was doing a lot of pitty-pat punches and trying to get out the way, doing a lot of holding. It was a close fight, but it was a boring fight because Casamayor didn't want to make a fight of it. I think Casamayor moves around real good and it's tough to beat him, just for Diego to be able to fight him the way he did, knowing how he was feeling was pretty impressive."

GL: After the first Vernon Forrest fight your career has been one big roller coaster ride. Now that you've scored two straight stoppages over Fernando Vargas, are you feeling like the same fighter who entered the ring to face Forrest in January 2002?

SSM: "Yeah definitely. There was some mistakes I made earlier in my career, and now by me helping these fighters and semi-training I'm learning things about myself and the mistakes I made in the past and now I won't make them in the future. It feels like back in the day right now, I feel rejuvenated and I'm on top of my game. I feel really good."

GL: After looking so good against Vargas at 154, was it more difficult to want to move back down in weight than you might have anticipated?

SSM: "It was kind of tough because there's some tough competition in both weight divisions. I was kind of like stuck in the middle and I want to fight anybody from 147 to 154. I would like for my next fight to take place against Floyd Mayweather Jr on February 24 if possible. If we can't come to any terms, we'll see who's next."

GL: Does Floyd Mayweather go the distance with Shane Mosley?

SSM: "I'm thinking I'm knocking out everyone I get into the ring with. Anybody that gets in the ring with Sugar Shane is getting knocked out, you won't even have to ask me the question anymore, I'm knocking everyone out. Mayweather is an excellent fighter and he's quick and fast but so am I and I have more power, so we'll see. Floyd already knows what the deal is so it's up to him to see if he accepts or not. It's a 50-50 deal, so let's get it on. You can't call yourself pound for pound until you've beaten the best out there."

GL: Is there anything you'd like to say in closing?

SSM: "I want to thank everyone for their support. I'm staying in the gym and getting ready and I'm looking to give boxing fans some serious fireworks on February 24."

M

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