"BIG BEAR LAKE, California ? The Sept. 13 rematch between Shane Mosley and Oscar De La Hoya is being billed as 'Repeat or Redemption', and while it's a given that the Golden Boy is motivated to avenge his June 17, 2000 loss to Mosley, to many fans and boxing media the fighter who won the first fight is who is in need of redemption.
Mosley, who met with the press yesterday at his home-based gym, has not won a fight since his July 21, 2001 third-round one-punch knockout of Adrian Stone. He was twice beaten by Vernon Forrest in his only bouts of 2002, and he didn't exactly start this year with a bang, going only three awkward rounds with Raul Marquez before his junior middleweight debut was ruled a No Decision due to an accidental clash of heads.
After 38 straight victories (35 by knockout) over the first eight years of his stellar career, Mosley went 0-2-0-1 in his next three bouts. Over the course of 19 frustrating months, he fell from the mythical status as the no. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world to that of a former champion who is perhaps one loss away from becoming a stepping stone for other name fighters.
But it is because of his recent adversity in the ring that Mosley believes he is now at his peak ? physically, mentally and spiritually.
"Those two losses helped me a lot," Mosley said yesterday. "The losses to Forrest made me stronger because it let me know that I had to revert to my old style."
The old style was that of a master boxer who used speed, movement and combination punching to break down his opponents, not that of a two-fisted banger, which is what he had become after his signature win over De La Hoya with easy KO victories over Antonio Diaz, Shannon Taylor and Stone.
> "Somewhere along the way there was a decline in my style," a relaxed and confident sounding Mosley told the media. "I didn't move my head as much as I used to. I didn't tuck my chin in. I had become flat footed. These are little things, but they cost me big. So what the losses did was make me remember that I used to be known for my boxing ability rather than punching power. I really haven't changed much for this fight, I've just reverted back to my true style."
While Mosley has worked to get back to the form that he was in before their first fight, De La Hoya has worked hard in recent years to get away from the style that he feels let him down against Mosley three years ago. Since that loss, De La Hoya has defeated Arturo Gatti in an easy tune-up, Francisco Castillejo for the WBC 154-pound title, Fernando Vargas in a career-boosting grudge match that garnered him universal recognition as the junior middleweight champ, and most recently, a lucrative 'stay-busy' beatdown of Yory Boy Campas.
> In each fight, De La Hoya added more and more technique from his new trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr., from a tricky twist-block-and-counter-punch move to a busier right hand, but Mosley doesn't see an improved Golden Boy.
"I think his hand speed has slowed down and now he's doing things in the ring to compensate for that," Mosley said. "But he's still getting hit. Vargas was able to hit him a lot over the first half of their fight. I give Oscar credit for prevailing in that fight, but I think his new style is only good against guys who come right at him. I'm not going to do that.
"Honestly speaking, Oscar looked a lot better to me back in the day when he had [Roberto] Alcazar in his corner. He looked better when he had [Jesus] Rivero and Emanuel Steward training him and Alcazar helping out. I've been looking at a lot of his old tapes when he had those guys in his corner and he used to throw beautiful punches. He was bobbin' and weavin', throwing good right hands, he was using the ring well, he was a beautiful boxer."
Fight fans and the boxing press used to say the same things about Mosley. The late, great Eddie Futch once even commented that Mosley would have given Sugar Ray Robinson a good fight. But it's been at least two years since anything like that has been said or written about Mosley. Some boxing writers have even demanded that Mosley drop his "Sugar" moniker.
> Mosley says he took the rematch with De La Hoya to prove to those people ? not to himself ? that Futch was right, and that the "Sugar" nickname belongs.
"I know I am going to win this fight," Mosley said solemnly, "but it won't mean any more to me than the first fight did. It's just another win to me. This fight is more for you guys ? the media and the fans. It's to show you that I'm still a great fighter.
"My legacy is the main reason I took this fight. That's the reason I took less money. I really didn't want this fight because I felt that I was being jobbed on the money. When it's all said and done, Oscar gets $20 million and I only get $5 or 6 million. I had to justify taking this fight to myself. So I decided to do it for the fans, because they want to see a great fight, and I decided to do it for you guys [the media] because at one time you had me as the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world, an honor that has only gone to a select few fighters in history.
"I know I'm still there. I know I'm still one of the great fighters out there today because I have the heart and the skills. I know I'm going to go down in history as one of the greatest ever."
> In three and a half weeks, Mosley plans to remind us.
MOSLEY RIPPED AND READY, AS USUAL
Although he wouldn't take his tank top off for photographers, and decided to skip the open workout portion of the 'media day', it was obvious that Mosley is in great physical shape for his rematch with his friendly rival. But that's not exactly a news flash. When has Mosley NOT been ripped and ready for a fight? This is guy who had a "six-pack" when he was five years old. It's safe to say that Mosley, a notorious gym rat, has never been out of shape.
But being in great shape didn't help him out in his last three fights. So what's the difference between this camp and those camps?
"This is the toughest sparring he had since I've been with him," remarked Darrell Hudson, Mosley's strength and conditioning coach. "He needs tough sparring because that's what makes him sharp. He had good sparring for his camps for Forrest and Marquez, but it wasn't all-out gym battles like he has now.
"The sparring he's getting now is pushing him to his limit and it's letting him know how hard he can go when it's fight time."
Hudson, who has been with Team Mosley for close to two years has a point. When Mosley was at his boxing best, as the reigning IBF lightweight champ during the late '90s, he was the king of L.A.'s gym wars.
"For this fight, I'm getting back to what I used to do at the L.A. Boxing Club and the Azuza Gym," said Mosley, who is currently 160 rock-solid pounds. "I used to spar with guys like Genaro Hernandez and Zack Padilla and I had to be sharp and on my toes or I'd get beat up."
> Along with Hernandez, a former two-time 130-pound champ, and Padilla, a former WBO 140-pound titlist, Mosley used to go toe-to-toe with tough and skilled fighters like Hector Lopez, David Kamau, Hector Quiroz, Stanley Longstreet, Dwain Williams, and while he was still a teenager, the great Azumah Nelson.
For this camp, Gary Shaw, Mosley's new promoter, brought in Ishe Smith, an undefeated welterweight prospect, and Peter Manfredo Jr., an undefeated junior middleweight prospect.
"Smith is tough," said Hudson. "He's sparring hard, but he's also giving Shane angles and thinking in there. Manfredo is a middleweight, and he's very strong ? mentally and physically."
Early in the camp, Mosley got some good ring work from junior middleweight fringe contender Jason Papillion, who had to leave due to family matters. Welterweight prospect Jose Celaya is also helping out. But the bulk of Mosley's sparring is taken care of by Smith and Manfredo.
Currently, Mosley spars three to four times a week, often going 10 to 12 quality rounds.
> "I try to take him out because that's what De La Hoya's going to try to do," said Manfredo, 18-0 (8), from Providence, Rhode Island. "He wants it that way from me and Ishe and he doesn't take it easy on us, either."
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KOD
