“Sugar” Shane Mosley’s sweet reputation as a gladiator took a severe hit this week as a video broke indicating that Mosley was demoralized and contemplated quitting against Pacquaio. The video shows Mosley asking his trainer, Nazim Richardson, about stopping the fight and Richardson talking his man into staying in the fight and sticking it out.
Pacman’s combination of speed and ferocity is a daunting prospect, so much so that it had already compelled Oscar de la Hoya to quit and virtually shut down opponents like Joshua Clottey and Antonio Margarito. What makes this revelation so shocking is Mosley’s history as a never-say-die warrior. After all, this is the man whose pride and determination to master the best fighters in the world led him to seek ill-advised, immediate rematches with both Vernon Forrest and Winky Wright. Even after his poor showing against Floyd Mayweather, the conventional wisdom in the boxing community was the one thing they could expect from Shane Mosley was that he would never stop trying. That he was in such a state against Pacquiao and even vocalized it is a shock.
Shane Mosley is 39 years old, and in the wake of his failed effort against Pacquiao, many pundits were asking “what next for the Sweet One?” With this most recent revelation, I think the answer should be clear, and it isn’t Bernard Hopkins’ maxim that “age is just a number.” Oscar de la Hoya quit against Pacquiao out of a sense of frustration; Mosley seems to have wanted to quit out of despair. While Mosley himself and other pundits could rationalize that most of the top fighters at 147 and 154 lbs are nowhere near the level of Pacman or Pretty Boy, what would the Sugarman gain by hanging around and duking it out with the second tier of the sport past a few modest paydays? Mosley knows what happened in the ring against Pacquaio, so he should know the time has come to retire.
