Shane Mosley has had some time to ponder his future after dropping a one-sided unanimous decision to Floyd Mayweather Jr. on May 1 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Many people believed that Mosley, 38, was finished as a fighter after his loss to Mayweather Jr., who dominated the fight despite being hurt in the second round and won 11 of the 12 rounds. After all, Mosley (46-6, 39 KOs) had accomplished everything that a fighter could dream of doing in the boxing – why stick around and continue to go through the torture of training and the danger of fights?
However, Mosley’s career is apparently far from over, according to his promoter. Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer told BoxingScene.com on Thursday that the thought of retiring hadn’t crossed Mosley’s mind since he lost to Mayweather Jr. Instead, Mosley is already thinking about his next fight and has is considering several possible opponents for his next appearance in the ring.
One name that has been mentioned is current WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto. The 26-year-old Berto (26-0, 20 KOs) was originally scheduled to face Mosley earlier this year; however, Berto lost several close family members in the massive earthquake that ravaged Haiti in January, forcing the fight to be postponed. With Berto having defended his title against Carlos Quintana on April 10, getting him together with Mosley before the end of the year would make a lot of sense.
Several other fighters have thrown their hats into the proverbial ring and requested fights with Mosley. One of the names mentioned is current WBO junior welterweight champion Timothy Bradley (25-0, 11 KOs), who would apparently be willing to step up to welterweight in order for a shot at a PPV date against Mosley. Another top fighter who has recently mentioned being interested in a fight against Mosley is Argentine champion Sergio Martinez. However, Martinez made the decision to drop his junior middleweight title in order to continue to defend his recently-won WBC middleweight crown, making it unlikely that he would be a contender to face Mosley.
Schaefer said that he recently spoke to Mosley along with Mosley’s attorney Judd Burstein, who both indicated that Mosley was ready to continue fighting and would like to get back into the ring this fall against a top opponent. Schaefer said that Mosley has “never been the type of guy” to duck tough opponents and that he wouldn’t start now.
Along with a possible rescheduling of the fight against Berto, Schaefer said that Mosley has also mentioned a potentially intriguing opponent for his next fight: current WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto (35-2, 28 KOs), who won the crown with a bizarre ninth round TKO over Yuri Foreman at Yankee Stadium earlier in the month. It would be a rematch of one of the few blemishes on Mosley’s record – he dropped a close unanimous decision to Cotto in November 2007 in Las Vegas in a challenge for Cotto’s WBA welterweight title.
Another possible rematch could come in a date with Antonio Margarito, whom Mosley upset in January 2009 with a ninth round stoppage. Margarito returned to the ring in May with a 10-round unanimous decision victory over Roberto Garcia in Aguascalientes, Mexico. It was Margarito’s first fight after serving a one-year suspension for wearing hand wraps that had been tampered with during his bout against Mosley.
Like many fighters, it appears that Mosley doesn’t want his last fight to be an embarrassing loss; on the surface, it would appear that Cotto would be the most attractive option for Mosley as a next opponent – he would have the chance to avenge a defeat, and Cotto is back as a major draw. It also would probably be the most favorable fight in terms of giving Mosley a victory that could – perhaps – cap his brilliant career.
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