Shane Mosley free to play ball with Top Rank
“Sugar” Shane Mosley is free to arrange fights outside of his promotional clutches, Michael Marley of the Boxing Examiner reports.
The man who once made “The Golden Boy” Oscar De la Hoya look pale in the ring has apparently earned contractual freedom, a reality that has rival promoter Bob Arum salivating at the mouth.
“Mosley is operating independently of Golden Boy,” Arum told Marley recently. “Mosley told me it's up to him who he fights now, it's his decision.”
That’s good news for Arum, the chief of Top Rank, because it means he can finally lock Mosley in for a lucrative fight with superstar Manny Pacquiao among others.
Of late legal and other disputes have halted fight negotiations between Golden Boy and Top Rank, despite the fact they are the two biggest promoters in the business today.
That meant Arum had virtually no access to Mosley, who has proven a huge draw in boxing.
The result has been that Golden Boy fighters and Top Rank fighters have been forced to systematically avoid each other and fight competition in their own stables or with smaller promoters.
The stalemate has become a huge impediment to pitting the best against the best, presumably the ultimate objective of professional boxing.
Mosley is coming off a less than spectacular HBO pay-pay-view appearance against former Contender reality TV show star, Sergio Mora. Mora, who had earned his ranking following a few celebrated fights with the late Vernon Forrest, fought Mosley to a draw.
Most everyone criticized the fighters afterwards for a lack of performance, with most of the burden coming down on Mora for seeming totally unwilling to trade with Mosley.
Mosley rose to boxing fame when he beat De la Hoya in 2000. The match was named fight of the year, and was widely acclaimed by most insiders. Since then Mosley has successfully won and defended a slew of titles in the welterweight and junior middleweight
division.
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