| Shane Mosley | |
|---|---|
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| Boxer | |
| Born | Sep. 7, 1971 Lynwood, California, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
Shane Mosley is a famous American boxer from Pomona, California. He has held world titles in three weight divisions; IBF lightweight title, lineal, WBC & WBA super welterweight titles and Lineal, WBC, WBA super & The ring light middle weight titles.
Early Years
Shane was born on September 7, 1971, in Lynwood, California. He grew up in a comfortable suburb of Pomona. As a young man, he developed a great interest in boxing. This was after watching his dad, Jack, work with professional fighters at the gym.
Amateur Career in Boxing
Shane Mosley proved a formidable fighter on the Los Angeles amateur boxing circuit. In 1989, Shane won U.S Amateur championship as a lightweight. He also claimed the silver medal in the World Junior Championships. After one year, he repeated as U.S. amateur lightweight champion. He also won the bronze medal in boxing at the Goodwill Games.
Before long, Shane Mosley moved up a weight class and won the U.S. amateur championship as lightweight in 1992. However, he fell short in his bid for the Olympics after a loss to Vernon Forrest at the 1992 game trails. Regardless of this, Shane still had very high hopes after compiling a 250 – 10 amateur record.
Professional Boxing Career
Shane Mosley fought in near obscurity early into his professional career. He got his big break when a promoter named Cedric Kushner noticed him at the age of 25. On August 2, 1997, Shane won a fight against Philip Holiday, the international boxing lightweight champion. Shane managed to overwhelm this fight with his dazzling speed and power in a series of title defenses.
After this, Shane decided to take new challenges. He moved up two levels to the welterweight class. He won twice before he earned his first major bout against the World Boxing Council champion – Oscar De La Hoya. Later, Shane Mosley defeated De La Hoya and therefore won a title in his second weight class. This cemented his reputation as boxing’s greatest pound- for-pound performer.
WBA and WBC Championships
Shane’s momentum was stopped after a pair of losses to his old enemies. However, he managed to recover when he won the WBA and WBC championships from Oscar De La Hoya on September 13, 2003. This time he won at the super welterweight level. This gave Shane Mosley titles in his third weight class and restored his place as one of boxing’s elite. However, this was diminished after suffering back-to-back losses to Winky Wright.
Other Major Fights
During this time, Shane faced several challenges. For one thing, he had to testify before a jury that he had unknowingly taken steroids. Apart from this, he divorced his wife and fired his father as his trainer. Shane managed to overcome all this by beating Fernando Vargas two times. He also dropped a weight class to topple Luis Collazo for the WBC welterweight title.
Shane regained his WBA Welterweight Championship from Antonio Margarito in January of 2009 in Los Angles. Shane came into this fight as a 4-1 underdog with bookies, mainly because Margarito had stopped Cotto only a few months earlier.
Before this fight, everybody thought Margarito would win since he appeared to be a better boxer because he was strong and Mosley was simply too old. By the end of the fight, Shane technically knocked out Antonio in the ninth round. Mosley dominated Margarito using his great speed, accuracy, and consistent body punches.
Mosley vs. Mayweather
On May 1, 2010, Shane fought the undefeated Floyd Mayweather, Jr. This fight had been predicted by boxing purists for over 10 years. During the fight, Mosley surprised Floyd with two right-hand shots in the second round. Floyd recovered and dominated the remainder of the fight and eventually defeated Mosley. On May 22, 2010, Shane was stripped of his WBA super welterweight title for not defending his title as he was required to do.
Mosley vs. Pacquiao
On May 7, 2011, Mosley lost a fight with Manny Pacquiao for the WBO Welterweight title in Las Vegas when he was knocked down in the third round. On May 5, 2012, Shane was defeated again by Saul Alvarez after 12 rounds through a unanimous decision.
Mosley’s Retirement
Shane Mosley soon retired at the age of 40 with a record of 46 wins, six losses, one draw and one no contest.
After announcing his retirement, Shane said he would devote more time to training his son. He also promoted a fight to raise money for his charity foundation. Later, Shane announced that he would be getting back to the ring.