"Sugar" Shane Mosley

If you ask a veteran trainer what he would rather bring into a championship fight, speed or power, they would tell you ten out of ten times "Speed is Power". "Sugar" Shane Mosley definitely proved that quote to be a fact. Shane Mosley started boxing at a young age and was so fast and skilled you would hear experts say, "The fastest amateur boxer in America" or you would hear comparisons to all-time great "Sugar" Ray Robinson and "Sugar" Ray Leonard. Mosley also defeated future champions in Stevie Johnston and the first six time champion of all time in Oscar De La Hoya (in the amateurs he defeated them though he did defeat "The Golden Boy" twice in the pros). After a disappointing loss to another future titleholder in Vernon "The Viper" Forrest in the Olympic Trials young Mosley turned to the Professional Ranks. Mosley demolished his first twenty three opponents (22 of those opponents didn't go the distance) before entering a fight with fierce South African titleholder Philip "No Deal" Holiday who was also going into the fight with an unblemished record. Shane Mosley's speed carried the day in his first title shot winning a unanimous decision and becoming a major force in the lightweight division. Shane also won all of his title defenses by knockout against all top contenders and former champions (Shane beat two respected fighters in Juan Molina and James Leija in his dominant reign). After his eighth round stoppage of John Brown, Mosley relinquished the IBF prize to move up to welterweight for the money. After stopping the likes of Wilfredo Rivera and Willy Wise, Mosley was headed towards boxing's Golden Boy, Oscar De La Hoya. The fight was the biggest fight in Los Angles and was the biggest fight of Shane's career. On Oscar's part, this fight would decide if he would still be a major player in boxing after the loss to Felix Trinidad. After "The Golden Boy" won the majority of the first six rounds, Mosley came on winning rounds 7, 8, and 9 and closing the show big time with his championship round domination of De La Hoya especially in the heated12th. When Ring Announcer Michael Buffer withdrew the suspense by reading the scores, Mosley was the new welterweight champion of the world! Mosley also won the accolades of respect from all of the skeptics questioning Shane's ability at welterweight. Shane would make three defenses of his title (three by knockout) before taking on amateur rival Vernon Forrest. Forrest came into the bout with an unblemished record also but most importantly, he came into Madison Square Garden with an amateur victory over "Sugar" Shane. After Mosley stunned "The Viper" with a crisp right cross in the closing moments of the first, Mosley was caught with a howitzer right hand midway through the second that staggered the pound for pound king. A follow-up barrage put Mosley down for the first time in his career. Mosley spent the rest of the fight moving and holding and lost a lopsided unanimous decision to Forrest. The rematch was held in Indianapolis with the same thing happening as in the first bout except the rematch consisted of no knockdowns. Looking for a De La Hoya rematch to redeem himself from the two embarrassments versus Forrest, Mosley got his wish and the fight was scheduled in MGM Grand September 13th. After again losing the majority of the rounds in first half, Mosley displayed excellent body work in the ninth and rallied in the closing rounds against a tired Oscar De La Hoya to secure a disputed unanimous decision. After, Mosley decided to take on long-avoided Ronald "Winky" Wright on HBO Sports, March 13th. Mosley tried his aggression early and was countered with the jab all night in a humiliating loss to Wright. Mosley tried his luck with "Winky" again later that year to prove Ronald's first victory was a fluke. Mosley fought a lot better under the tutelage of veteran trainer Joe Goosen but again succumbed to Wright losing a close Majority decision. Mosley, at that point in his career looked to be at the end of the road. In his return fight in early 2005, Mosley moved down in weight to face tough David Estrada on ESPN PPV. Mosley prevailed by a ten round decision but failed to impress enough for him to move towards another title shot. Mosley in his next fight took on undefeated Jose Luis Cruz on the co-feature of a HBO PPV show. Mosley again failed to impress failing to stop his anonymous foe but still winning another ten round decision. In Mosley's most recent affair, he faced another seemingly over the hill fighter in "Once Ferocious" Fernando Vargas. As it turned out both fighters brought their A-game but it was Mosley who prevailed when Vargas's left eye swelled up grotesquely prompting veteran referee Joe Cortez to stop the fight in Mosley's favor. Another, more impressive victory versus Vargas has raised Mosley's superstar status.  Has also beaten tricky southpaw Luis Collazo to put himself in line for an almost certain title shot.