Shane Mosley has paid dearly for his recent decisions not to take a soft fight as respite after a tough one.
But he is ignoring that history. On Saturday, he will step into the ring against Winky Wright, a very tough customer who beat him soundly in his last outing.
Neither man has fought since that March 3 bout, and that does not bode well for Mosley.
He was unbeaten in his first 38 bouts. But in January 2002, Vernon Forrest, who had beaten him as an amateur, knocked him down twice en route to a unanimous decision.
Rather than step back and rebuild his confidence against a lesser opponent, Mosley went straight into a rematch against Forrest. He fought better but lost again.
Next Mosley picked on tough Raul Marquez, who had lost only twice in three dozen bouts. The fight was stopped after three rounds, with Marquez bleeding from an accidental head butt, and ruled no contest. His stellar career sidetracked into more than two years without a victory, Mosley accepted a rematch challenge from Oscar de la Hoya, who wanted to avenge his loss in 2000.
Mosley surprised those who had written him off based on the Forrest falls. He beat de la Hoya again in a close, hard-fought junior middleweight title bout.
He refused to follow that victory with a lesser bout. Instead, he opted to risk his title belts against Wright. After Wright beat him, Mosley stubbornly insisted he wanted no tuneup before fighting a rematch.
Mosley, whose nickname is “Sugar,” reminded his doubters that other great “Sugar” champions, Sugar Ray Robinson and Sugar Ray Leonard, “have lost, then come back to fight another day and win more big fights.”
More Top Picks What Is Vision Therapy And Who Does It Help
Wright is appreciative that Mosley enabled him to raise his profile while other big-name fighters ignored his challenges. Wright will return the favor Saturday but insists he won’t be returning the belts. Expecting Mosley to “try all kinds of new things” because his previous style didn’t work, Wright said it won’t matter “what he’s going to do. It matters what I’m going to do.”
Mosley (39-3) vs. Wright (47-3) at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas will be telecast beginning at 8:45 p.m. Saturday on HBO.
Defying the odds
Conventional boxing wisdom holds that it is wise to take at least one tuneup bout before facing a tough opponent and unwise for a top fighter to remain inactive for too long between fights.
But Felix Trinidad and Kostya Tszyu ignored those adages with spectacular results.
Absent from the ring for nearly two years because of various injuries, junior welterweight champion Tszyu showed no rust and no mercy against top contender Sharmba Mitchell, knocking him down four times before referee Raul Caiz Sr. stopped the Nov. 6 bout late in the third round.
Trinidad, meanwhile, ended 29 months of retirement when he stepped into the ring Oct. 2 against ferocious, big-punching Ricardo Mayorga.
The two middleweights slugged it out, each taking hard shots from the other, until Trinidad pounded and dropped Mayorga three times to win by eighth-round technical knockout.
Shane Mosley, take hope.
Closer to home
Two undefeated Chicago fighters will be back in action in the coming weeks.
Heavyweight Art Binkowski (13-0-1) is slated to face Charles Hatcher (15-2) on Wednesday at the Ramada Plaza Hotel in Rosemont.
Chicago welterweight David Diaz (25-0) will help inaugurate the recently remodeled Aragon Ballroom, 1106 W. Lawrence Ave., as a boxing venue Dec. 11.
Also featured on the card will be junior welterweight Al Gonzales (15-1-1), who has been training in Los Angeles alongside Mosley as the latter got ready to fight Wright.
“He’s a complete professional, and this has allowed me to see how a world champion prepares for a big fight,” Gonzales said of Mosley.
Opponents for Diaz and Gonzales have not been determined.