"Sugar" Shane Mosley

If you agree with me, then you feel that not only is Shane Mosley the pound for pound best fighter in the world, but he along with Felix Trinidad are the most exciting fighters in boxing today. Shane Mosley who is 37 and 0 with 34 knockouts has been improving with every time out. Today he and I cut through all the “B.S.” and “he said she said” nonsense to discuss what's really going on in his mind.

BRC: Easy questions first, how's training coming along?

SSM: Camp's going well, I'm already sparring 12 rounds now, I feel real good.

BRC: How long have you been at camp up in Big Bear?

SSM: I'd say close to 3 weeks.

BRC: I know you like to study footage of your opponents, have you seen any on Adrian Stone and what are your thoughts?

SSM: Yes I've seen a couple of fights. I just finished watching the one against Vernon Forrest. He seems like a pretty tough fighter, he comes right at you. He should be pretty strong and durable, at least that's the way I see him. He reminds me of a bigger version of John Brown.

BRC: I remember that fight with Brown, you made him quit on his stool, so that being said if this guy is coming forward do you think you'll get him out of there?

SSM: I would think so, but you never know in fights, he might come in and try to grab and hold.

BRC: Enough of that stuff, let's get to what people really want to know. First, Vernon Forrest was quoted as saying: “I whipped his ass in the trials, so there's no reason I won't do it again.” Also, he's publicly said you're ducking him. How would like to respond to both of those statements?

SSM: Well, you know it was a long time ago, but I remember us boxing, then going to the trials because I was an alternate. What I remember is beating him up everyday in sparring sessions. Reporters and fans would come up to me thinking I was going to the Olympics and not him. Most people wondered why he was going and not me. That's what I remember. On him calling me out, I duck no one, we tried to make an offer and he turned it down.

BRC: I can't wait for you guys to fight, but I can tell you from the outside looking in, he's going to have big trouble with your hand speed.

SSM: I'm hyper-energetic anyway so the speed just comes along. It's just there, my speed is automatic, it's something I was born with. I just want to do the best I possibly can every time out and improve as well. I have been working on different moves, slipping and sliding and finally fast punching. It's important to me that I look sharp every time out.

BRC: It really seems like you're sitting down much more on your shots rather than throwing those fast flurries. I can remember the double jab and straight right combo that you landed on Taylor, that Ike Turner would have been proud of. Where did the sudden rise of power come from?

SSM: (Laughing) Did you just watch "What's Love Got To Do With It"? You see I've been sparring with a lot of bigger guys. My sparring partners are between 170-185 pounds so in order to get them off of me I've had to learn to punch a little harder. I think it's really due to the heavy work that I have been doing.

BRC: Besides the improvement with the punching power, do you feel that you have the best body attack in boxing?

SSM: I think so, but I'll say this, I felt at lightweight a better body puncher or at least I was more effective then. I still punch to the body well, against Taylor I happened to catch him with his hands up and that's all I really need to do.

BRC: You're damn right, I felt sorry for Golden Johnson and Molina because you battered their rib cages. Moving on let's talk about Oscar de la Hoya. He's been saying that now he's in the driver seat to take on the big three: you, Trinidad and Vargas on his terms. How would you like to respond to that?

SSM: After the other night I think his first mega-fight would be with me. He doesn't dictate that, I believe the fans are the ones who should dictate it.

BRC: Add to that the fact that he didn't look impressive at 154 and Trinidad looks like he feels right at home at 160 pounds.

SSM: That's true; Trinidad is looking more and more like a light heavyweight to me.

BRC: Oscar needs you as much as you need him. What are your thoughts on that statement?

SSM: Well to be honest with you, de la Hoya needs me more than I need him because I beat him already. In fact he's never beaten me, I've now beaten him twice; once when we were younger and then last June.

BRC: I had you winning at the very least 8 of the 12 rounds; I really think you won closer to 9 rounds. Can you verbalize what it was like to dominate in front of your hometown?

SSM: I wanted to show the whole world that I wasn't your average regular fighter that all these “experts” were saying that I was. For example: “Oh he's a light weight so he wont be any good as he moves up in weight” or “he's good but he's not there yet.” I got tired of hearing that. Like I told you before, I love when people doubt me it just makes me want to work that much harder and be that much better. So I wanted to make a statement: Yes I am here and yes I am the best.

BRC: You didn't feel that the de la Hoya fight was close did you? I personally thought it was a slap in the fans' faces that it was scored a split decision.

SSM: Oh no, that fight wasn't close at all! People want to see it again because he's the "Golden Boy" and maybe he just had an off night or maybe he can do something different. I'm willing to show them all again that No, it wasn't an off night, and, No, he can't do anything differently, no matter what weight he's at.

BRC: That's funny though because he said he never felt better before a fight, and even the media said he looked real good but that you looked so much better than night.

SSM: Yeah, he did look good in the fight against me, but look at his last two fights since mine. He looked horrible against both guys, (Gatti and Castillejo), compared to when he fought me.

BRC: Your next goal is to unify the welterweight division, watching "6 Heads" fight and I may get into some trouble for saying this, but it's as clear as night and day that he doesn't have the speed or chin to be able to get in the mix with you.

SSM: I think that he was trying so hard to look impressive in front of his home crowd that it backfired on him. I think you forgot to mention that I might be a little bit too strong for him just looking at his frame and the way he throws his punches.

BRC: See I've always liked that about you, you're real confident but you'll never overlook any opponent.

SSM: I can't and wont allow my self to come into a fight not at my best, you know yourself If you're going to have the nickname “Sugar” you better be good.

BRC: What would it mean for you to unify the welterweight division?

SSM: It would mean a lot to me because I never got the chance to unify the lightweight division. Everyone basically knows I'm the best fighter among the welterweights. I would love for it to be against Vernon Forrest so he can quit crying, and talking about the past. That way we can figure out who's the best welterweight out there for real. Then I'll move up to 154 pounds and get the other cry baby up there who I'm going to dictate to as de la Hoya. I'll just go along snatching belts and having fun while I do it.

BRC: (Laughing hard) Since you're talking about moving up eventually, six pounds is separating you and Trinidad from fighting. Would you like to fight him? My two cents are again the body shots would hurt Tito. I remember Pernell hurting him many times with body shots and that was an old Pernell. Would you approach him in that fashion?

SSM: I saw Vargas hurt him with some body shots. If Trinidad is still at 160 pounds may be it can happen. To me I have two fights at welterweight, (Forrest and Lewis) and two fights at 154, (de la Hoya and Vargas) and after that maybe I'll go to 160 for a mega fight with him. After that I would be looking to retire because there wouldn't be anything left to prove. Those are my goals, maybe when I'm done I'll start training and managing fighters.

BRC: Assuming you go through all those guys, will you finally feel like you've found your “Frazier” or “Hagler,” the way Ali did and the way Sugar Ray did? What I'm really trying to ask you is do you feel you'll end up like Roy Jones, in that he's so good and so talented that there really isn't a challenge for him out there?

SSM: Well no, I think with Oscar, Trinidad, and even Vargas that I have worthy challengers out there. Those are the fights that the people want to see. I think those will all be good fights and I'm hoping we can do the rematch and the little round robin thing as well.

BRC: Talk to me about "playa hating". Because it seems like Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Zab Judah have been calling you out a lot.

SSM: (Laughing) Those two are "hating" on me, aren't they? Those two guys are "haters" (Laughing). Plain and simple that's all it is, these two guys are young, and energetic and want to get up there real quick. It doesn't make sense for them to get mad at me. Those two are close to the same size maybe one day they'll fight to see who's the best to get knocked out by me. They seem reluctant to fight each other so...

BRC: Well, it's because they're friends.

SSM: (Really Laughing) Floyd's down at 130 pounds screaming that he wants to fight me and I'm at 147 pounds and looking to move up again soon, probably to 160 before I'm finished; that's like thirty pounds so I can't understand that one. Judah has had more than enough opportunities to come fight me. I told him why don’t you do what Antonio Diaz did and that was come up from 140 to 147 to fight me?. They really don’t want to do that, these guys want to scream and pump themselves up so people will think that they want to fight me. I really stopped paying attention to them and now am only concerned with the people that really want to fight me.

BRC: What's cool about what you said was when you first called Oscar out you were at lightweight and moved up 2 divisions to fight him...

SSM: Yes I did, when I first called him out they, (de la Hoya and his people) told me to come on up. Then Wilfredo Rivera was thrown at me, who was a hard fighter. Oscar's people were trying to make me second guess myself for going up by giving me a guy who fought most of his career at Jr. middle, and what did I do? I knocked him out and then Willy Wise and I dealt with him and finally I got de la Hoya. So don’t call me out and want me to come down to your weight, if you're going to call me out, come get me. Now that I'm calling Trinidad out soon I'm going to go up after him, you'll see.

BRC: Right now where do you put yourself in history?

SSM: I put myself up there with the all-time greats. I'm one of the greats in my time. This is my era and my time and I believe I'm the guy holding the torch right now.

BRC: How do you want to be remembered in boxing 20 years from now?

SSM: I want to be remembered as one of the great "Sugars". First Robinson, then Leonard and now Mosley. One of the best all around fighters, everything you could imagine in building a great fighter. Speed, power, defense, everything!

BRC: Don’t forget you ability to roll with punches, which is becoming a lost art. Where did you pick that up?

SSM: You did your homework?

BRC: Well yes, you do it a lot and someone watching at home might think your getting hit but you really are not.

SSM: I learned that from James Toney. When he was at his peek he did a great job of rolling his shoulders and coming right back with his own shots. It was hard to land a clean shot on him even when he was real close to you. James was the first guy I would spar with who would do something like that. We learned a lot from each other.

BRC: Do you feel slighted by the fans and/or the media for 1) not being more of a household name and 2) not getting the biggest venues to fight in?

SSM: I don’t blame the fans at all or the media or anybody. If it's anyone's fault it would be the promoters, a little bit, because the promoter, (Cedric Kushner), is the one who puts me in the 2,500 seat area and then ends up selling 2,800 tickets. I couldn't believe they had to turn so many people away. For Taylor I know I could have easily gotten 5,000 people to come see the fight.

BRC: You could get 5,000 people if you fought a guy at the card table...

SSM: (Laughing) As for Antonio Diaz I know we could have moved into the Garden instead of the Theater. That was first time they sold it out.

BRC: I think it was 8400 people in a 8100-seat arena.

SSM: They're selling out these places but the promotions have got to get me in bigger arenas; look at Oscar's last fight. They gave him a 18,000 seat arena and then had to cover up a third of it.

BRC: Have you ever thought about a different promoter when your contract is up?

SSM: Well, I have a contract with Cedric, which has two more fights on it but after that I can pick and choose.

BRC: The Shane we don’t know, what do you like to do with in your spare time?

SSM: I like to play basketball; I love spending time with my son and my nephews. I'm more of a family guy, I love spending time with my family. I'm extremely competitive in everything I do. That's how I've been all my life.

BRC: Shane, it's been a real pleasure again to talk boxing with you. Good luck in the future, not only on July 21st, and I'm sure all the boxing fans will enjoy reading what's really been going on.

SSM: Thanks, Aladdin, well have to do it again.

Questions? Comments or Suggestions e-mail me at Aladdin.B.Freeman@espn.com