Shane Mosley: Where's the "Sugar"?

Shane Mosley, who was once a sure fire legend, is now floating around the out most atmospheric bubble of boxing. What came of the premonitions that Mosley would be the next great “Sugar”?

Flash Back: When Shane fought for his first world title, he was less than spectacular going the distance with Philip Holiday for the IBF Lightweight Title. One of Shane’s biggest pro-active fans that night was Larry Merchant. When Larry falls in love with a fighter (Be it because of a fighter’s rock hard chest or throw back to old glory memories) he practically flounders all over them like a kid in candy store. Shane won that fight, but attributed a lackluster performance to a virus.

After a relatively short reign at lightweight, Mosley moved up to the welterweight division to take on “The Golden Boy” Oscar De La Hoya. Oscar was an opponent Shane had beaten in the amateurs so the reasoning was Shane could probably beat him again. That reasoning was spot on so, in a hotly contested battle, Shane took the WBC, IBA title from De La Hoya.

Since his win over De La Hoya, the new reasoning was Shane would be 5 times bigger than De La Hoya ever could be; a mega star among stars! Shane was supposed to be the next best thing since Sugar Ray Robinson, though IMO, that’s saying TO MUCH!!!

Flash Forward: Taking another glance at what once was thought a sure fire super star, “Sugar” Shane is far removed from any kind of glory resembling the likes of “Sugar” Ray Robinson, ‘Sugar” Ray Leonard, or even Oscar De La Hoya! Upon taking a look back on Shane’s resume, the only fighters of note that Shane beaten was “The Golden Boy”. Sure, there’s Vernon "The Viper" Forrest (Whom Shane lost to in the amateurs) and Ronald “Winky” Wright, but he lost TWICE to both fighters convincingly.

IMO, Shane tried to rise too fast in his fight career for fame and fortune. IMO, he was trying to hard to catch up too Oscar De La Hoya and surpass him for ol glory.

Though analyzing Shane today, it seems like he’s ripening as a complete fighter. With his win over "Ferocious" Fernando Vargas, Shane looks like he is finally coming into his own. He is seasoned, experienced and still possesses that shot gun speed. Contrary to popular observations, it is proven Shane does not have tremendous power in either hand, but he can rock an opponent to the body. Mosley could never get off the ground quite like his other welter/super welter predecessors De La Hoya or Felix "Tito" Trinidad.

The Glory that was prophesied about Mosley never revealed its spoken potential. Shane is a good fighter albeit, but not the prophesied “Sugar” of his name sake in legends past, not even close.

The “Sugars” of legends past knew how to get themselves out of adverse situations and pull out the win in spectacular fashion. Shane had his chance with his bouts vs. Vernon Forrest or Ronald Wright. It is to late for anybody to make any convincing debate that “Sugar” Shane can hold a candle to his name sakes. He had his chance with his past foes to make any convincing argument. It's not to late to make the most of his waning career and take on the most lucrative matches before he goes the way of the do do bird.

To sum it all up, Mosley is who he is; a pretty good fighter who deserves to be champion, but not a legend.