The first thing Hall of Fame player Shane Mosley does is make sure he’s okay and conscious.
He is 53 years old, has some wrinkles in the corners of his eyes and is a new grandfather. Although he last fought professionally eight years ago, his 60 fights and 23-year career filled with bumps, bruises and blood have left a legacy of an aching body and creaking joints. Mosley declares that what cannot be rejected is the warrior within – an innate impulse that is still very much a part of him and grows stronger with the same vitality as at his peak.
This will never go away, he says. He needs it like food.
So, after landing on a damp runway at Philadelphia International Airport from San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Thursday, Mosley quickly acclimatized to the city and headed to Harrah’s Philadelphia Casino and Racetrack. There, on Saturday night, he will put on his boxing gloves again in a demonstration of four two-minute rounds against a man named Bob Kofroth, owner and trainer of Elite Edge Boxing in Malvern, as part of a celebrity boxing event promoted by Damon Feldman.
Mosley, whose record of 49-10-1 and 41 knockouts earned him first-ballot induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2020, is simply dipping his toes into the waters of the exhibition circuit with this first move. He was one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world for a decade and was a former three-division world champion (lightweight, welterweight and junior middleweight). He defeated Hall of Famer Oscar De La Hoya twice, shocked Floyd Mayweather for the first time in his career in a May 2010 fight, and four of his 10 losses came against Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Miguel Cotto and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez .
It made me want to ask the question: why do this?
“Because I’m a fighter and it’s a part of you that never goes away,” said Mosley, who recently moved from his native California to San Juan. “I know people might be worried about me. Everything’s all right. Listen, I work in the ring with my son, [Shane Mosley Jr., who just had a big victory over former world champion Danny Jacobs]and I appreciate that people care about my health, but I’m fine. This is the first of many [exhibitions] For me. I hope to get in the ring with Manny Pacquiao soon and we’re talking to Mayweather, Conor McGregor and all of them.
“I feel great. I feel amazing. I want to show people where I am. This is just an exhibition, the next one will be in Temecula, California in November against someone to be determined.
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Mosley readily admits he’s not the same fighter he once was, but says he’s still in the ring several days a week – and he still has something in his fists.
“I train with kids in Puerto Rico. I still spar six to eight rounds with all the top fighters on Tuesdays, Thursdays and some Fridays. I want to help the new generation of fighters coming up improve their boxing fitness and, more importantly, their boxing mind. I know I’m not as smart or as fast as I used to be. I don’t want to get hurt. I think people may look at my age, but I can still fight. Like I said, fighting is part of you. It never goes away.”
Mosley is the latest in a trend in which retired all-time champions seek to keep their brand alive with exhibition fights. Mayweather has been doing this for years, with varying degrees of success. On November 15 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, home of the Dallas Cowboys, former world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, now 58, will face 27-year-old Jake Paul, a YouTube sensation turned professional skill boxer at club level in 10 two-minute rounds broadcast worldwide exclusively on Netflix.
But even at the age of 53, if someone like Shane Mosley or Mike Tyson punched a normal person, it could seriously injure them.
That is why – Mosley emphasizes – this is an exhibition organized on a Saturday evening; nothing real.
“I want to put on a show”
Today’s boxing is a ruined sport in a ruined state in the U.S. Daniel Dubois-Anthony Joshua’s IBF heavyweight world championship fight last Saturday in London attracted a record 96,000 fans to Wembley Stadium. What was supposed to be a blowout (in Joshua’s favor) was actually an exciting fight, with the underdog Dubois upsetting the underdog Joshua by fifth-round knockout. No one in the American sports media seemed to notice or care. Why should they? Saturday afternoons in the US are reserved for the biggest college football games.
What has ironically captured the attention of mainstream sports audiences in the U.S. is Tyson’s upcoming – and sanctioned – fight with Paul.
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Mosley has a unique perspective. He has worked with Paul for some time and knows Tyson very well.
“If Mike really hits Jake, Mike can really hurt Jake, and I know what Mike can do and what Jake can do,” Mosley said. “I don’t think Jake really understands how hard Mike can hit. Mike is 58 years old, but these are two-minute rounds and all the fighters are proud. I don’t think Mike will go there to lose to Jake Paul. Jake thinks he can shoot. In the first five or six rounds and what makes it so funny is that Mike Tyson’s punch is dangerous, very dangerous. Jake will have to tire Mike out.
“Jake will have to understand what blows he will face. People need to understand that a bar fight between two guys is one thing, a professional fighter, especially a former world champion, regardless of age, is still a very dangerous person who can get seriously hurt. I don’t know how long they will be able to hurt you [laughs]but these are blows from people who have been throwing blows all their lives.”
And that’s why Mosley says that despite his age, he will refrain from fighting Kofroth this weekend.
“My intention is to have fun on Saturday night. I want to put on a show. I want to see and greet the fans. But I’ll hold back a bit. I don’t want to hurt anyone. I would never want to do that.”
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