Shane Mosley Conference Call Highlights
Posted by Ramon Aranda on 10.30.2007
We spoke with three-time former world champion Sugar Shane Mosley who's in preperation for fight against Miguel Cotto.
Earlier today we had the chance to speak to Shane Mosley regarding his upcoming showdown with welterweight titlist Miguel Cotto. The two meet on November 10th at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The fight promises to be one of the most competitive fights of the year with both guys highly talented and a sure to be raucous crowd to be in attendance.
Below are the highlights of the conference call.
Also a reminder that we will be talking to Miguel Cotto on Wednesday, October 31st followed by media workouts from both fighters later in the week.
What did you learn from your two sets of losses to Forrest and Winky Wright? What have you changed if anything to put you back on the winning side of things?
How much more comfortable do you feel at welterweight? Has your body been able to comfortably handle 147 or is it tough to make weight since fighting at junior middleweight?
Do you feel your superior speed will be the key to beating Cotto?
Oscar announces that they are close to a sellout at MSG for the fight.
Jack Mosley informs the media that they have been working on uppercuts, speed, and footwork/movement. Shane is in great shape and ready to fight.
Shane is excited for the fight and he's been preparing himself very hard.
ESPN: What motivates you in this type of matchup? Shane says he wants to fight and beat the best. He wants to be involved in the fights that the fans want to see.
To keep himself fighting young, he stays working in the gym consistently so that when he's in the ring he doesn't have to work as hard. Taking time off and sparring has allowed his body to stay in shape and sharp.
Lifting weights removed some of the speed he once possessed so now that he's back down to welterweight and stopped lifting, he has regained some of that speed. Jack Mosley (Shane's dad) believes Cotto isn't as strong as Mosley regardless of public opinion.
On whether he believes this will be the wildest crowd he'll be fighting in front of given the hardcore Puerto Rican fan base in New York. He doesn't think that's the case as he also has many fans in the NY area.
Comparing Cotto and Trinidad; Trinidad was great with the fans, he was very personable, and the fans loved his personality and smile. Cotto is a little quieter but his heart, determination and fighting style has won over the PR fans.
Oscar doesn't feel he's up to that level of popularity as Trinidad has and that it has a lot to do with personality. Trinidad was very outgoing, talkative and a media darling whereas Cotto prefers to keep to himself and is very modest.
Shane realizes that Cotto will likely try to brawl with him but he knows how to box around someone with that style as he did when he fought John John Molina.
Shane ranks this fight pretty high in what it means for his career and that he feels it just shows his longevity. He wouldn't rank it quite as high as his first fight with Oscar or his first world title fight against Philip Holiday but it's a very meaningful fight for him. Shane would like to fight Floyd Mayweather before he retires, preferably after this fight.
As to why they are emphasizing power in training camp since most feel that would play into Cotto's gameplan; Jack Mosley says that they work on boxing but that Shane has natural power and not something they are specifically working on. Jack feels that he's too strong for Cotto and his experience fighting bigger guys will work to his advantage.
Shane was asked why he doesn't trash talk or hold any ill-will towards any of his opponents and he responded that boxing to him is fun. It's exciting for him to be in the ring and he loves the sport. He mentions that even when he retires, he'll be involved in the sport. He says that his son Shane Jr. is seriously considering fighting so he plans on teaching him all the fundamentals. Mentions that the only time he fought against someone where he felt anger was in his rematch with Vernon Forrest.
Shane emphasizes that he's coming in to win by knockout. For big fights like these he's not content with trying to coast and win decisions and so he will be coming in to win by KO as Cotto will probably look to do too.
Shane ends the call by promising an excellent fight and promises that he'll be victorious.
How much more comfortable do you feel at welterweight? Has your body been able to comfortably handle 147 or is it tough to make weight since fighting at junior middleweight?
