Shane Mosley was given the nickname “Sugar” early in his career. A nickname that in boxing is usually designated for only the greatest of fighters to ever step into the squared circle.

Prior to Mosley, Ray Robinson and Ray Leonard were two of those men that carried the moniker “Sugar”.

Mosley, recognized for his prowess in the boxing ring has proven to be a rare fighter that possesses a combination of lightning quick hands, catlike reflexes, and power in his punches that have enabled him to defeat many of his foes since early on his career.

It was those skills that allowed him to dominate the lightweight division and storm through a welterweight class before suffering his first loss of his career almost nine years after turning pro at the hands of Vernon Forrest in January of 2002.

Since that loss, Mosley has notched seven victories, four losses and one no contest in both the welterweight and junior middleweight divisions. In September of 2003, he bested Oscar De La Hoya, for the second time, taking De La Hoya’s WBC, WBA, and IBA junior middleweight title belts.

On Saturday, January 24 live from the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, CA, HBO’s World Championship Boxing will televise Shane Mosley’s next assignment in the ring. It will be for the WBA welterweight title that is currently held by the widely regarded best 147-pound fighter in the world, Antonio “Tijuana Tornado” Margarito.

“I know the kind of guy Margarito is. He’s like a Genaro Hernandez. A pressure fighter that throws a lot of shots and tries to wear you down with volume punches. He knows what he’s doing. He learned this from his days of sparring with Hernandez, but I know too, exactly what he’s doing. I know he is going to try and walk me down with slinging his shots to the body, but hopefully he is fully prepared for what I am bringing to the table.”

What Mosley brings “to the table” this go round is a new trainer and renewed love for the combat sport.

Mosley told me that, “ with my father training me (Jack Mosley) we couldn’t focus. He would clash with me a lot on personal things and it was taking away from what we were suppose to be doing.”

“I just had to do something different. With Nazim Richardson (new trainer), he allows me to get back to the basics and work on the things that might be my weaknesses while he breaks down my opponent’s style. I love it.”

Along with a new trainer, Mosley will enter this fight with a refurbished approach to his career. He informed me that retirement is not coming anytime soon. “I’m feeling sharper than ever right now. I feel like I can go for seven more years (fighting), which I probably will do because I love fighting that much and it’s in my blood. I feel real good right now.”

“People say I should retire. I’m 37 years old, but I haven’t been this sharp in a long time and being at welterweight is real good for me and I can’t wait till this fight so I can put some work in.”

Mosley can talk about strategies and confidence, but what about Margarito’s daunted punching power? Does Mosley have enough power in his shots to keep Margarito honest? As Tyson once said, “ we all have a plan until we get hit.”

“I actually think that I hit harder than Margarito. He is a volume puncher, not a knock out puncher. He slings his shots and fires them in a relaxed form which makes the shots look harder than they are, but they really aren’t. He does not have that kind of power.”

“I shoot them straighter and I am much stronger than he is. I hit harder than he does and we are just going to have to get in the ring. I can’t wait.”

On January 24, we will see if Shane Mosley can stop Father Time from knocking on his door, by channeling his former youth to beat, decisively, a powerful, hungry, and determined champion in Antonio Margarito.

Though there are many uncertainties in boxing, one thing is not. This fight will surely be an action fight. Two fighters will enter the ring that night with a lot riding on the outcome of their clash.

Margarito, the champion, will seek to prove to the world that he is still the boss of the welterweight division thereby securing a rematch with Miguel Cotto later in the year.

Shane Mosley? He will hunt for recognition that the “Sugar” in Shane Mosley has only gotten sweeter and the best is yet to come.

john@ironboxing.com

Source: John Martinez / Photo courtesy of Tom Hogan

Category: Blogroll, Boxing
Tags: Boxing > interview > John Martinez > Shane Mosley

The new McGirt goes old school to revitalize his fluctuating career

Posted on | December 24, 2008 | No Comments

VERO BEACH, Florida (December 23, 2008) – Team McGirt has reevaluated middleweight prospect James McGirt, Jr. (19-1-1, 9 KOs) and, after considerable soul searching, has collectively decided that the 26-year-old southpaw will return to old-school training and incorporate a more aggressive attack in order to take better advantage of his hand speed, as well as to avoid his frustrating “fight to the level of his opponent” pattern.

McGirt’s somewhat up-and-down career, at least of late, found him losing for the first time on April 11 to a fighter he had out on his feet, Carlos “Baby Sugar” DeLeon (20-2-2, 12 KOs), rebounding from that with an impressive performance on ESPN to defeat former IBO and WBU middleweight champion Raymond “Hallelujah” Joval (37-4, 16 KOs) by 10-round decision last July, which moved McGirt up as high as No. 8 in The Ring’s ratings, but then fighting a disappointing 10-round draw with Marcus Upshaw (8-3) in his last fight this past November.

“I need to stop taking people lightly,” McGirt admitted. “This isn’t a joke; boxing is a serious sport. I looked past him (Upshaw) to an HBO fight in January (since scrapped). He trained for 5-6 weeks and really came to fight. I take my hat off to him. I had to lose some weight at the end that I shouldn’t have had to worry about and I paid the consequences. I am now working hard to take control of myself, mentally. Guys are coming to beat me and my father (former 2-time world champion and James’ trainer, “Buddy” McGirt). They bring their ‘A’ game. I hurt him (Upshaw) in the first round and then waited around too long, loading up for a one-punch knockout. If the fight’s easy, I get lackadaisical and go into a slump for a few rounds. Before I know it, I’m behind, and then I need to come on. I had a bad day, got a draw, and now there’s nothing to do now but learn from it and move on. I want to fight the top middleweights but, mentally, I have to be in control. It’s not like in basketball when you’re in a zone and you feel nobody can stop you. You can’t do that in boxing because punches are being thrown at your head.”

McGirt’s next fight is January 16 on ESPN2 Friday Night Fights in a 10-round co-feature against veteran Angel “Toro” Hernandez (28-7, 16 KOs) from Key West, Florida. Hernandez, who took “Winky” Wright 12 rounds in their 2003 IBF light middleweight title fight, is a former NABF title holder.

McGirt has already gotten into his old-school training regiment, working hard twice a day – in the morning and night with rest after 9 PM – and constantly coming forward in the ring towards his opponent, letting his hands go in laser-like fashion. “I’ve been on James 24/7,” his father/trainer Buddy reported from their Vero Beach training camp. “I’m an old-school guy but today a lot of fighters train 3 or 4 times a day. That’s too much wear and tear on the body for James. He’s ready at 6:45 every morning. If he’s scheduled to run, he runs even if it’s raining. No excuses. I believe in hard work, a prepared diet, and rest. It’s working. I went to his place today and he was waiting for me to go at 6:45.

“I’ve told James since he started boxing that he has three strikes against him — al three strikes are having McGirt as his last name. The fighter and his trainer want to beat James and me. They want to get at me through James. He has a lot to handle in the ring and it’s not his fault that his last name is McGirt. It is what it is. I told him he can’t fight like me. The problem is he didn’t see what I had to put into training when I was coming up. He was too young for that. But he saw what it was like when I was world champion and thought that was the way it’s like. He didn’t see all of the work that went into it.

“James’ big problem is everything in sports always came easy for him, whether it was playing basketball, baseball or football. No matter what sport he played, it came easy for him on the field or court. But you don’t play boxing. I told him after the last fight that if he wasn’t going to take it serious, he should quit and get out of boxing. Nobody’s going to give him anything. I told him to take a few weeks, not overnight, to think about it. He says he wants it and he has done everything he has to do. James needs tunnel vision. You can’t just go home from the gym and go back the next day and pick things up. You have to take it home – shadow box and practice things there, too. He needs to be dedicated and isolated. James has an opportunity to make a better life for him and his two kids. This is it from now until he retires. When he loses the edge, I’ll pull the plug.”

The pressure associated with a fighter who is the son of a popular world champion, coupled with his tremendous natural athletic ability, have made it easy yet difficult at the same time for James McGirt, Jr. The new McGirt will hopefully allow James to go back to the future and become the world title challenger he’s destined to be.

-JM-

Category: Blogroll, Boxing
Tags: Buddy McGirt > Florida > James McGirt Jr.

Fight Breaks out at Wrestling Meet

Posted on | December 22, 2008 | No Comments

Category: wrestling
Tags: fight > news > wrestling

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS A BOXING LESSON

Posted on | December 22, 2008 | No Comments

Here’s the basics of boxing for you, in a few boxes below. Sorry we didn’t have time to gift wrap it.

STANCE:

HAND WRAPS:

THE PUNCHES:

THE 1-2-3 COMBO:

Category: Blogroll, Boxing
Tags: Boxing > fighting > footwork > punches > punching > stance

Mistaking Beer Pong For Professional Wrestling Video

Posted on | December 21, 2008 | No Comments

Granpa Table Flop

Category: Blogroll, wrestling
Tags: beer pong > professional wrestling

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MIXED MARTIAL ARTS VIDEO LINKS

INSIDE MMA 12-26-08 SHOW

UFC 92 BEFORE THE BELL (FIGHT NETWORK)

“SUGAR” SHANE MOSLEY “READY TO RUMBLE” FOR SEVEN MORE YEARS

The new McGirt goes old school to revitalize his fluctuating career

Fight Breaks out at Wrestling Meet

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS A BOXING LESSON

Mistaking Beer Pong For Professional Wrestling Video

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