By Ismael AbduSalaam
Mosley
Battles Mayorga on HBO 9/27
“Sugar” Shane Mosley (44-5, 37 KOs) is set to battle
wild-swinging Nicaraguan Ricardo Mayorga (29-6-1, 23 KOs) in a free bout
featuring two of the more recognizable names in the sport.
Mosley is returning to the ring after a 10 month layoff
due to a proposed May fight with Zab Judah being canceled. Despite not being in
the ring since November 2007, Shane’s stock remains strong because of his
competitive losing effort against Miguel Cotto.
For Mayorga, his appeal never rested in his pound for
pound ranking or competition, but with his off-color antics in and outside the
ring.
Since losing the undisputed welterweight title in his
first defense back in 2003, Mayorga has gone 3-2. Those fights include two
beatdowns to Felix Trinidad and Oscar De La Hoya, and an entertaining points
win over a shot Fernando Vargas last year.
Sans Vernon Forrest, Mayorga has been outclassed by
every elite fighter he’s shared the ring with. This Saturday’s fight with
Mosley should be no different, as Shane will have a marked speed and skill
advantage, not to mention an iron chin to withstand El Matador’s inevitable
haymakers.
Expect Shane to shrug off an occasional bomb and
destroy Mayorga on the inside with hooks to the body and head. Mosley’s not a
big puncher, so Mayorga should be able to hang around and give fans their
money’s worth before succumbing around the 8th round.
This is nothing more than a showcase bout so be wary of
overrating Mosley based on how fantastic he looks against such a limited
opponent.
On the undercard, rising welterweight star Andre Berto
(22-0, 19 KOs) defends his WBC crown against scrappy Steve Forbes (33-6, 9 KOs)
for the WBC welterweight title.
The light-hitting, undersized but fearless Forbes has
his work cut out for him, but showed in a losing effort against Oscar De La
Hoya in May that he can hang with a much larger and skilled opponent.
While Berto will miss a lot due to Forbes’ defensive
skill, “Two-Pound” won’t have enough pop to make his younger foe pay for his
mistakes and keep him honest.
The likely result will be a clear Berto decision win
setting up a clash with Shane Mosley for early next year.
Paul
Williams Fights Live 9/25 on Versus Network
After mopping the floor with Carlos Quintana in their
June rematch, Paul Williams faced a dilemma; every top ten welterweight refused
a fight with him.
Newly crowned champ Antonio Margarito first expressed
plans to fight Joshua Clottey in November, turning down a proposed $4 million
offer for Williams’ camp. Suddenly, Margarito then decided to take off the rest
of the year to recuperate from his war with Miguel Cotto in July.
Cotto, who was knocked out in that July bout, is still
licking his wounds and obviously wouldn’t take such a dangerous comeback fight
against the Punisher.
And unfortunately for Williams, the remaining top ten
either refused (Cintron), are tied up (Mosley, Berto), or couldn’t be booked at
such a last minute (Clottey).
So instead of waiting, Williams is making a leap to
middleweight to face fringe contender Andy Kolle (17-1, 12 KOs) this Thursday
at 9PM on the Versus network.
Harking back to the 40’s and 50’s were fighters would
fight regularly every month, Williams plans to take another, more high-profile
bout on one of the bigger networks in November. By doing this, he keeps his
name out there and builds credibility from 147 to 160 lbs.
“I’m not upset I’m not fighting a big name,” Williams
explained to maxboxing.com this past Sunday (September 21). “Bottom line is,
the guys with the big names didn’t want it. So we’re not going to sit around
and wait for them and say, okay, we’ll fight them when they’re ready. No, we’re
going to keep moving.”
Although Kolle is relatively unknown and had a decision
loss to super-middleweight contender Andre Ward back in 2006, the fight does
pose some risk.
Williams is a light hitter even at welterweight, let
alone jumping two weight classes to middleweight, where he has not fought since
2001.
Even so, the Punisher’s willingness to take the risk is
admirable, and here’s hoping more big name fighters take notice of his
initiative.
Felix
Trinidad Says Hopkins is Afraid of Rematch, Calls Out De La Hoya
Former welterweight kingpin and middleweight titlist
Felix Trinidad is once again making noise about returning to the ring in 2009.
The past prime but still popular Trinidad was easily
disposed of by equally faded Roy Jones in January, but that hasn’t stopped Tito
from issuing challenges as if we’re back in 2001.
Speaking with Spanish paper El Nuevo Dia, Trinidad
stated “I want to fight Hopkins, but he won’t give me a rematch because he is
afraid to face me. I’ll possibly have two more fights in 2009, [the second]
against Oscar De La Hoya.”
Rumbling of a rematch with De La Hoya have been ongoing
for nearly 10 years, and at this point I doubt even the mainstream public cares
much at this point.
Regarding Hopkins, it’s not crazy to believe the lower
punch output but higher foul dealing Executioner of today would beat up Tito
worse than he did in their 2001 encounter.
Since it appears Trinidad may have suffered a little
amnesia regarding that fight, here’s a reminder.
Trinidad vs. Hopkins Rounds 10-12