Earlier this month, Sugar Shane Mosley celebrated his 39th birthday. At an age when most fighters are slowly adjusting to life after boxing, Mosley is looking to climb the ladder again after a high-profile loss to Floyd Mayweather back in May. Standing in front of him is a bigger, slick boxer in Sergio Mora, who has his own aspirations of stardom. The fight is a huge gamble, and another example from Mosley’s career that he will face anyone regardless of the style matchup.  

Several questions remain unanswered from the Mayweather fight. Was it simply an off-night to a defensive wizard, or has Father Time caught up with Mosley? Can junior middleweight rejuvenate him, or will the young guns there close the book on him? Does he go after the Pacquiao-Margarito winner or a Miguel Cotto rematch after Mora? Whatever he decides, Shane Mosley has one message for the fans.

Don’t count him out just yet.

AllHipHop.com: You’re still a name fighter even after the Mayweather loss. What made you go with Sergio Mora instead of shooting for one of the belt holders at 154?

Mosley: I think he’s fought a lot of solid guys, and he’s coming down from 160 to 154. He’s from LA, and that’ll help to bring in a lot of fans from the California area to the Staples Center. We’re both hometown guys so it’s going to be a very exciting fight.

AllHipHop.com: This isn’t your first time at junior middleweight, but you had moved back down to welterweight a few years ago to get some of the bigger names. When you did that, you said you needed a few fights to adjust. How has your body adjusted to being back up at a higher weight?

Mosley: I think I feel more comfortable now compared to 154. I don’t really have to make the weight. I feel real sharp right now and ready to go.

AllHipHop.com: Will you be jumping back and forth between 147 and 154?

Mosley: I think I can still get to 147 if I wanted to. If there are fights I need to take there I’ll do it. Right now my body limit is between 147 and 154.

AllHipHop.com: After the Mayweather fight you mentioned that you had experienced neck problems during the fight. Was that due to the jabs you were taking from Mayweather or another problem that had to be addressed afterward?

Mosley: Well, it was right up in my neck during the fight. When I looked up in the fourth or fifth round, I was just tight. The jabs didn’t do it, and it unfortunately happened after I hit him with good shots in the second round. It is what it is.

AllHipHop.com: Overall, how would you assess Mayweather’s physical strength and his style in the ring now that you’ve faced him?

Mosley: Mayweather had decent power but it wasn’t like “whoa, this guy can hit.” His ability to move is really good. It just wasn’t my night. But if we fought again, we could assess a little better. There were a lot of things I couldn’t do, and he was just better that night.

AllHipHop.com: If you did get a rematch I’m assuming you’d want it at 154?

Mosley: 147 or 154, it doesn’t matter. I’m even good in the middle at 150.

AllHipHop.com: Strategy-wise, has it been easier preparing for Mora?

Mosley: With Mora he gives more angles. He switches between right-handed and southpaw, so it’s a little different. It’s a little hard to prepare for someone whose style is kind of crazy. But I’m doing pretty good.

AllHipHop.com: The junior middleweight division is getting strong with Pacquiao, Margarito, Miguel Cotto and Paul Williams. Assess the landscape of the division from your perspective.

Mosley: A lot of guys are moving from ’47 to ’54. Overall I’d say it’s one of the best divisions in the sport.

AllHipHop.com: If you win, would you be ready to go right after one of the champions?

Mosley: Yes, I think I can go at one of the world champions right now! But I would have had to sit on the sidelines and I’d rather not wait again. Sergio Mora was the best opportunity right now.

AllHipHop.com: Speaking of sitting on the sidelines, much of that was out of your control like the Haiti earthquake canceling the Berto fight. Being that you’ve just turned 39, how active do you want to be going forward?

Mosley: Next if I can get in the ring soon with the Pacquiao-Margarito winner or a Cotto rematch that would be great.

AllHipHop.com: You weren’t able to get Pacquiao in 2009, but you did face Margarito. How do you see their matchup going?

Mosley: I think Pacquiao comes out on top because he throws a lot of punches and he’s accurate. Margarito is definitely a tough fighter. He’s throws a lot of punches and he’s consistent. Styles make fights and it’ll look completely different from when I fought him.

AllHipHop.com: Golden Boy has been stacking the undercard recently for their PPV fights. Is there anyone you’re looking forward to seeing as a fan?

Mosley: I definitely want to see how Victor Ortiz and Saul Alvarez do as young guys. They are hot prospects coming up. Daniel Ponce de Leon is a good puncher. The undercard will be real exciting.

AllHipHop.com: Victor Ortiz mentioned you as someone that gave him good encouragement after he was upset by Marcos Maidana last year. Do you remember what you said to him?

Mosley: I told him those kinds of things can happen when you’ve fought a lot of fights. But you just got to come back. With that fight all kinds of different things were going through his head. I told him to go home; figure things out and then say what you have to say [to media and fans]. I think he did that and here he is back to fighting.

AllHipHop.com: After such a great career, what is your motivation to keep fighting?

Mosley: Well, I love to fight. I love to do it and I’m in great shape to do it and keep beating these guys. There’s still great fights out there for me, so why not go out there and fight them?

AllHipHop.com: Do you think fans have too much information about the contract issues like what happened with Haye and the Klitschkos and Mayweather-Pacquiao?

Mosley: Yeah I think they should be a little more secretive until after the fight. When fans know about these things it can make one fighter feel slighted if something gets out. So that would help if the fans did not know as much.

AllHipHop.com: The biggest non-fight of the year is Mayweather-Pacquiao. If they did fight who is your pick?

Mosley: That’s a pick ‘em fight, I really don’t know. Mayweather is the better boxer, but Pacquiao has that southpaw stance to give Mayweather problems. So it can go either way.

AllHipHop.com: What strategy is going to work best for Mora? Will you be aggressive and walk him down, or use more a counter-punching approach?

Mosley: I think I’ll have to mix both. He’s a mover so I’ll have to pressure him, too. He’s bigger, so there’s going to be a lot of punches thrown.

AllHipHop.com: Margarito was bigger size-wise than you, but you were actually stronger physically. Do you expect the same against Mora?

Mosley: I’m not sure, but I do know I’ll have more punching power. To me, that will be the difference.

AllHipHop.com: Alright Shane, good luck Saturday night. Any final words?

Mosley: Thanks for everything and you guys make sure you follow me on Twitter @SugarShaneM.

Shane Mosley vs. Sergio Mora airs live on PPV from LA’s Staples Center tomorrow night (September 18) at 9PM ET. Ismael AbduSalaam is a senior staff writer for AllHipHop.com, and the creator of Beats, Boxing and Mayhem, a website specializing in boxing and Hip-Hop coverage.

When breaking broke down this fight, Shane Mosley trainer Naazim Richardson called Sergio Mora one of the most underrated fighters in boxing.  Ever since appearing on the popular TV show The Contender, the fighter dubbed “The Latin Snake” has struggled to shed his reality series image and show fans that he indeed has the skills to be a top pound for pound fighter.

He appeared poised to do that when he scored a decision victory over Vernon Forrest in the summer of 2008 to pick up the WBC junior middleweight title. But the glory was short-lived, as Mora lost the belt three months later in rematch that was hampered by issues making weight. Fight cancelations would keep Mora out of the ring for all of 2009, and he finally returned in April with a tune-up bout on the undercard of Jones-Hopkins II.

Shane Mosley is no tune-up. Even at 39 years old, Sugar Shane represents the biggest fight of Mora’s life, and a chance to put a future Hall of Famer’s career to rest while breathing new life into his own. It’s now or never.

AllHipHop.com: This is an intriguing fight for several reasons. First, a lot of people are speculating if you can even make 154 pounds anymore without being physically drained. What made you comfortable taking such a big fight at a weight you’ve recently had issues making?

Mora: That’s a good question and a legitimate concern, because when I defended my title in my last fight against Vernon Forrest, I had a real difficult time making that weight. I wasn’t given enough time to prepare for it. It was made in like five weeks, so I only had that time to get down to that weight. But for this fight I had 10 weeks and that’s exactly the amount of time I need to make this weight comfortably and strong. I’m very prepared and my weight is fine. [Writer’s Note: At the weigh-in yesterday, Mora came in three pounds overweight at 157. After negotiating with Mosley’s camp and the California Athletic Commission, Mora lost the weight within an hour and came back at 153.6 pounds. He will lose 20% of his purse to Mosley.]

AllHipHop.com: You’ve always had a high punch output, but in your last fight I noticed you were very aggressive in looking for the knockout. Shane’s a better fighter, but will you be approaching this bout the same way?

Mora: I definitely have to be more careful with Shane. Shane’s a powerful, very fast, and experienced fighter. In my last fight, you’re right; I had planned on being more aggressive. I was off for a long time. I had two fights that were canceled with Kelly Pavlik and Daniel Edouard. I was coming off a 16 month layoff, and I was very spiteful and bitter. I wanted to take it out on my opponent. I was rusty for about two and half rounds. It literally came off and then it was on.

AllHipHop.com: A lot of people have written Shane off because of how badly he looked in May against Mayweather. But, it’s really hard to gauge that considering he was in there with one of the best defensive fighters in the world. When you looked at that fight and the previous one against Margarito, do you see any noticeable decline in Mosley?

Mora: I look at the Mayweather fight and see that he took a couple steps back. But he was fighting the best defensive and overall boxer in the world in Floyd Mayweather. Then you include his age and coming off a 16 month layoff. With those factors of course he would look horrible, but he still had a chance to take Mayweather out in the second round.

I think he’s more of a power puncher now. He’s always tried to take you out, but before he tried to do it more aggressively. Now he does it more in a counter-punching kind of way. I think he’s still dangerous; he proved that in the fight before with Margarito. I’ve been sparring with Margarito for over 10 years, and I know how tough it is to hurt that guy. And for Shane to knock him out the way he did, it was destruction! That tells me this guy has a lot left. One bad night doesn’t mean he’s done.

AllHipHop.com: This year I’ve had to talk more about why fights weren’t happening than big fights being made. Because contract issues are being leaked and fans know so much, do you think that’s a detriment to the business aspect of the sport?

Mora: I made this prediction about 10 years ago. I’m not a computer literate person. I think there’s too much information out there. That’s the reason I don’t have a Facebook, Myspace or a Twitter. Privacy is not there anymore. It relates to your question; fans don’t need to know all that.

Before, it was about the mystery of two fighters in camp sweating and sparring. You know who was ready on fight night by the look in their eyes in the ring. Now you can follow them on Twitter, “Hey I’m picking up my groceries.” Then you can go to Ustream and Youtube. You know what they’re doing. Floyd is on 24/7 throwing money around and acting like a fool at clubs.

I don’t like it, you don’t need all that. You just need to prepare and fans should be spectators. They don’t need to follow a person. Boxers aren’t supermen, they’re just normal people. This is our profession. They get too carried away with everything else.

AllHipHop.com: Is this trip back to junior middleweight just for the payday or will you be staying in this division?

Mora: Wherever the money is, that’s where I’ll take the opportunity. I think the middleweight division is suffering. Kelly Pavlik was carrying that division for a long time, and he’s been a disappointment for the last year and a half to two years because of the staph infection. There has been a lot of questions about his determination, heart and work ethic.

The junior middleweight division is very exciting. You got Pacquiao, Margarito, Paul Williams, and Sergio Martinez. I think this is where the money is and this is where I’d like to have my big fights.

AllHipHop.com: Who’s impressed you the most at 154?

Mora: I like [Sergei] Dzinziruk. He establishes pace with the jab. That’s the first time I’ve ever seen him fight although he’s been around the game a long time. Dzinziruk didn’t wow me with combinations, but he definitely impressed me with how he’s been around so long and been a champ. He’s really good at what he does. He has a great jab and is a good 1-2 puncher. He maintains the fight’s pace really well.

Kermit Cintron is off and on. He looks bad then he looks good. He’s inconsistent but he’s still up there.

James Kirkland was on the fast rise up there. I had him in camp for two months, and he’s really tough. I told him when he was in camp with me that his problems were going to be outside the ring. Sure enough, it came true.

Sergio Martinez moved up to middleweight but he’s still a [natural] junior middleweight. He’s a force to be reckoned with.

“K’9” Cornelius Bundrage, I’ve always liked him. He’s a solid fighter with a great work ethic from a fighting town in Detroit. He’s a newly crowned champ and I know what that’s like. But I think he’ll take things serious and surprise people.

AllHipHop.com: You’re a boxer that was able to engage fans with your personality on The Contender, and even in the ring when you do a little showboating. Do you think image is just as if not more important to your success than what you do in the ring?

Mora: Yeah, I believe so. There are a lot of guys who have all the talent, but just have no flavor or style. I’ll give you a perfect example. Paul Williams is one of the best fighters in the world pound for pound. Yet there’s no aura around him, he has no personality and the wrong kind of flash. Paul Williams should be 10 times bigger than he is.

It has nothing to do with his fighting. I don’t care, I like Paul. Me and him fought on the same cards and I love his people. But the mainstream doesn’t accept that. The same way they don’t accept me because I was on a television show. They have a hard time accepting me as one of the best fighters in the division because I was a reality TV star. I’ve suffered the same thing.

AllHipHop.com: How hard or easy has it been to block out your friendship with Shane going into this fight?

Mora: One thing about athletes is that we’re all very competitive. We’re not close friends but we are friends. I’ve known him for 10 years, but we understand that this is a business. This is what we do. This is our education, and how we make a living and feed ourselves. Even though we’re friends, there are people in our lives much more important than Sergio Mora and Shane Mosley. So we have to go out there and do our jobs well to maintain our reputations. Once you start slipping those opportunities become bleaker and bleaker. Those paydays become less and less. So we have to be on our toes that’s for sure.

AllHipHop.com: A lot of this is out of your control and comes down to available dates, but if you had your way how quickly do you want to be back in the ring?

Mora: Well, I’m gonna have my way. I have to have my way. I’m very motivated and focused on this fight. After this fight’s over I need one more fight by the end of the year. So I plan on fighting in December. Golden Boy has a lot of dates, and I hear Amir Khan is fighting in December and so is Bernard Hopkins. I’d love to get on either undercard.

AllHipHop.com: What’s your prediction on Pacquiao-Margarito?

Mora: I think Pacquiao wins it very easily for about 7-8 rounds. Margarito will be cut and bruised up. But if Pacquiao is not careful and gets a little reckless, he can get caught with something late. It all depends on how he reacts to getting caught late, because Margarito is going to land something. More than likely it’ll be an uppercut. And that’s a punch that can land on Pacquiao when he rushes in with his 1-2s. If he can withstand those shots Pacquiao wins an easy decision. If not Margarito knocks him out late. I’m going for Margarito but I think Pacquiao wins a decision.

AllHipHop.com: Khan-Maidana is now signed. How do you see that one?

Mora: Well I’ve never thought much about Amir Khan. I think anyone who can get knocked out in the first minute of the first round doesn’t have what it takes to be great. I do think he has a lot of natural ability, size and talent. He’s like a young De La Hoya. De La Hoya was huge when he started boxing at 135 and 140. He overpowering and outspeeding everyone. That’s where I think Amir Khan is at now.  Once he starts picking up the caliber of fighters with that suspect chin, he’s going to have some problems.

Amir Khan beats Maidana. Maidana has been outboxed before. I think he outboxes him easily. Khan will have problems with guys like Devon Alexander. I think Timothy Bradley beats him. It’ll be guys with a game plan, some pop, and are relentless.

AllHipHop.com: Any final thoughts?

Mora: I’m very excited and prepared to fight another legend in Shane Mosley. It should be a night of unexpected fireworks. People think he’s on his way out and people think I can’t box, so there is going to be some surprises.

AllHipHop.com: Great interview Sergio and best of luck on Saturday.

Mora: Thank you very much.

Shane Mosley vs. Sergio Mora airs live on PPV from LA’s Staples Center tomorrow night (September 18) at 9PM ET.

Ismael AbduSalaam is a senior staff writer for AllHipHop.com and the creator of Beats, Boxing and Mayhem, a website specializing in boxing and Hip-Hop coverage.