Sharkie’s Machine

By Frank Gonzalez Jr.
Inside Boxing Writer/columnist

Oscar de la Hoya (36-2-0-29 KO’s) Vs. Shane Mosley (38-2-0-35 KO’s)

“Corrupt Judges Further Destroy Boxing’s Credibility”

(INSIDE BOXING September 14, 2003)-The new millennium has been bittersweet to “Sugar” Shane Mosley. He was heralded as one of the best “Pound For Pound” fighters after his narrow victory against Oscar de la Hoya in June of 2000. A lot has happened since.

Looking at his career since the turn of the millennium, Shane beat Willie Wise by TKO 3 in Jan. 2000, then in the biggest fight of his career, he dethroned Oscar De La Hoya by SD 12 in July of 2000. In Nov. he beat the mediocre Antonio Diaz by TKO 6. Sugar Shane rode a wave of popularity for a while, getting commercial deals, lots of favorable press and always baring that million-dollar smile. He was a big Star.

In July of 2001, Shane defended his WBC Welterweight title against unheralded Adrian Stone, winning by KO 3. There were some who questioned Shane fighting ‘less than stellar’ opponents. They wanted less of the Willy Wise types and more of the legendary Oscar De La Hoya types instead.

Mosley’s handlers wanted to rake in the money Shane’s Superstar status promised to make them. Fans wanted to see the fast and powerful Sugar Shane take on the best. To Shane’s credit, he decided to do just that. He tried to arrange a fight with now disposed, then Star on the rise, Andrew “Six Heads” Lewis, but Lewis refused to the terms of the contract--to the amazement of knowledgeable fight fans, since it would have paid “Six Heads” Lewis more than he ever made in his career even if it would be lots less then Mosley would get. Both were Title-holders, so Lewis did have a point. Only he forgot that boxing is really only about making money. Funny, Mosley complained about the same issue in this contract for the rematch with Oscar, where Shane had no Title Belt.

Six Heads went on to meet unknown Ricardo Mayorga in a series of two fights (the first fight was ruled a No Contest when a 2nd round head butt cut Lewis badly). Mayorga knocked Lewis out cold in the 5th round of the rematch fight in March of 2002.

In January and again in July of 2002, Shane lost two big fights to Vernon Forrest. Vernon told an interesting story about meeting Mosley in the Amateur ranks. According to Vernon, Mosley did not earn his placements in the Olympics but was given his spot by the Olympic Committee. Forrest said, “That got me mad, it made me really want to whoop him! And I did.” Listening to Forrest, you get the impression that Mosley was handed his Super Star status by “the powers that be” in Boxing.

Shane was downed twice by Forrest in the 2nd round of their first fight and was beaten badly by Vernon Forrest. Considering Mosley’s loss to Forrest in the Amateurs and again in the Pros, some were saying Vernon, “had Mosley’s card.”

Mosley was knocked off his Super Star perch and scheduled an immediate rematch with Forrest for July of that year. I gave Mosley a lot of points for bravery but, Forrest beat Mosley again, convincingly--but not as dramatically as the first time. Forrest simply out boxed Mosley for 24 rounds. Many fans began to question Shane’s alleged greatness.

Frustrated at Welterweight, Mosley moved up to 154-pounds and took on Raul Marquez, a decent fighter of minor status who bleeds a lot. It was a smart move as a confidence builder. But in the fight, Marquez suffered a bad cut (the result of a head butt in the 3rd round) and the fight was ruled a No Contest and Shane walked away without victory, again. I noticed in that fight that Shane tends to jump forward into opponents, head first, which, although may be unintentional, is a great recipe for accidental head butting.

* * *

In the rematch against Oscar, Shane did not look as good as he did in their first meeting. It was Oscar this time, who scored the most, using his jab and throwing combos at the right times. Shane’s best bet was getting Oscar up against the ropes. Oscar did not cooperate.

Oscar de la Hoya kept Mosley under control for the first half of the fight with effective jabbing and ring generalship. He out punched Mosley throughout the fight and although Mosley did land some telling blows, it was not enough to win the rounds he scored them in. Mosley was frustrated most of the fight as Oscar out boxed him and out scored him. To Mosley’s credit, he never gave up and tried his best in the late rounds to score a knock out that never came.

De La Hoya looked very good and in control until he started to tire after the 8th round. Surely some of Mosley’s solid shots influenced Oscar’s fatigue as the fight got deeper but Shane was not winning the fight. Not in my estimation. Mosley won four rounds on my scorecard, the 4th, the 9th, the 10th [a 10-10 even round] and the 12th and enjoyed his best moments during the last four rounds when Oscar looked tired and was less potent in his punching. It was hardly enough for Shane to win the fight, but these days, it does not matter who actually wins-- but who the Judges decide to give the fight to. The only sure way to win these days is by KO.

It is perplexing that Oscar would lose a "hometown" decision in Las Vegas; especially in a fight he clearly won. As Juan Lazcano showed in his under card bout against Stevie Johnston, the only sure way to win a fight is by knock out. These days, you HAVE to take the Judges out of the mix since they can never be trusted to honestly score fights, especially where lots of gambling money is on the line.

I'm fed up with bad decisions in boxing! Although I’m no fan of Bob Arum, Oscar’s promoter, I concur with his statement after the fight that, “Boxing is the Garbage Can of professional sports!”

Bad decisions, mismatches, fighters who come in 10 pounds over the weight limit, underpaid fighters and unfair contracts, fighters who only fight carefully chosen opponents, fighters who are not cleared to fight due to medical reasons fighting in other states, tomato can opponents, corrupt Judges, partial refereeing, all has me sick to my stomach with Boxing.

I think Oscar was robbed. He may deserve to have been robbed, but that is not the point. Many say he got a few gift decisions in his day and I don't necessarily disagree. Some say he lost to Whitaker (although I didn't think so) others say he lost to Quartey (although I didn’t think so).

How can one fighter land more punches throughout the fight, score at a higher percentage and show better ring generalship throughout the fight and then lose the decision? Ask Anek Hongkongtam, Stanley Christodoulou or Duane Ford. These are some of the Usual Suspects that are destroying Boxing by turning off the casual fans.

Foreman suggested it is a Bob Arum thing, and that the Judges had it in for him and that it may be, but this fight was on PPV! It cost $50 to see, and to pay $50 to see a fixed fight is simply criminal. But there will be no retribution. No accountability. As so many in boxing today will tell you, “That’s boxing.” There’s always more money in rematches than in justice.

Since there is no legitimate Boxing Commission in the USA, there is no one to police the sport and hold Judges, Promoters and Referees accountable when their conflicts of interests, incompetence or dishonesty leads to fighters losing decisions they should have won. We’ve all seen it before. And until a real shake up happens, we know we will see it again and again.

Shane Mosley is a good guy. I don’t have anything against him. He is a gentleman outside the ring and was well deserving of a rematch with Oscar, who he beat by a very close decision in their first fight by doing all the things Oscar did to him last Saturday night. He deserved to prove it was not a fluke. But for all his hard work, he was out-boxed and adequately managed by the better fighter that night, Oscar de la Hoya.

Mosley was frustrated during the fight and at times resorted to some unseemly tactics against DLH. He threw a few low blows, head butted in several rounds, hit and held, and was warned numerous times by Cortez about the infractions.

Mosley’s father/trainer Jack Mosley was heard in his corner between most of the rounds telling Shane to ‘step it up’ and not let Oscar steal rounds, to throw more punches, and other advice usually reserved for fighters who are losing. If you can, re-watch the tape and see.

At the end of the 2nd round, Jack Mosley tells Shane, “Don’t let him dictate the tempo of the fight…”

After the 3rd round, Jack says, “You’re letting him dictate, they (the Judges) might think it’s dictating…”

After the 5th round, Jack says, “You can’t be waiting that long! This is round 6, you have got to take charge Shane!”

After the 6th round, Jack says, “You’re going to lose the fight! 7th round coming up and you’re not hitting him enough!”

After the 7th, Jack says, “Shane, he’s stealing the rounds from you. Use your legs, we worked on this! You’re not on your toes! What’s the problem?”

After the 8th, Jack says, “He’s hurt, I believe you won the round but who knows what the judges are thinking?”

After the 9th, Jack says, “You got his ass now! All you have to do is continue to work like that!”

After the 10th, Jack says, “He’s hurt, but you’re not putting enough pressure on him! You got to throw something…I don’t care if it’s on the arm, the elbow, you got to throw something to let the judges know you are in charge!”

After the 11th, Jack says, “Believe you can win this fight! You can be the first one to knock him out. You got to win this round! You got to knock him down, you can win this fight!” Going into the last round, Jack tells Shane, "You can be the first one to KO this guy! You got to win this round, knock him down!" This is unusual advice for a guy who is winning a fight before the last round.

* * *

The Official Scores were read and it was a Unanimous Decision.

Anek Hongkongtam, Stanley Christodoulou and Duane Ford all scored it 115-113.

Below is a copy of the Official Scorecards:

I had it 117- 112 in favor of De La Hoya.

When the official Decision was read, Shane looked like a man who just won the Irish Sweepstakes. He did.

Here are some Punch Stat numbers posted by HBO:

 
Though Punch stats are often not 100% correct and at times completely out of touch with reality, this time, I felt they were fairly accurate.

During the post fight interview, De La Hoya was graciously holding back his real feelings about the decision, crediting Mosley as a great fighter, etc. He said he would challenge this decision, not so much out of personal angst but because he feels boxing deserves better. I agree.

While interviewed by HBO’s Larry Merchant, Shane Mosley never once said he felt he won the fight. He credited Oscar and said that the reason his corner was giving him such anxious advice throughout was because they were in Las Vegas, Oscar’s hometown venue and they were concerned about the Judges.

So, what is next for Sugar Shane? Will he take on Winky Wright and Daniel Santos and unify his division? Will he look for a third meeting with Oscar De La Hoya? Could someone like Ricardo Mayorga enter the fray and be a future Mosley opponent? I think Mayorga may be far too dangerous for Shane to even think about but that’s my opinion. After all, he did beat the man who beat Mosley--twice.

As for Oscar, questions about him retiring linger. He did say he would retire if he lost to Shane Mosley in the rematch. So I doubt he is planning to retire since he really did win the fight. Not “officially” but in reality, in the minds of fans with unbiased hearts and clear vision.

At the rate that Oscar does fight, maybe we will see him in the ring again sometime next year. Who he might fight—is a mystery that beats the hell out of me. Oscar has had a very carefully managed career and I don’t expect that to change if he stays in the sport. He is super rich now and has little to reason to let his career drag into his 30’s. He always said he would retire before he got too old. This might just be the right time. It will remind me of Marvelous Marvin Hagler if he goes out like this.

I expect Shane Mosley will be the target of much cynicism after this corrupt decision puts him back in a position to demand more millions per fight. He will make some sweet money now with the new belt around his waist. After all, boxing is not so much about competition as it is about money. Just ask Roy Jones Jr. Boxing is all about business now as it’s always been. On the bright side, at least it’s football season.

Agree or disagree?
Send comments to dshark87@hotmail.com