Should Sugar Shane Mosley Retire Now?

possibley discombobulated

although to be fair he’s never been as good at 154, and a few experienced judges on here including you and Brick saw Mora’s style giving him all sorts of problems, it does seem like the right time for him to go. I hope he does, but he’ll have convinced himself that he can go out in glory against Berto at 147, so this might not end too well for him. If he’s half as hard headed as Holyfield….but then hopefully Brother Nazim can get him out in time.

But he’s one of 1,000 guys who should probably quit, and many of them have never been as good as he is now. Nameless guys who get creamed by prospects over and over and over again and are probably just as scrambled as Shane or Roy or Evander. But nobody much cares about those guys. We point to their records and go, “Wow, look at all those losses.” Those losses weren’t painless.

IMO it seemed like Naazim knew he was dealing with a shot fighter last Saturday. But Sugar Shane is proud and will go out when he wants to go out, or when — like most guys, sadly — he’s absolutely forced to face the reality that he doesn’t have “it” anymore.

Whenever I really think about these things … you know, I’m perfectly content having the opinion that Shane Mosley should retire, but I’m also not 39 and hearing from all corners that I should no longer do the thing I know how to do. That’s gotta be tough for anyone. I can’t put myself in his shoes. As a fan, I worry for his long-term health. Many of us have discussed the fact that his speech is a bit muddled the last year or so. But he’s not going to listen to anyone. Fighters fight, in most cases until they simply cannot and no one will promote it any longer. Shane’s going to have Golden Boy backing him still, and HBO will be interested. I never want anyone to get hurt or anything, but that’s the reality of boxing sometimes. All you can really do is hope he truly knows more than the observers do and however his career ends, he’s ringside with a smile on his face five years after.

Think of it as a bell sahped curve. He once was at the top riding the crest. Now he is on the right hand side rapudly moving down. Somewher on that side is a danger point. Maybe he already hit it. It is a chilling vision for me.

I always say no, but they always do anyway, and they always seem to lose. But I think I can understand their compulsion.

Check the records , there’s never been a 39 year old welterweight that was any good in boxing history . Mosely stopped peaking in the De La Hoya rematch nearly 8 years ago . I’m not a big fan of the " one last fight for a win " concept Ted . I like evenly matched fights , and there’s always the chance Mosely loses to someone that is even worse than Mora . Shane , like all fighters has the right to fight on but to me no good will come of it . Middle aged bodies cannot take the same punishment or train like a 28 year old one . In the days of the best fighting the best unless you were Joe Brown , Archie Moore or some other freak of nature you were basically a shot fighter at 34 . Cheers Ted , I just hope Mosely doesnt end up doing a Jones or a Holyfield .

and I maintain that the decision should almost always lie with the fighter. I remember a quote from Holyfield saying “When I’m done with what I want to do, then I’ll sit down, because nobody seems happy to just let me stand up” (I paraphrase, but closely). I believe Holyfield has the right to decide when he retires, same as I do for any fighter.

That said, Shane has joined Holyfield and Jones on a list of fighters that I’d like to see make that decision sooner rather than later. I’ll always support their decision to fight, and I’ll always that no-one else has the right to decide for them, but I’d like them all to make that decision soon.

It’s afree country and fighters should have the right to make the decision—all things being equal. But that last qualification is the rub.

Because he’s simply not going to make it back to the top again, and his speech is muddy enough now that more fighting could take years off his life later. (One thing Shane never had, and generally never needed, was a great defense.) That last big money-making fight he’s looking for? That already happened. He had an excellent 2nd round in it.

Shane has and will exercise his right to make his own decision. And like so many before him..and so many after…that siren call of fighting under the big lights with thousands in attendance will keep him closer to the crashing surf than he should go. He has been a star for a long time. There is no quit in him. Not ladt weekend….not ever. He beat Oscar in the last round and he finished Saturday night still throwing. I am certain that he tells himself every day he enters and leaves the ring that he still has it. Or that he will just work that much harder to get it.
This is a case not so much of a hard head who cannot believe the truth. It is more of a gradually deteriorating physical phenomenon who simply believs he can out run time.

He can’t. No one does. I just hope someone who really love this man tells him and he listens. He by all indications is a good egg. I wish him the best.

but he’s no different from anyone else, the vast majority of whom live every day of their lives in denial—I’m not that overweight, housework/yardwork is enough exercise, I don’t smoke that much, I’ll stop smoking, start dieting and exercising, get a checkup, whatever, tomorrow—and most of us can’t even do that. So I have plenty of sympathy for someone not just giving up chocolate, but giving up a life that was like living a dream. Still wish he would, though.

He beat Oscar in the last round

As a fan of Shane’s I’d like to see him retire before slid becomes shot becomes something else .
It’s always up to the guy’s themselves I know but sometimes it’s painful as a fan watching
declines , the shaper the decline the more painful obviously .
I can’t see Shane becoming another Roy though .
Shane can see how much wonga his buddy Oscar is making by not getting beaten up . Roy can’t see the woods for the trees .

The site keeps making me log in ?
Does someone need to get the spanner out ?

Still looked real fit in the pic .