Sugar Shane Mosley says he's in shape and ready to go on May 5 against Canelo Alvarez, and that he's not going to be the old man that Alvarez and Golden Boy believe he is. From an interview at RingTV.com:

"I think that he's disillusioned. I think that Golden Boy and his entire team are disillusioned with what they believe is going to happen with this fight. It's an illusion. It's not what it seems. I'm not what they think that I am. I'm not over the hill. I'm not done. I'm not what they think. I think that they'll find out. In fact, I'm sure that they'll find that out when we're in the ring the night that the fight happens."

Mosley (46-7-1, 39 KO) will face Alvarez for the WBC junior middleweight title on the Mayweather vs Cotto undercard at the MGM Grand, live on pay-per-view.

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Timothy Bradley tells Ryan Burton of BoxingScene.com that it wasn't easy for him to sit around and wait out the Manny Pacquiao decision for June 9, but now that he's the Pacquiao foe on that date, he's happy he waited, and thankful for the chance.

Bradley (28-0, 12 KO) says that after two years with just three fights total, he was itching to get into the ring, and didn't care if it was against Pacquiao -- a fight he wanted, but knew not to expect. After Miguel Cotto dropped out of the running, and Juan Manuel Marquez became a non-factor in the race for various reasons, the 28-year-old Bradley, in just his second fight under the Top Rank banner, became the choice. Maybe by default, but Bradley doesn't seem concerned so much with how he got the fight, just that he got it.

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For months now, I've been dreading the official announcement of a Canelo Alvarez vs Shane Mosley fight. That came last night, when Oscar De La Hoya made the fight a reality via his Twitter account.

Boxing fans were supposed to jump for joy. Some did -- I'm not ignoring that there are so-called "casual fans" who like this fight, but I believe they're wrong. I don't mean that to sound smug, even though I know that it does. I just cannot look at this fight and like it.

Except for those moments where I read quotes from Shane Mosley, the 40-year-old veteran who is more sitting at the bottom of the other side of the hill than he is simply over the top of it. In those brief moments, I remember the Shane Mosley I became a fan of so many years ago, and I remember how devastating he could be. How damn good (at times, truly great) he really was. And how I always just plain liked Shane Mosley along with liking his fights and admiring his talent.

Here's what he told ESPN.com about the fight:

"This is more of a fight to prove myself. I know I didn't look good in my last couple of fights and I really to make a statement in this fight," Mosley told ESPN.com on Friday night. "I just want to get in the ring, fight a world champion and win another belt.

"I'm very excited and happy. It's another chance for me to show that I still belong. He's a young guy and it's a tough fight, but I'm excited to get the fight. A lot of guys want to be in the position I am in to have this type of fight."

For a moment, "Gonna Fly Now" enters my mind and I see Mosley busting his ass at Big Bear with the esteemed Naazim Richardson, getting himself ready for this fight. Most of the informed feel he has little to no chance, but he doesn't see it that way. This is the final shot.

Then, I rejoin the real world.

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Infamous Nicaraguan brawler Ricardo Mayorga is apparently planning another return to the ring, and said on a radio appearance that he'd like to face Julio Cesar Chavez Jr at a catchweight.

Now obviously Mayorga would want to face Chavez, since there's a little money in that, but what's fascinating is that Mayorga, once the world welterweight champion, would be asking Chavez, the current WBC middleweight titlist, to go up in weight to 165 pounds.

Mayorga, 38, hasn't exactly kept himself in prime condition over recent years, and has become little more than a recognizable name for veteran fighters to knock out in the last half decade. His last fight came in March 2011, when he was beaten up by Miguel Cotto before basically quitting in the 12th round.

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Trelew, Argentina

Lucas Matthysse RTD-5 Angel Martinez: In what was a final tune-up bout before he gets his career back on track, Matthysse (30-2, 28 KO) made easy work of 20-year-old Martinez (13-2-1, 9 KO), who did not come out for the sixth round after taking a pretty heavy beating. Matthysse now moves on to face Humberto Soto on May 19, the HBO co-feature to the Lamont Peterson vs Amir Khan rematch.

Mar del Plata, Argentina

Johnriel Casimero TKO-10 Luis Lazarte: We already went over this disgrace with some video clips of the riot insanity after the fight, as a full-scale riot broke out with a gaggle of idiot fans fighting the victorious Filipino side and throwing various objects, including chairs, at Casimero and his team. Lazarte (49-11-2, 18 KO) bit Casimero (16-2, 10 KO) during the fight, and Casimero came back to stop him with a big shot at the end of the ninth that had Lazarte on unsteady legs into the tenth round. Lazarte at one point also reported threatened New York referee Eddie Claudio, who was flown in by the IBF as this was an interim title fight. Lazarte has been firmly planted in the IBF title scene at 108 pounds for a while now, but hopefully this was the end of that. He's a miserable "boxer," a goon, and the dirtiest high-level fighter in the entire sport. He deserves no title consideration anymore. He's a legitimate villain. I'm not saying Casimero is some saint, because he's been a dirty fighter, too, but this is above and beyond. Lazarte can't have a single fight, it seems, that isn't a debacle of some kind.

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If you want to talk about black eyes for the sport of boxing, here's a bad one. Total mayhem and carnage broke out after Johnriel Casimero scored a tenth round TKO stoppage of Luis Lazarte tonight in Argentina. Here's video of the riot:

This is an absolute disgrace. Total insanity, and nothing good to say whatsoever.

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Golden Boy Promotions has listened to the fans, and what they've apparently heard is, "Hey, do you think we could have an old timers' night? Just for fun?"

In addition to 40-year-old Shane Mosley being booked in a lousy fight against WBC junior middleweight titlist Canelo Alvarez despite being 0-2-1 in his last three fights, BoxingScene.com reports that Winky Wright, another 40-year-old fighter, is possible for the Mayweather vs Cotto undercard in a middleweight bout against Peter Quillin.

Wright (51-5-1, 25 KO) hasn't fought since July 2009, when he was shut out by Paul Williams on HBO, and that is his only fight since 2007. It has been nearly half a decade since Wright was a relevant factor in the boxing world, and he hasn't won since his December 2006 victory over Ike Quartey, who never fought again. (Or at least hasn't yet, as Golden Boy might look him up for the PPV opener at this rate.)

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Confirming great fears from many boxing fans and totally thwarting their defense that Golden Boy makes only the best fights, Oscar De La Hoya tweets tonight that a May 5 fight between Canelo Alvarez and Shane Mosley is a done deal, and will be featured on the Mayweather vs Cotto undercard.

Alvarez (39-0-1, 29 KO) is the 21-year-old WBC junior middleweight titlist, and coming off of an easy breakdown of Kermit Cintron, who like Mosley is well past his best, and made for a predictable TKO loss.

But unlike Cintron, Mosley (46-7-1, 39 KO) is 40 years old, doesn't look good in the ring or sound good outside of it, and even though boxing fans and too many in the media have very short memories, the fact is he's been absolutely awful for his last three fights, and hasn't won in over three years now.

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Raymond "Tito" Serrano wasn't really impressive tonight in the Friday Night Nights co-feature on ESPN, but he got a clean win over Kenny Abril over ten rounds, winning on scores of 97-92, 97-92 and 95-94. Bad Left Hook had it a wider 99-91 for Serrano. (Maybe a round too wide, in fact.)

Abril (11-5-1, 6 KO) just didn't look there mentally from the beginning, but did score a third round knockdown when he popped Serrano (18-0, 8 KO) with a jab while Serrano was wide open, off-balance, and throwing. It was a pure flash knockdown and wound up making no difference in the fight at all, and Serrano otherwise pretty much dominated a slow round.

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Last Saturday night's HBO boxing double-header drew a strong gate in San Antonio, largely thanks to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr in the main event against Marco Antonio Rubio, but also probably aided a bit by Nonito Donaire facing Wilfredo Vazquez Jr in the televised co-feature as well.

Steve Kim reports that 15,664 tickets were sold at the Alamodome, with 885 comps, totaling a gate of $1,245,305. For a non-Vegas fight, this is an impressive gate, and the ticket sales are obviously very strong. Keep in mind, too, that San Antonio is a basketball-crazy city, and the Spurs were at home that night against one of the NBA's best teams, the Oklahoma City Thunder and star Kevin Durant.

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