If Shane Mosley is to retire, I'd say that was a pretty good swan song.
The 36-year old former three-division champion is entertaining the idea of stepping away from the boxing ring following a tight, competitive, and thrilling loss to 27-year old Miguel Cotto last night.
It isn't as if he'd be out looking for things to do. As one of the head partners at Golden Boy Promotions, Mosley stated, "Maybe now I will put my promoter hat on. I'm not getting any younger."
But, he's not making any concrete decisions yet, either. "But if there was a rematch, I would consider it and maybe take that fight. There's also the winner of the Mayweather-Hatton fight."
I would think that the winner of Mayweather-Hatton is perhaps not happening now. Had Mosley beaten Cotto, I think we would have seen Mosley face Floyd Mayweather next year (yes, I am again assuming that Mayweather beats Hatton easily). It's a fight that everyone wanted to see, and while I believe that most of us would still be very happy to get the fight even with Sugar Shane coming off of a valiant loss, I think Mosley may be the one guy Mayweather has real reservations about fighting. And a Mosley that just lost to Cotto simply isn't as attractive for Floyd to be risking his perfect record.
And if Hatton were to upset Mayweather, there's no doubt we'd be seeing Hatton-Oscar in England next May.
Cotto-Mosley II would be welcome, but again, I don't see how it would go any differently. Shane said it -- he's not getting younger. Cotto, however, continues to get better. He used his jab more effectively on Saturday night than he ever has, and looked a lot quicker than he has in the past. Cotto said a great deal of his camp was centered on speed to prepare for Mosley.
I do think that, if we can't get Cotto-Mayweather or maybe even Cotto-Oscar, you have to go ahead and do Cotto-Margarito before that fight loses zest. Right now, I think that's a tremendous, all-action war. Tony Margarito was a ball of fire on the undercard last night, not even giving Golden Johnson a chance to breathe. It was like a more restrained version of one of Kimbo Slice's streetfights -- it was one guy beating the hell out of another guy, and nothing more.
If Shane Mosley does decide to step aside, then has there ever been a year where more greats bowed out of the sport? We've lost Barrera, Morales, Gatti and Corrales in 2007. Adding Sugar Shane Mosley to that list would be sad, especially because we know Mosley can still fight.
The real problem, I think, is mostly about something else Shane said: Welterweight is the sport's toughest division, and it's not getting any easier. Mayweather, Cotto, Williams, Margarito, Cintron, Oscar, Hatton, Clottey, a possibly rejuvenated Judah, even Collazo, who already lost to Mosley. There is a heaping helping of very tough fighters in the division, and only so many spots for them all. Even the returning Ike Quartey. Plus, the rising young stars like Andre Berto, who is ready to burst onto the main scene whenever he decides to make that next step up in competition.
It's a tough division for anyone, and as good as Shane still is, he's not a young man, and generally speaking, the fight game is a young man's game. The Shane Mosley of this very moment could still beat plenty of those guys, but every training camp and every fight takes a little more out of him.
If he decides to retire, he'll be sorely missed. Not only is he a great fighter, but he's a tremendous personality in the sport, gracious and humble. I'm sure over the next couple of months, we'll hear more from Mosley about what his future may hold.