Since we won't be getting to see "Sugar" Shane Mosley's return to the ring this weekend as was planned, here's a KO of the Day dedicated to the still-strong welterweight and pound-for-pound contender. I wanted to use the shot that Mosley used to knock out Fernando Vargas in their second fight, but no dice.
This is from November 4, 2000, with Mosley at 35-0 and the WBC welterweight titleholder, and Diaz at 35-2, fresh off of a win over Micky Ward. He'd also beaten Ivan Robinson and Cory Spinks. And Mosley laid waste to him.
Man, was he fast. And destructive. Everything about Shane has declined over time, as it does to any fighter, but he's going to turn 37 years old in September and I think he still gives ANY welterweight a tough, tough fight -- and I include Money Mayweather in that suggestion.
The bout is also notable, as the video shows, for being refereed by the great Arthur Mercante, Sr., making him the only man to ever referee for Sugar Ray Robinson, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Sugar Shane Mosley. This was the third-to-last fight of his long, illustrious career. His biggest bout was surely the first Ali-Frazier tussle, but he saw pretty much everyone up close and personal for decades.