Vanes Martirosyan calls out Shane Mosley, tells him his son sucks

A Twitter war broke out between 154-pound contender Vanes Martirosyan and Shane Mosley recently. Chris LaBate of BoxingScene.com gathered the exchange, and here's my favorite part:

Vanes Martirosyan: I want fight Shane Mosley. Shane don't be a bitch and fight me. Why don't you fight me next?

Shane Mosley: Who are you? And will the people pay to see it?

Vanes Martirosyan: I'm your nightmare, your time is over.

Shane Mosley: Stop talking, it's not gonna happen! Go fight somebody like you, up and coming. Maybe in 3 or 4 years you can fight my son.

Vanes Martirosyan: First, your son sucks. I seen him get dropped in the golden gloves. My brother will kick your son's ass and I'll knock you out.

Mosley attempting to use "will the people pay to see it" is kind of humorous given that he just fought Sergio Mora on a $50 PPV that nobody cared about, although I guess in a way you can use that to strengthen the idea that he only wants money fights now. Mosley really only took the Mora fight as a means to knock off the stank of Floyd Mayweather Jr. dominating him in May, getting his name back in line for big fights against the likes of Manny Pacquiao, or possible rematches with Miguel Cotto or Antonio Margarito.

Of course Mosley doesn't want to fight Vanes Martirosyan. Martirosyan is a Top Rank fighter, he's young, and while he's really not that great of a fighter in my estimation, there is no questioning his confidence in his own abilities, which sometimes can be a strong intangible for a fighter. Martirosyan has talent, but also has no fan base. So Mosley, who turns 40 next year and is visibly worn out and even shot to the eyes of many, has absolutely nothing to gain by fighting Martirosyan. Beating Vanes Martirosyan adds nothing to his legacy or even to his current standing in boxing.

Martirosyan, it should be noted, LOVES to talk trash, and he's good at it. In the last year he's had a ton of these verbal wars with other fighters, including Sergio Martinez. He's keenly aware of his perception among hardcore fans, as well, once saying something to the effect of, "If I suck, why won't anyone fight me?"

And at this stage of their careers, I would have to favor Martirosyan. Mosley looked awful against Mora and while Vanes is a better style matchup for Shane by a country mile, I just don't think the physical tools are there anymore for Sugar Shane. The heart and the determination and the desire remain, but he's old. It's that simple.

Currently, Martirosyan (28-0, 17 KO) is tentatively slated to fight on the December 4 Top Rank PPV undercard, or on December 18, likely against Pawel Wolak. If the fight goes to 12/18, it would be a Top Rank Live broadcast on Fox Sports Net. Mosley, for the time being, seems content to wait for the welterweights to shake out and see if he can't land a big fight with Pacquiao. From a standpoint of marketing and promoters working together and just about everything else, that would seem a longshot at this point to me, but iffier fights have been made before, so never say never.