Shane Mosley

"Sugar" Shane Mosley was born on September 7, 1971 in Pomona, California. He is the current WBA Super World welterweight champion and a former world champion in three different weight divisions.

For his career, Mosley sports a record of 46 wins, 5 defeats and one no contest in his 52 professional bouts. Of those 46 victories, 39 of them have come via the knockout. In his amateur career, he posted a record of 250 wins and 16 defeats. He won a bronze medal at the 1990 Goodwill Games in Seattle, Washington.

He also is a three time United States Amateur champion. In 1989 he was the champion in the lightweight division, in 1990 he repeated as champ, and then in 1992 he was champion in the light welterweight division. He also was a silver medalist in the lightweight division at the 1989 World Junior Championships held in San Juan, Puerto Rico.http://boxrec.com/media/index.php?title=Human:4952

Mosley also was in the 1992 Olympic Trials but lost a decision in the semifinals to Vernon Forrest and subsequently missed out on a chance to be a part of the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.http://boxrec.com/media/index.php?title=Human:4952

Mosley started his professional boxing career in 1993. He was victorious in his pro debut, on February 11, 1993 when he knocked out Greg Puente in the fifth round of a six round contest held in Hollywood, California. http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=004952&cat=boxer Mosley would continue his slow climb up the ladder, winning each of his next seven fights by knockout, six of them inside two rounds.

It would be more than four years until Mosley would get in the ring with a championship belt on the line. On August 2, 1997, Mosley stepped in with Philip Holiday for Holiday's IBF lightweight title. Mosley won by unanimous decision, battering Holiday for twelve rounds and ending his undefeated run at thirty one fights, in the process claiming his first major professional title.http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=004952&cat=boxer

Mosley would ring up nine title defenses, hammering fighters such as Wilfredo Ruiz, Jesse James Lejia, John John Molina and Wilfredo Rivera. None of the fights went the full distance, with Mosley actually only being stretched to the final round once in those nine defenses. Rather than attempt to unify titles, Mosley relinquished the lightweight belt in order to move up two divisions to face Oscar de La Hoya for his WBC and IBA welterweight titles. http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=004952&cat=boxer

Mosley vs. De La Hoya

In a bout held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California on June 17, 2000, Mosley faced the Golden Boy, De La Hoya, with his 34-0 record on the line. In a slugfest, where both men came out with swollen faces and De La Hoya was left bleeding from the nose for the majority of the fight, Mosley won a split decision to claim the welterweight titles.

Mosley vs. Forrest

After racking up a trio of defenses, none of which went longer than six of the scheduled twelve rounds, Mosley stepped in to defend his title against Vernon Forrest. Forrest had beaten Mosley in the 1992 Olympic Trials, so this gave Mosley a chance at redemption.

The contest took place on January 26, 2002 at historic Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. In the second round of the bout, the two collided, their heads striking which opened up a cut on Mosley's head. Forrest would go on to knock Mosley down twice in the second round and go on to claim an unanimous decision and Mosley's titles in the process. http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=004952&cat=boxer

The two would clash again in a rematch on July 20, 2002 for Forrest's WBC welterweight title, but the result was the same. At the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana, Forrest again prevailed via a unanimous decision to retain the title and send Mosley to his second straight defeat. http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=004952&cat=boxer

Lead to De La Hoya vs. Mosley II

Mosley's next fight following the defeats at the hands of Forrest was against Raúl Márquez. That fight ended early and was a no contest after Mosley accidentally headbutted Márquez twice in the third round, opening up cuts over both eyes.

That was the lead in for the rematch with De La Hoya on September 13, 2003 for De La Hoya's WBA and WBC lightweight titles on the line. Mosley prevailed again, this time in a split decision, to claim De La Hoya's titles for a second time.http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=004952&cat=boxer

Mosley was accused of doping by injecting himself with the banned substance EPO in the months leading up to the fight, a claim he emphatically denied at the time. Later, he ended up admitting that he did, in fact, inject himself with EPO. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/more/09/28/mosley/index.html?eref=mostpophttp://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=3740889http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/more_sports/2008/12/03/2008-12-03_doping_calendars_detail_sugar_shane_mosl.html

Mosley would end up losing his newly won titles at the hands of Winky Wright on March 13, 2004 by unanimous decision. In a rematch for the WBC Super World light middleweight title and the WBC light middleweight title held on November 20, 2004, Mosley would again lose, this time by majority decision. http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=004952&cat=boxer

Mosley fought back with two knock out victories over Fernando Vargas, and then claimed the interim WBC welterweight title via a victory over Luis Collazo. Nine months later, with the WBA welterweight title on the line, on November 10, 2007, Mosley would lose again, this time to Miguel Cotto. He rallied to defeat Ricardo Mayorga by knockout in the twelfth round to claim the WBA Intercontinental welterweight title in 2008.

Mosley then pulled the biggest upset in his career when he defeated Antonio Margarito by technical knock out in the ninth round of their fight on January 24, 2009 to claim the WBA Super World welterweight title. Mosley was a four to one underdog by bookmakers. More disturbing was that Margarito was caught with plaster in his handwraps, forcing him to have his hands redone several times before the contest.http://sports.yahoo.com/box/news?slug=ki-mosleywins012409&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

Mosley vs. Mayweather

After a fight with Andre Berto fell through following the Haiti earthquake, Mosley went to find a new opponent. Seeking an opponent, Mosley has set his sights on Floyd "Money" Mayweather Jr. for the WBA Super World Welterweight Title. The bout will take place on May 1, 2010 and will be held at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. The fight will be televised on HBO PPV. http://www.hbo.com/boxing/fights/2010/05-01-shane-mosley-vs-floyd-mayweather/index.html