‘Sugar’ Shane Mosley showed why nobody should be counted out in the sport of boxing when he lost to Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez at the MGM Grand Garden arena in Las Vegas by a unanimous decision, but not before giving Alvarez one of the toughest contests of his career so far.
Mosley, now 40, started positively, walking forward and landing the jab but Alvarez started to come back with his own and landed a left hook to the body. A missed right hook to the head from Mosley ended the round.
Mosley started the second round like he did in the first but Alvarez landed a counter right hook to the head and followed up with a left. Alvarez landed another to see out the round.
As the fight progressed, the class of Alvarez became apparent as well as the slight deterioration of Mosley’s reflexes but the chin, speed and heart of the former three weight champion kept him in there, and at times the Shane Mosley of old was witnessed as he managed to exchange furious fast power shots with the reigning WBC light-middleweight champion.
A cut opened on Alvarez’s eye in the third round that was ruled a head butt by Jay Nady which initially caused a major blood flow to trickle down ‘Canelo’s chest, but it was kept under control throughout the contest.
Alvarez kept composed and the swinging hooks from Mosley to his head never seemed to really phase him as the Mexican kept edging forward to land his trademark uppercuts, followed often by right hooks which seemed to shake up Mosley at times.
The final round saw both fighters trading big shots to see out the fight but it was never really in doubt that Alvarez was going to snatch the victory as he mostly looked in control.
Scores of 119-109, 118-110 and 119-109 were read out by MIchael Buffer to confirm the suspected result.
“This was a new experience. Whether it’s Mayweather, Cotto or Pacquiao, I am ready,” said Alvarez after the fight.
Mosley said, “He was pretty quick. He showed great composure. I gave it all I got. I got beat by the better man tonight.”
Shane Mosley can exit the ring tonight with his head held high, and even in defeat he proved a lot of his critics wrong who thought the fight was going to end in a bad knockout for him. But let’s hope that the proud veteran thinks about his future very carefully and that he can finally admit to himself that his time in the ring may have finally come to a conclusion.
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