By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse
According to WBA welterweight (147 pounds) champion, Sugar Shane Mosley, Floyd Mayweather, his upcoming opponent, expressed his adoration for him on November 20 of 1997 in a dressing room at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles.
Mosley was 24-0, with 22 knockouts, and was five days from stopping Manuel Gomez in the 11th round. Mosley had already earned his first crown with an August, unanimous decision over Philip Holiday for the IBF lightweight (135 pounds) title.
Mayweather had just improved to 12-0, with his 10th knockout, a third-round stoppage of Angelo Nunez at the Olympic Auditorium.
Mayweather was also only six fights from capturing his first crown with an eighth-round knockout of Genaro Hernandez for the super featherweight (130 pounds) belt in October of 1998.
But on May 1 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the 38-year-old Mosley (46-5, 39 knockouts) will meet the 33-year-old Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs) in a clash between two of the sport's best fighters, pound-for-pound.
Mosley spoke to FanHouse about that early meeting, which Mayweather disputes, as well as other aspects of the upcoming bout in this Q&A.
FanHouse: Can you discuss the circumstances of that meeting more than a decade ago when you say that Floyd Mayweather expressed his admiration for you?
Shane Mosley: I had just won the world title. Back in 1997. Mayweather had just come out of the Olympics, and he was coming up. This was at the Olympic Auditorium in LA.
Do you put any stock into the notion that Floyd Mayweather says that the fighters you have lost to have all been boxers -- Vernon Forrest twice, Winky Wright twice, and, Miguel Cotto, once?
Well, the boxers that I have lost to have been bigger than me, with the exception of Cotto, which, I think that that could have gone either way. Maybe for the Cotto fight, I was a little more flat-footed than normal. But the other two guys were bigger if you will. Vernon was a taller fighter, he had long arms.
Winky Wright had long arms, but Winky Wright fought also at super middleweight (168 pounds) and middleweight (160 pounds).
Do you believe that those experiences, losing to Forrest, Wright and Cotto, are among the exact reasons and experiences that you will use to defeat Floyd Mayweather?
I think so, yes. I think that's among the reasons why. Floyd hasn't had to deal with that type of pressure. Fighting a Winky Wright, what would Floyd have done with a guy who was rushing forward and throwing southpaw jabs. Floyd doesn't like southpaws too much.
It was tough facing Vernon Forrest, being that he was as tall as 6-foot, 6-foot-1, and long, and not being slow, either. He was kind of fast, with a long, strong, right hand. How would Floyd have attacked that type of situation?
Are your feelings toward Floyd going into this fight those of respect, as a fighter, disdain or dislike for his behavior, or exactly what?
It's mixed feelings about him, because I've seen Floyd in different lights. I've seen him act a lunatic. I've seen him being cool. I've seen him be different people. And I know this. The only thing that I can think about is just fighting him. Don't worry about what he says or what he does.
He might even try to be nice, if you will, for certain press conferences. But really, Floyd's a mess. He's all over the place. I don't know what to think. I can't hold him accountable for the things that he says right now because I know that it's fight week, and it's fight time, and he's going crazy.
So I don't really hold him accountable for his behavior like that right now.
Do you see it as being more unusual than before, say, maybe against other fighters in other fights?
I think that it has a lot to do with the pressure. When the pressure hits, I think that he just starts saying things off of the top of his head. He's trying to see what kind of reaction that he can get from you, or whatever. I was totally shocked at the LA press conference in the back, he was, 'Ahhhh, this,' and screaming and yelling and acting frantic.
It was like he was about to say something crazy. And then, he gets on the mike and starts thanking everybody, and his family and everything, and starts being basically kind of nice. But really, he's all over the place. You can't hold him accountable. You just let him do what he does and rant and rave and act crazy.
Then, we'll get into the ring and fight, and, after we fight, we can be cool again I guess. Or, I don't know. That's totally up to him. I'm a peaceful guy and I don't like all of that type of craziness. But some people are that way. That's the way that he lives his life.
Have you ever felt this sort of ambivalence or confusion about any other man that you've faced leading into a big fight -- Forrest, Wright, Antonio Margarito, Ricardo Mayorga?
It's funny about Mayorga, you know, he would talk a lot of mess, and stuff, but would call me in the back and say, you know, basically, 'I like you, Shane, but I'm the Matador, so, I'm crazy.' I respect that. None of the other guys were like Floyd. Vernon had his moments. He may have been a little jealous and envious of me having the pound-for-pound status at the time.
Vernon, knowing that he beat me in the amateurs, he felt, probably, that he should have been there. And, of course, he beat me again, and then, he was up there. But Vernon was a great guy all the way around with the kids and the family and Vernon was a great fighter as an amateur and a professional.
Vernon really loved the sport. Vernon was a great guy. So, I've never had really any animosity toward anybody because I try to keep my mentality even-tempered and just focused on the game of boxing. It's just about boxing. It shouldn't be personal.
Do you have any animosity toward Floyd at all?
Like I said, it's just Floyd being Floyd. Any animosity that I may have, you know, we'll see after the fight. If he's still carrying on in different ways after the fight, when the fight's over with, then I'll know that it's more personal than just being business or tactics or trying to get into somebody's head or if it's just warfare outside of the ring. Floyd's good at that.
I know that you are not specifically talking about the EPO issue of 2003, but you had mentioned in an earlier interview that, in retrospect, you really didn't need what performance enhancing drugs you took prior to the second victory over Oscar de la Hoya. You believe that?
I feel a lot better now than I ever felt back in 2003. With that stuff in my body, I felt tight. I got tired faster. I didn't feel natural. I didn't feel good. I didn't feel good about fighting. I just wanted to swing. I just felt tight. You get tired quick and you don't. The stuff was supposed to be for putting oxygen in your blood and for being able to recuperate.
But what I've learned is that some things that are just not natural are not good for you. You just don't feel right. In my opinion, performance enhancement drugs are not for boxers. I'll be the first to say that. It's a definite 'No-no.' Boxing is from the mind, it's from the brain. It's about what you have upstairs.
I would tell anybody, 'Why do you want to destroy your body?,' and, 'Your body doesn't know how to adjust to the different types of chemicals that you're putting into your body.' Your body doesn't know what the hell that it is and may not know how to process this stuff. It's just not good at all.
So you're happy with the Olympic style drug testing and the United States Anti-Doping Agency's involvement?
I think that this USADA thing is great. It's showing me that, 'Wow, you don't really need all of this other stuff to feel good.' I mean, look at the difference between 2003, and the Magarito fight.
Were you better in the first Oscar de la Hoya fight without the performance enhancing elements or the second one with them?
Of course, I was a lot better. More fluid. You could see the difference. Oscar was better in the first fight. And I was better in the first fight. The performance enhancement actually made me worse.
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
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