"Shane Mosley grew up over here sparring every Mexican great out here, from Genaro Hernandez to Lopez. Mexican fighters love to spar out here and Mosley was sparring with all of them. Who else would take all of these kinds of fights and challenges against these Mexican warriors? That's what makes this fight interesting is because I'm of Mexican decent, it's a huge Mexican holiday on September 18th and he's knocked out or beaten pretty much every Mexican fighter: De La Hoya, Vargas, Margarito and David Estrada. He's beaten them up in and out of the gym. The bottom line is I gotta stand up for my side...I'm going to be the first Mexican to beat Shane Mosley and I'm excited about that," stated former jr. middleweight champion as he talked about his upcoming September 18 clash with former welterweight champion Shane Mosley. You don't want to miss what else he had to say about Mosley, the fight, and his special message to Jeff Mayweather. Check it out!
PC: I understand you read my interview with Jeff Mayweather and you didn't like the fact that he said Shane is going to whoop your ass.
SM: Everything is going great, but I get on FightHype and I see some nonsense where the black sheep of the Mayweather family decides to open his mouth, huh? Listen, I've never got an ass whooping, not even in sparring, so I don't see how this guy can say I'm going to get my ass whooped. That's never happened in my entire career; not even in the gym. He was talking some nonsense about how I'm not Floyd. I thank God that I'm not Floyd. Floyd is who he is and I'm who I am. We are two separate fighters, but I got a lot of respect and love for Floyd. Jeff Mayweather ain't Floyd either. The only thing he is known for is getting knocked out by Oscar De La Hoya.
PC: You had a lot of success against Shane, and I knew it was edited, but I remember you sparring Shane on "The Contender" and you were doing well.
SM: Listen, I sparred Fernando Vargas, Terry Norris when I was 16, back in the day David Reid, Antonio Margarito, Alfredo Angulo and James Kirkland, all of those guys, and I put hands on all of them. And if I didn't put hands on them that particular day, you can bet they didn't whoop me; it was just an even sparring session. I don't get my ass whooped.
PC: What was it like to get that news that you will be facing future Hall of Famer Shane Mosley?
SM: It was a blessing man. I really feel that everyone gets a blessing in life, along with some ups and downs. Obviously I had a lot of downs and I was just planning on taking a statement fight with Candelo and I really hated to pull out of it, but it was basically Richard Schaefer and Cameron Dunkin saying, "Hey, listen, if you want Shane Mosley, you're going to have to cancel the fight. We want no risk of injury and we're going to invest a lot of money into the promotion." I had to pull out of that fight. It was a huge opportunity. Come on, I mean, from fighting at the Pechanga in front of 1,000 people to fighting at the Staples Center in front of 10,000 people and fighting a future Hall of Famer in Shane Mosley.
PC: What Shane Mosley are you expecting, the one that didn't get anything accomplished against Floyd, with the exception of a few right hands, or the one that ran through Antonio Margarito?
SM: I'm expecting a beast. I'm expecting a gladiator. Shane never ever comes in not ready to knock your head off. The bottom line is I'm expecting the best Shane Mosley possible; the body banger, the head hunter and the guy that can slug it out or use his boxing ability. He never gives up. No one looks good against Floyd Mayweather, especially a guy that had been off for 16 months like Shane was. He was coming off of a long layoff and fighting the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world in Mayweather, who makes everyone look bad. Hell no I'm not taking that performance as the Mosley I'm going to face.
PC: Lat time we spoke, you were inactive, disgruntled and now you've signed with Golden Boy and you're about to have your second fight of the year. How does it feel to be an active fighter again?
SM: It was supposed to be my third fight because the Berto-Mosley card was called off and I was on that one. I'm really happy with Golden Boy. I had my pick with any promoter. All of the promoters were offering me a good bonus and a good contract; from Top Rank, Gary Shaw to Goosen. But I chose Golden Boy because of what they said. They told me that they would put me on every undercard of their pay-per-views. I didn't expect for it to be this quick. I thought I would have to get a couple of good wins under my belt, but it took one good performance on a Golden Boy card and they realized, "This kid can fight. Let's throw him in there against Shane and see if he is going to sink or swim."
PC: Both of you guys went 24 round with the late, great Vernon Forrest. Shane went 0-2 and you were 1-1. Both of you are from California and the fight is in Cali. What type of fight are you expecting and what type of crowd do you think will show up?
SM: Shane Mosley grew up over here sparring every Mexican great out here, from Genaro Hernandez to Lopez. Mexican fighters love to spar out here and Mosley was sparring with all of them. Who else would take all of these kinds of fights and challenges against these Mexican warriors? That's what makes this fight interesting is because I'm of Mexican decent, it's a huge Mexican holiday on September 18th and he's knocked out or beaten pretty much every Mexican fighter: De La Hoya, Vargas, Margarito and David Estrada. He's beaten them up in and out of the gym. The bottom line is I gotta stand up for my side because he can't be the next Mexican Assassin. I gotta put a stop to it, so it should be an interesting night. You can never count out a legend and I got a lot to prove myself. I'm in my prime and I have the opportunity to add another name to my resume like Shane Mosley. It's something that can make the Hall of Fame call later on.
Growing up in my era, the guys were Oscar De La Hoya, Fernando Vargas, Shane Mosley, Vernon Forrest, Ike Quartey and Felix Trinidad. Those were the guys around my weight class that you had to look up to. I almost had a chance against Oscar De La Hoya when I won the title, but it slipped away. I was fortunate enough to go 24 rounds with Vernon and now I'm fortunate enough to have Shane Mosley get in the ring with me. I hear Fernando Vargas is about to make a comeback in the near future and I'm just excited man. Every great fighter that has been in the Hall of Fame fought these guys either on their way out or when they were past their prime a little bit; from Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard to Floyd Mayweather. As a matter of fact, Oscar De La Hoya made a career doing that. I'm repeating history man. I'm just doing what it takes to build a fighter and be ready to take the next steps after that.
PC: I wish you the best of luck my man. Keep in touch bro. Is there anything you want to say in closing?
SM: I'm going to be the first Mexican to beat Shane Mosley and I'm excited about that. I want to thank all of my faithful fans out there. All of "The Contender" fans around the world that still email me and send me stuff, I want to thank you. And the main reason I wanted to speak to you is to let Jeff Mayweather know to keep my name out of his mouth. He has no middleweights or junior middleweights that can shut my mouth. His nephew is something special, but he's not and he's not a special trainer, so tell him to keep my name out of his mouth.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]