Sources close to the situation have informed us that three-divison world champion "Sugar" Shane Mosley will soon be fighting under the Top Rank banner. "Golden Boy can't get Shane the fights that he wants," one source commented, explaining that a rift has been growing since 2007 between the future Hall of Famer and his promoter, Golden Boy Promotions, where Mosley is a partner. Evidently, Mosley has not been pleased with the direction that his career has taken and he now has serious doubt as to whether or not he'll be able to secure the type of paydays he's grown accustomed to without having the right type of opponents.
"The only big paydays left for him are Pacquiao, if he's lucky enough to get that fight, or rematches with Cotto and Margarito, and you already know whose got those fighters," another source remarked, referring to Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, whose company promotes virtually every big name in and around the welterweight and jr. middleweight division. "Shane's made a lot of changes already. Don't be surprised to see one more big change in the near future," the source added.
Indeed, it would appear as though Mosley is on the verge of making what just might be the best business decision he's ever made regarding his career. Just last week, it was revealed that he had hired rap mogul and boxing impresario James Prince as his new advisor. "I am very happy to be working with James. I know that working together will present me with a lot of great opportunities," Mosley stated when the announcement was made. "Now I have a person on my side that knows and loves boxing and can teach me things about being a successful businessman. This is going to be a great combination and I know I will learn a lot working with James."
Adding more fuel to the speculation, promoter Bob Arum himself hinted that Shane Mosley could be in line for a fight with Manny Pacquiao should a future bout with Floyd Mayweather continue to be difficult to make. "Mosley is operating indepedently of Golden Boy," Arum would tell Michael Marley of Examiner.com. "Mosley told me it's up to him who he fights now, it's his decision."
Of course, if he does hope to secure a bout with Pacquiao, Margarito or Cotto, there's no doubt Arum, who's quite comfortable with pitting his own fighters against each other, will require Mosley to sign a much more traditional promotional contract than what he had with Golden Boy Promotions. From what sources have told me, he's actually been a free agent for quite some time now, his contract with Golden Boy having run out several years ago. Similar to fighters like Winky Wright and Bernard Hopkins, Mosley has simply been utilizing the services of the company to act as his promoter of record in order to make it easier to secure dates on HBO. Now that it appears as though Top Rank has all the hot names that will command valuable air time in the future, it looks like Mosley could be making the right move at the right time. The irony is that if you go visit the "FIGHTERS" page over at the Golden Boy Promotions website, their featured fighter is none other than "Sugar" Shane Mosley.
One has to wonder what will become of Golden Boy Promotions, who will be left with 45-year-old Bernard Hopkins as the last remaining partner from the original four (made up of Hopkins, Mosley, Oscar De La Hoya and Marco Antonio Barrera) still fighting under the banner. Although the company will still have talented fighters, such as Juan Manuel Marquez, Amir Khan, David Haye, Victor Ortiz, Saul Alvarez and Paulie Malignaggi to name a few, none of them have any real mega-fights in the foreseeable future (unless, of course, David Haye grows a pair and finally faces a Klitschko). With Arum and Top Rank in a position to easily stage a number of pay-per-view bouts in 2011 without the help of any other promoter, Golden Boy Promotions will have a difficult time earning the same type of revenue they've made in the past. Don't be surprised if, for the good of the company (although they'll say the good of the sport), Oscar De La Hoya announces his comeback in the near future. De La Hoya vs. Mosley III anyone? Don't lie...a 24/7 with footage from their first 2 fights, plus a rehash of the BALCO controversy...you know you'd watch it.
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