Shane Mosley Declares Himself Ready To Take On Canelo Alvarez

Shane Mosley and Canelo Alvarez recently held a conference call to hype up their May 5th showdown on the undercard of the Floyd Mayweather-Miguel Cotto bout.

While Alvarez will be looking to boost his rising career with a "name" win over a Hall of Fame fighter, Mosley will be trying for one last shot at glory to punctuate his spectacular career.

Although most experts believe Canelo should be the heavy favorite come fight night, Mosley should not be counted out so quickly.

Unlike in his recent bout with Pacquiao, Mosley could be the quicker, faster-handed man in the ring on May 5th. And history has proven that Mosley can handle the slower, more powerful fighters -- such as Antonio Margarito -- better than the slick boxers who might match or exceed his speed.

Of course, Canelo is no plodder like Margarito.

Alvarez is skilled, patient, and throws a variety of combinations to set up his heavy-handed shots. Matched up against the speedy Mosley's experience, toughness, and powerful right hand, this bout could be just as interesting as the Cotto-Mayweather main event.

Here is the transcript of the four questions that I posed to Mosley, and his responses:

Question
Shane, you lost your last fight to Pacquiao. You lost to Mayweather. You had a draw with Mora. What are you doing differently this time in camp to try to change the result with this bout with Canelo?

Shane Mosley
I think the difference in this camp is that I'm going to the camp I am feeling good-not worrying about anything bothering me. This camp is a different camp because it's a camp where I'm able to be at my best and I'm happy about that.

Question
You recently revealed that you had an Achilles' injury prior to the Pacquiao fight. But going into that fight, you were telling everyone that you felt great. What I wanted to know is are you truly healthy this time and why should your fans believe you when you say that now you're feeling healthy?

Shane Mosley
Well, I mean, it's up to them to make that decision-if they want to believe me or not. When they go to the betting odds and they put their money down and they bet, just know that I warned you.

Question
You're facing a heavy-handed guy in this fight. What's the strategy going into this fight with Canelo? Are you going to stand with him, or try to box and show a little movement? What's the strategy going into this fight?

Shane Mosley
I better not give away much strategy, but I can just let you know that I'm ready to fight. My mentality is to fight, but I definitely will box-fight, punch. I'm going to do everything.

Question
You've been a headliner, a pound-for-pound top 10 guy in your career, but it seems like Álvarez's camp has kind of selected you to be a stepping stone to his career in this fight. How long do you plan to continue fighting and does the fact that they view you as perhaps a stepping stone -- does that give you a little extra motivation going into this fight?

Shane Mosley
I have nothing against Canelo Álvarez and the camp. They only listen to what the media or some of the media is saying and hopefully they don't read too much into it. I'm hearing that Canelo's not taking that serious, so it's going to make it a great fight with a great young fighter. The difference is that Canelo's going to be fighting Shane Mosley than the other two did. So, that's the difference though.

Final Thoughts

If attitude is half the battle, then Mosley is in a good place.  He appears to be taking an all-business approach to this fight, and seems to have mentally flushed his most recent loss down the toilet, essentially chalking it up to his pre-fight injuries.  Boxing fans could be in for a signature Mosley brawl on May 5th.

By Mike Elliott
Staff Editor for The Daily Sports Herald