Former three division world champion Shane Mosley will come out of retirement to face recent world title challenger Pablo Cesar Cano on May 18th on Cancun, Mexico according to Dan Rafael of espn.com
“I’m happy to get back in the ring competing,” Mosley told ESPN.com on Wednesday. “This can put me back in contention to fight for another world title.”
“Cano’s last fight fell out because he was sick, so now he needs an opponent for his next fight,” Mosley said. “And I told everyone at Golden Boy that I am willing to fight anybody at 147. Anybody. My mind set is I am on a mission to win a world title again and do it with my father (Jack Mosley) in the corner.”
“We think it’s an interesting fight,” Golden Boy Promotions chief executive Richard Schaefer said. “Televisa, which we have a (television) deal with in Mexico, likes the fight so they are excited about it and, of course, those fights are on Fox Deportes in the United States, so this gives them a fight with some good names also.”
“HBO and Showtime felt that Shane should have a fight where he shows he’s still got it and that such a fight should not be on a premium network,” Schaefer said. “That was communicated to Shane. The message was conveyed and he took this fight with Cano.
“This is a fight that is going to show where Cano is and where Shane is. For Shane to fight Joe Shmoe wouldn’t do anybody any good. But if Shane can beat a young, talented guy like Cano, it’s a huge step for Shane, who can say, ‘Hey, I’m still here and I want to have another shot at the title.’ So this is a meaningful fight for Shane and also for Cano, because if he can beat Mosley that’s a great name on his resume. So Cano will be motivated for that reason and Shane knows how important this is because it can open doors for him again if he wins.
“I haven’t seen his fight with Malignaggi yet. I’m going to get a copy of it,” Mosley said. “But I watched the fight with Morales and I got a feel for how Cano fights. He looks like a good, young fighter. He likes to fight, he’s tough and he’s strong. I’m looking forward to fighting him. This is the type of fight I need to get myself back on the road to fighting the top guys at welterweight. At this point, I’m looking to fight everybody.”
“I was proud of him and I was inspired by the things he was doing at the age of 48,” Mosley said. “He looked good doing it. He had the moves and the style matched up very well for him. For him to be able to do that at 48 is phenomenal. At the end of the fight it didn’t look like he was breathing. He was smiling and talking — he always talks — and looked great. That really inspired me.”
“I’ve never fought in Mexico, but I went there for the press conference for the fight with Canelo and I got a good response,” Mosley said. “A lot of people there love me and respect me and I think it will be the same with this fight. Cancun is fine with me. After the fight maybe I’ll take a little vacation there and enjoy myself after all the hard work I’m about to put in.”
