He did everything but set himself on fire in the middle of Sunset Boulevard.
Shane Donte Mosley did not just pound the table, demanding a fight with Manny Pacquiao. No, Mosley broke the table in half in his frantic, public pleading for a fight with the Pinoy Idol.
Mosley’s desperation, understandable since he turns age 38 in September, hit a new low when he said he was willing to shed enough weight to fight Pacquiao as a junior welterweight (140 pounds).
In my usual, sarcastic, biting, caustic and acerbic way (SBCA in shorthand), I lambasted and lampooned Mosley with no mercy.
Give him a dog and a tin cup, I wrote.
I suggested the Four Tops “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg” as his ring walk music.
If he gets Pacman, they could call it “Beggar’s Banquet,” I said.
Mosley’s purse would be fully paid in an assortment of small coins, you know spare change.
Not to flip flop or flop flip but I now come to praise Shane Donte Mosley.
This will be probably make me the chairperson of the Harper Valley Hypocrites Club and earn me some kicks on the lively comments board from such keyboard sluggers as Bernie Vee, Arcadia. Lodr Voldemort and Professor Dumbledore, not to mention how #1FloydFan will lash out at me.
But I don’t care.
I’ll take their slings, their arrows, the heaping helpings of abuse, because I want to laud Mosley not as the bumbling businessman he has shown himself to be.
No, I say he deserves praise for his competitive spirit. Sure, he wants the giant Manny jackpot but at the same time he was calling out the King of the Hill.
Compare and contrast how Floyd Mayweather Jr. acts so nonchalant, like he could care less if he ever sees Pacman in the opposite corner.
In terms of commercial positioning, Mayweather is the savvy one, acting like Pacman needs him more than vice versa.
Mosley incessant begathon would have hurt him in any negotiations for sure.
But I don’t the fans want to know who the best businessman is.
They want to know who is the best fighter out there and who is ready, willing and proclaims himself able to kick that top guy’s backside.
Mosley wanted to fight Manny, no one else.
Now he may get stuck fighting Andre Berto for a bag of shells, peanut shells to be specific.
Businesswise, Mosley came off like Bozo.
As a gloved gunslinger wanting to fight the Pound for Pound king, Mosley stood tall.
I hope he gets his Pacquaio dream some night before he turns 40.
He has abused steroids and admitted it. Those juices were illegal although Mosley claimed under oath he did not know that.
But Shane Donte Mosley’s competitive juices flow. They flow strong and they flow deep.
Mosley does not want to bill himself as “Numero Uno.”
He wanted to have a chance to earn it by knocking Pacman off his pedestal.
Shane Dante Mosley ducks no man.
Give him his props on that count.
