Now that Manny Pacquiao has committed to a super fight with Miguel Cotto. Sugar Shane Mosley is left without a megafight. After further examination, there may be one out there for him after all. And the challenge may be greater then any of the others. Now before you kill me on this idea, hear me out. It really could be a historic fight. How about Sugar Shane Mosley-Kelly Pavlik at 157 pounds for the Middleweight crown. If Pavlik could make this weight this could easily be a superfight for this December. Let’s examine.
Size
At first glance this is a mismatch in size. Shane Mosley is 5′9″ and Kelly Pavlik is 6′2″. But in order to make this a more fair match-up there would have to be some sort of catch-weight. 157 pounds seems fair. If Pavlik can’t make the weight then the fight can’t be made. But if he can, it would be a legitimate match-up. Mosley is the former Jr. Middleweight Champion and he has fought Jr. Middleweights like Fernando Vargas, Ricardo Mayorga, Oscar De La Hoya, and Winky Wright with a 4-2 record. Also Mosley has been known to spar regularly with the brothers duo of Librado Andrade and Enrique Ornelas, both tall and strong, Andrade is a world rated Super Middleweight and Ornelas is world rated at Middleweight. And he has more then held his own from various reports. In this writers opinion, size wouldn’t be the biggest issue. The biggest issue would be would Shane want to risk fighting a hard puncher like Pavlik. Who would definitely be the hardest hitter he has ever been in with.
Styles
Styles make fights. It would be a classic match-up of speed vs power. And for those harping on that Mosley should fight Paul Williams. Remember Paul Williams is a southpaw, who is bigger and he can match Mosley’s speed. It just wouldn’t make as much sense as Pavlik. Mosley has more speed then Pavlik. Pavlik has more power, and is a lot bigger.
Pavlik, who in his fight against Bernard Hopkins, was very open to counters and Hopkins movement. Could Mosley duplicate that with Nazim Richardson in the corner? Mosley has a different style then Hopkins, but if he stuck to game plan it could be an interesting fight. And could Pavlik knockout Shane, something that has never been done.
Box Office Appeal and History
This fight would sell better then Paul Williams-Shane Mosley. It would be the Welterweight Champion vs The Middleweight Champion. Paul Williams can’t bring history to Sugar Shane, Kelly Pavlik can. Also Pavlik would bring more money then Paul Williams. It would be a great little man against a good big man. Speed vs Power. And could Sugar Shane do what the 2 others Sugars did, that is win the Middleweight Championship. And for Pavlik it would be the biggest payday out there. There is no way he would make more money fighting anybody else.
It could be like, Jake Lamotta, Sugar Ray Robinson, Sugar Ray Robinson-Carmen Basillo, Jose Napoles-Carlos Monzon, Sugar Ray Leonard-Marvin Hagler, and recently Bernard Hopkins-Oscar De La Hoya, previous match-ups of Weltweight champions against Middleweight Champions. All were huge fights and this would be no less.
Logistics
Pretty simple here. Both don’t currently have a fight. Why not do it in December on a major PPV. This fight would do at least 350K to 500K on the historical element alone. For Pavlik it would be a huge payday and fight with a big name opponent. For Mosley it would be a historical fight, one that would stamp his legacy as one of the greatest ever if he could pull it off.
Could it Happen
It could if Shane would be willing to take the huge risk. And if Pavlik would be willing lose 3 more pounds for a big pay-day. Both need a fight, so why not.
