Shane Mosley vs. Saul Alvarez post fight thoughts.

This past Saturday marked the Mexican holiday "Cinco De Mayo". This holiday is well known to boxing fans since there have been amazing Mexican fighters from past to present in the sport of boxing. May 5th was also the day where Floyd Mayweather Jr. faced Miguel Cotto on HBO Pay Per View. One of the fights on the under card of this event featured Mexican boxing superstar, Saul "Canelo" Alvarez facing future boxing Hall of Famer, "Sugar" Shane Mosley. I was honestly more intrigued by this fight than the Mayweather vs. Cotto bout. Here are my thoughts on how the fight went down.

Saul Alvarez had a record of 39 wins, 0 losses, and 1 draw coming into the fight. Out of his 39 victories, 29 have been by way of knockout. His record is even more impressive when you consider what he has accomplished at the age of 21 years old. His last fight took place in November of last year when he faced Kermit Cintron. Alvarez stopped Cintron in the 5th round of the bout, and thus retained his WBC Light Middleweight Title. Alvarez also has victories over: Alfonso Gomez, Carlos Baldomir, Matthew Hatton, and Jose Miguel Cotto, who is the brother of Miguel Cotto. Although Alvarez is a star in Mexico, he has yet to reach that cross-over appeal in America. Many boxing fans and analyst feel that Alvarez has been protected during his career, and hasn't faced any real stiff competition. "Sugar" Shane Mosley came into this fight with a lot to prove. Mosley had a record of 46 wins, 7 losses, 1 draw, and 1 no contest coming into this fight, with 39 wins by knockout. Now at the age of 40, Mosley hasn't looked great in his last few fights. He lost a 12 round uniamous decision to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2010. Later on in 2010 he faced Sergio Mora, with the bout being ruled a draw. Last year he faced Manny Pacquiao and lost another tweleve round unanimous decision as well. Many thought that the Mosley vs. Pacquiao fight would be a good fight since they both are known for their speed, power, and willingness to brawl. However, after being knocked down by Pacquiao in the third round of the fight, Mosley went into survival mode, and wasn't willing to engage with Pacquiao for the rest of the fight. Due to Mosley not looking good in his recent fights, people assumed he was over the hill and that he should retire. However, Mosley decided to come back and fight the young, strong and tough Canelo Alvarez.

There were mixed emotions by fans and analyst about this fight. Many felt like this would be the fight that would send Shane Mosley into retirement. Mosley who is known for his iron chin has never been knocked out in his long illustrious career. He has only touched the canvas three times during that span. Canelo Alvarez is known for his vicious punching power, along with his ferocious attack when he sees weakness in his opponents. Alvarez knocked out Carlos Baldomir back in 2010. Up until that point, Baldomir was known for having a granite chin as he had never been knocked out before. Some felt like Mosley had a great chance to beat Alvarez due to Alvarez's lack of real competition. People felt like Alvarez had never really been tested, and that Shane Mosley was a good test for the young fighter. Months leading up to the fight, Mosley stated that he wasn't 100 percent healthy in his fights with Mayweather and Pacquaio. Claiming that he was now healthy, Mosley said he was ready to take down the undefeated Saul Alvarez.

This was definitely an entertaining fight for boxing fans. Both fighters weren't afraid to mix it up at all. Alvarez, who isn't known for being a quick starter in fights, obviously wanted to see what Mosley had early on in the fight. Alvarez really didn't do much in the first round as Mosley stayed active using his jab. However, by the third round it's obvious that Alvarez has the way stronger punch. Mosley, who is known for his hard punching power, was able to land shots on Alvarez throughout the fight, but the shots didn't seem to stun Alvarez whatsoever. I personally found this to be shocking as I felt like the only way Mosley could win was by knockout. Many people including myself gave Mosley the hand speed advantage going into the fight, but this definitely wasn't the case during the fight. Alvarez's hand speed appeared to be much better as he was able to land some vicious blows and combinations on Mosley. During the third round, there was a cut to Alvarez's left caused by an accidental headbutt. Despite never being cut before, Alvarez continued to fight on as if the cut wasn't there. Both fighters continued to trade shots with Alvarez landing the more effective and cleaner shots. By the middle of the fight Mosley's age seemed to show a bit. He started to look tired and fatigued, but he continued to hang in there with Alvarez. By the later rounds, Canelo began to impose his youth and will on Mosley as he began to break down the veteran fighter. He continues to hit Mosley with vicious body punches. Punches that Mosley took well for a 40 year old, but the overall toll of them obviously wore him down. Saul Alvarez went on to win the fight by unaminious decision. The official scorecards were: (119-109), (119-109), and (118-110), all for Alvarez.

I personally thought that there were a few close rounds that could have went either way, but I did feel like the fight was dominated by Saul Alvarez overall. I'm a Shane Mosley fan, so I was definitely pulling for him to pull off the upset. I will admit that I wasn't really sure about the hype behind Alvarez as a fighter, but I was really impressed by him in this fight. This guy is an amazing talent, and I wondered to myself, how was Mosley able to stay on his feet after taking some of those hard shots. So what's next for both fighters? I really do believe now that Shane Mosley needs to retire. I give him a lot of credit, he definitely left it all in the ring against Alvarez, but it's obvious that father time has caught up with him. That's a battle that no one wins against. Mosley went out on his shield, so he has nothing left to prove or be ashamed of. As for Saul Alvarez, I would like to see him fight Miguel Cotto. They are both in the same weight division, so that would be another great test for Canelo. Maybe a fight with Sergio Martinez could be a possibility as well. Who knows at this point. I truly believe the sky is the limit for this kid. Thanks for reading.