GOLDEN BOY ENTERPRISES
Moderator: Monica Sears
September 22, 2008
12:00 pm CT
Operator: Good afternoon. My name is (Elsa) and I will be your conference operator today. At this time I would like to welcome everyone to the Shane Mosley versus Ricardo Mayorga conference call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise.
After the speakers’ remarks there will be a question and answer period. If you would like to pose a question during this time, please press star then the number 1 on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, press the pound key. Thank you. It is now my pleasure to turn the floor over to Monica Sears. Ma’am you may begin.
Monica Sears: Thank you (Elsa). Hi everyone, I’d like to welcome you all to the Shane Mosley versus Ricardo Mayorga conference call. We have a very exciting fight week planned and at this time I’d like to introduce Golden Boy Promotions, Chief Executive Officer Richard Schaefer who will discuss the exciting fight details.
Richard Schaefer: Thank you Monica. Welcome everybody to today’s conference call. As we all know, the main event, the Sugar Shane Mosley versus Ricardo Mayorga, it’s going to be a 12 round Junior Middleweight bout. It’s going to be an exciting co-main event as well with Andre Berto versus Stevie Forbes, Saturday, September 27 at the Home Depot Center here in Carson, California.
The fight will be live on HBO World Championship Boxing, 10:30 Eastern, 7:30 pm Pacific. Again, this is not a pay-per-view event. It’s a live HBO World Championship boxing event. It’s presented by Golden Boy Promotions and Don King Productions. The core feature is presented by Golden Boy Promotions and Don King Productions in association with the Bell Entertainment and Tournament of Contenders.
The show is sponsored by Cerveza Tecate Affliction Clothing and Southwest Airlines. This is going to be an amazing night of boxing. For both guys a lot is at stake. We have priced the tickets very reasonably starting at $50, $50, $75, $150 and the top price ring side ticket is $350. Tickets are still available. Don’t miss out to witness live two of the most exciting fighters.
You know when Sugar Shane Mosley comes, it always is a great fight and with Ricardo Mayorga, one of the most exciting fighters in the ring, I think it’s going to be an unbelievable showdown. Former four time world champion, Sugar Shane Mosley, again the former three time world champion, Ricardo Mayorga. It really can only be a great, great showdown.
For Shane, Shane has a big following here in California and throughout the world. However this is the first time in eight years that Sugar Shane is fighting again in his hometown in Los Angeles. The last time was in 2000 when he had one of his best performances ever when he won against Oscar de la Hoya at the Staple Center.
Richard Mayorga as well has a huge following here. And I think he has really captured the imagination of the people here in Los Angeles with his performance in November 2007 about a year ago at the Staple Center as well where he won against Fernando Vargas.
Richard Mayorga emerged onto the boxing scene in 2002 when he won his first world title against Andrew “Six Heads” Lewis. And then of course he shocked the boxing world when he beat Vernon Forrest twice. Both fighters have fought common opponents. Obviously both have fought Oscar and both have fought Vernon Forrest.
Shane defeated de la Hoya twice and Mayorga lost to de la Hoya. And Mayorga of course defeated Forrest twice and Mosley lost to Forrest twice so a lot of interesting story lines. As I said in the beginning of the call, a lot is at stake here for both fighters. And so both fighters are former junior middleweight champions, multi division champions. Two of the biggest names in the sport and you can see them live here in Los Angeles or on HBO World Championship Boxing.
I would like to introduce to you now our co-promoter from Don King Productions, Alan Hopper the Director of Public Relations for Don. Please Alan.
Alan Hopper: Thanks Richard. I just wanted to say that for those that cannot come to the show in Southern California that the HBO World Championship Boxing live telecast will begin at 7:30 pm Pacific time, 10:30 pm Eastern time. Richard has shared with you many facts about El Matador. I’ll just share a couple more before he joins us on the phone because he’s got to be on now because he’s going to be traveling to Los Angeles this evening from South Florida where he’s been training.
Mayorga has faced five reigning world champions, four former world champions and one world-ranked fighter in his last ten fights. In those last ten fights, his opponents have a combined record of 307, 17 and 3 going into the matches against him. Ricardo went 6 and 3 and one no contest against these opponents.
Right now I’d like to introduce (Juan Gonzalez) who will be the translator on today’s call for opening comments from Ricardo. (Juan).
(Juan Gonzalez): Yes good afternoon to everybody. I’ve got Ricardo on the line. Ricardo ((Spanish spoken)).
Ricardo Mayorga: ((Spanish spoken)).
(Juan Gonzalez): ((Spanish spoken)).
Ricardo Mayorga: ((Spanish spoken)).
(Juan Gonzalez): First of all I want to say thanks to everybody that is covering the press that is covering the event. I’ve been training very hard for the past two months. I’m in really, really good shape and I think it’s going to be a two-three round knockout.
Alan Hopper: Also ask him about his weight. He’s been coming into my office, taking his shirt off, pounding on his stomach. Telling me he’s…
(Juan Gonzalez): ((Spanish spoken)).
Ricardo Mayorga: ((Spanish spoken)).
(Juan Gonzalez): Right now with five days away and I’m already at 158 pounds.
Alan Hopper: Okay great. Questions I suppose, Monica.
Monica Sears: Okay also let’s open up the call to questions and answers.
Operator: Certainly. As a reminder, if you would like to ask a question please press Star followed by 1 on your telephone keypad at this time. Our first question is coming from Dan Rafael of ESPN, please go ahead.
Dan Rafael: Thank you everybody. Hey (Juan) are you there?
(Juan Gonzalez): Yes I’m here. Dan, how are you doing?
Dan Rafael: I’m doing very good. Could you ask Ricardo, it’s been just about a year not quite a year since he had his fight with Fernando Vargas. And it’s also been awhile almost a year since Shane had his fight against Miguel Cotto. And I’m wondering does Ricardo, you know, how does he deal with such a long layoff?
I mean he says his weight is good. But layoffs for guys, especially when they get a little bit older, sometimes that can be a real problem because they need to be, you know, a little sharper then if they’re more active. Just ask him how the layoff has impacted him or if he thinks it has any sort of impact on him.
(Juan Gonzalez): ((Spanish spoken)).
Ricardo Mayorga: ((Spanish spoken)).
(Juan Gonzalez): I’m very used to this. Normally when I have these big fights I fight after a year. Like when I fought Trinidad, the same thing when I fought de la Hoya. And then one more year after I fought Vargas last year and I really think that everything gets into shape in the gym. And I think the distance in the sparing section; I use it to take distance and to get ready to fight. And I’ve been training for two months and doing sparing for two months. I think I’m ready.
Dan Rafael: Okay also (Juan), could you ask him, you know, I have covered many of Ricardo’s fights. I’ve heard him predict knockouts against everybody from Oscar to Trinidad to Vargas to Cory Spinks, you name it. You know, in those fights he hasn’t delivered on the promises but he keeps predicting them. I’m wondering if at any point in his career he may just layoff the knockout prediction and just try to win the fight.
(Juan Gonzalez): ((Spanish spoken)).
Ricardo Mayorga: ((Spanish spoken)).
(Juan Gonzalez): I always say that but I think this time I’m fighting a guy that is really smaller than me and he’s weak. He’s not as the other fighters that I’ve been fighting that are big guys and they were tough. And I’m pretty sure this time it’s going to happen.
Dan Rafael: Okay. Juan, thank you, Ricardo, gracias, thank you everybody.
(Juan Gonzalez): Thank you Dan.
Operator: Thank you. Our next question is coming from Lance Pugmire with the Los Angeles Times, please go ahead.
Lance Pugmire: Hi Ricardo. I just wanted to ask you with, you know, Shane is known very well for his speed and his power. Do you think that that’s your best opportunity to counteract that is your size advantage? Or what would you say are going to be your main answers to his speed and power?
(Juan Gonzalez): ((Spanish spoken)).
Ricardo Mayorga: ((Spanish spoken)).
(Juan Gonzalez): First of all Mosley’s speed is gone already and I still have my power. And for this fight I trained very hard and I’m going to prove it on Saturday night.
Lance Pugmire: Now one more question real quick, does Ricardo think that he by defeating Vargas that he retired Vargas? And does he think that if he defeats Mosley that Mosley should retire as well?
(Juan Gonzalez): ((Spanish spoken)).
Ricardo Mayorga: ((Spanish spoken)).
(Juan Gonzalez): And there we go and now we’re starting the trash talking but there we go. He says he’s definitely going to retire him because here’s where he deserves to be; washing dishes. His wife is the one in charge so he needs to go home and listen to her.
Lance Pugmire: All right, thank you guys.
Alan Hopper: Lance, I want to remind you and everyone on today’s call that hails from Southern California that Ricardo will be doing a workout tomorrow, that’s Tuesday at noon at the Classic Kick Boxing Gym in Pasadena at 91 East Union Avenue. If you want anymore details on that, if you haven’t received it, you want to attend the workout, please ask any of the PR staff and we’ll help you out.
Lance Pugmire: Thanks Alan.
Operator: Thank you. Our next question is coming from Franklin McNeil with Newark Star Ledger, please go ahead.
Franklin McNeil: I’d like to know is Shane on the call?
Man: Shane will be on the call around 10:30. I will introduce Shane when he’s on.
Franklin McNeil: Okay great.
Operator: Thank you. Our next question is coming from Eddie Goldman with Second Outs Radio, please go ahead.
Eddie Goldman: Thank you very much. Hi everybody, hi Ricardo. My question is about what you’ve seen in Shane Mosley’s recent fights that makes you believe that you’re going to knock him out and his speed is gone. And particularly did you watch the fight? He had a close fight last year with Miguel Cotto. Was there anything you saw in that fight that you think you can use to your advantage?
(Juan Gonzalez): ((Spanish spoken)).
Ricardo Mayorga: ((Spanish spoken)).
(Juan Gonzalez): I saw in him that his speed is not the same anymore. I saw in that fight he’s never been recognized for big power. And after the fourth round, I think he’s going to start getting tired like he did in the fight with Cotto. At the end he didn’t close very strong.
Eddie Goldman: Do you think the fact that you’ve only been fighting about once a year might at this stage of your career be helping you because you don’t, you know, you’re not getting in as many fire fights as you had been in the past when you were fighting two, three, four times a year?
(Juan Gonzalez): ((Spanish spoken)).
Ricardo Mayorga: ((Spanish spoken)).
(Juan Gonzalez): Definitely I think it helps. Some fighters like to fight a lot but for this big fight I really like to have time because I go to training camp hungry to go to training not tired I’ve been training already a couple of times a year.
Eddie Goldman: Okay and do you want to stay at 154 for future fights? And if you do, do you want to go for a championship such as against Vernon Forrest since he got his title back?
(Juan Gonzalez): ((Spanish spoken)).
Ricardo Mayorga: ((Spanish spoken)).
(Juan Gonzalez): I’m ready to knockout Mosley and go for Forrest over any other champion in the Junior Middleweight division.
Eddie Goldman: Okay thank you. Good luck Saturday night.
(Juan Gonzalez): Thank you.
Alan Hopper: For people that have forgotten, Ricardo fought Vargas at 162 pounds and he’ll be at 154 pounds here. And he was strong enough to knock Vargas down in the opening stanza.
Operator: Thank you. Our next question is coming from Ramon Aranda from 411 Mania dot com, please go ahead.
Ramon Aranda: How we doing everybody, Ricardo, ((Spanish spoken)). The question is for Ricardo and I can ask him in Spanish too. But what I’d like to know given that Vernon Forrest beat Shane Mosley twice and in turn he beat Vernon Forrest twice, is that enough to give him the confidence to feel that he will be able to beat Shane Mosley without a problem? Or is there something else in his game that he feels he’ll have to work on when he takes on Mosley this weekend?
(Juan Gonzalez): ((Spanish spoken)).
Ricardo Mayorga: ((Spanish spoken)).
(Juan Gonzalez): Mosley basically beat my son. My son beat Mosley, that’s what he’s saying. My son beat Mosley and my son is Vernon Forrest. And the fact that Mosley beat de la Hoya two times, here’s why I really want to beat Mosley. Because if I beat Mosley, de la Hoya could put in his mind that don’t think he’s going to keep beating me like Mosley beat him two times.
That’s the fight that I want again. I want to fight (unintelligible) after I beat Mosley.
Ramon Aranda: Now my other question is after the fight that Ricardo had with Vargas, he had mentioned that he would like to return to the welter weight division which is where he reigned as champion. And I know that fighters always see it as a dream away. Is that still something that he would like to do in the future or is he content to stay at 154?
(Juan Gonzalez): ((Spanish spoken)) Ricardo?
Ricardo Mayorga: ((Spanish spoken)).
(Juan Gonzalez): Ricardo?
Ricardo Mayorga: ((Spanish spoken)).
(Juan Gonzalez): ((Spanish spoken)).
Ricardo Mayorga: ((Spanish spoken)).
(Juan Gonzalez): (Unintelligible) I’d fight them anytime.
Ramon Aranda: All right thank you.
(Juan Gonzalez): I am ready to fight anybody at 154 pounds.
Ramon Aranda: ((Spanish spoken)).
Operator: Thank you. Our next question is coming from Ken Miller with the Los Angeles Sentinel please go ahead.
Ken Miller: Perhaps Ricardo, you know, Shane Mosley has said that he wants to fight for three or four more years after this fight and this is more like a stepping stone fight. What’s in the future for Mayorga? Where does he want to go providing he beats Shane Mosley and knocks him out as he predicts.
(Juan Gonzalez): Ricardo, ((Spanish spoken)).
Ricardo Mayorga: ((Spanish spoken)).
(Juan Gonzalez): First of all Mosley ain’t going to fight no more. He’s going to be washing dishes and mopping his house because his wife, like Ricardo’s calling her, the Chinese girl, she’s in charge. So he doesn’t have to be talking about fighting again. I am going to keep fighting because I am going to knock him out.
Ken Miller: And my final question to Mayorga is that Shane mentioned to me that, you know, he was able to knock out Fernando Vargas. Obviously it was a different weight but he thinks that that fight proves that he can beat Mayorga. What does Mayorga think of that?
(Juan Gonzalez): ((Spanish spoken)).
Ricardo Mayorga: ((Spanish spoken)).
(Juan Gonzalez): Mosley doesn’t know what he’s talking about. If he stands toe-to-toe with me in the middle of the ring I’m going to knock him out in the first round. If he runs, it’s going to take from two to three rounds to knock him out. ((Spanish spoken)).
Ricardo Mayorga: ((Spanish spoken)).
(Juan Gonzalez): He’s going to be running and I’m going to be just following him. I know he’s going to run. He ain’t going to stay up there with me.
Ken Miller: Thank you.
Operator: Thank you. Our next question is coming from Igor Frank with Burbank Times, please go ahead.
Igor Frank: Hello everybody. Hello Ricardo. I’ve just got one quick question for you. The Las Vegas bookmakers have Shane Mosley 9 to 1 favorite to win this fight. What do you think about that?
(Juan Gonzalez): ((Spanish spoken)).
Ricardo Mayorga: ((Spanish spoken)).
(Juan Gonzalez): I think the odds makers are crazy. They don’t know what they’re doing.
Igor Frank: How much do you weigh right now Ricardo? That’s my last question.
(Juan Gonzalez): One fifty eight.
Igor Frank: One fifty eight, okay thank you very much.
(Juan Gonzalez): Thank you.
Operator: Our next question is coming from Vivek Wallace with Eastside Boxing, please go ahead.
Vivek Wallace: ((Spanish spoken)). Good afternoon ladies and gents one quick question for Ricardo Mayorga. In your last fight against Fernando Vargas, I think it appeared that you put a little more emphasis on fundamental boxing. You brought it a little bit when you had to but I think he (unintelligible) the shots better and he looked like he boxed better.
Against a skilled fighter like Shane Mosley, can we expect to see him come in the ring that way again? Or will it be vintage Mayorga going for the KO?
Alan Hopper: Good question.
(Juan Gonzalez): ((Spanish spoken)).
Ricardo Mayorga: ((Spanish spoken)).
(Juan Gonzalez): It’s not going to be nothing different than Vargas. In this fight I’m going to beat him in the boxing and I’m definitely going to knock him out. I’m ready. I’ve got my trainer back. I’ve got my speed. I’ve been doing sparing and I’ve got my old trainer. That’s the main point that he’s back training me. And I’m going to start hitting him and I know I’m going to knock him out soon.
Vivek Wallace: Okay let me just follow that with one other question. I get a lot of emails from fight fans out there. And one thing that’s hot on a lot of people’s tongues is the possibility of a future potential showdown with Antonio Margarita. In the event that Ricardo does come out of this fight successful, what are the odds of that fight happening at some point in the future? That’s all I have. Thank you, Ricardo.
(Juan Gonzalez): Ricardo, ((Spanish spoken)).
Ricardo Mayorga: ((Spanish spoken)).
(Juan Gonzalez): Margarita, I know I’m not thinking about that because I know my promoter, Don King, can invite me to dinner that’s the same amount I’m going to make fighting Margarita and especially when Margarita is not going to have the guts to come to 154. Margarita is going to stay down there fighting people that are not recognized. He ain’t going to come up to 154 to fight me.
Ricardo Mayorga: ((Spanish spoken)).
(Juan Gonzalez): When I beat de la Hoya’s (unintelligible) he’s the one that should come and fight me again because this time I’m going to beat him.
Vivek Wallace: Okay. Thanks a lot Ricardo, good luck.
(Juan Gonzalez): Operator, I have two more for Mayorga. He has to go.
Alan Hopper: Okay.
Monica Sears: Okay everyone, actually it looks like we are wrapped up with questions for Ricardo. So thank you Ricardo and have a safe trip out here.
Alan Hopper: Okay again and for everybody on the call we look forward to seeing you see the new improved, thinner and more svelte Ricardo El Matador Mayorga tomorrow, that’s Tuesday at noon at the Classic Kick Boxing Gym. Come by and see us.
(Juan Gonzalez): Ricardo ((Spanish spoken)).
Ricardo Mayorga: ((Spanish spoken)).
(Juan Gonzalez): First of all I want to say thank you to everybody that was on the call. Thank you to all the promoters involved in the card for giving me the opportunity, my promoter, Don King for giving food for me and my family. He’s really been great with me all my career. And I’m not going to let anybody down.
Come Saturday night watch it. You’re going to see a big, big Mayorga with his fantastic training team that they’re a winning team and we’re going to go inside of it to win.
Alan Hopper: Hey (Juan), have Ricky tell the audience what they’re going to see at tomorrow’s media workout. He’s been telling me. Have him tell everybody how skinny and strong he is and what they’re going to see. I’d like to hear that before he goes.
(Juan Gonzalez): Ricardo, ((Spanish spoken)).
Ricardo Mayorga: ((Spanish spoken)).
(Juan Gonzalez): I’m going to let my trainer tell me what he wants me to do tomorrow but you’re definitely going to see a Ricardo Mayorga in shape that’s the main point and thank you for everything and see you tomorrow.
Okay Ricky, ((Spanish spoken)).
Alan Hopper: Muchos gracias Ricky.
(Juan Gonzalez): ((Spanish spoken)).
Ricardo Mayorga: (Juan), ((Spanish spoken)).
Operator: Thank you introducing Shane Mosley.
Richard Schaefer: Okay thank you. Well so we heard it. Mayorga is in shape, he’s skinny. He’s strong. He stopped smoking. He stopped drinking and he’s going to knock Shane out in two to three rounds.
Well, you know, Saturday night there’s going to be somebody across the ring there at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. And that guy’s name is Sugar Shane Mosley. Forty four wins, nine losses, he’s a four time world champion in three weight classes. He’s considered one of boxing’s all time best certainly a future Hall of Famer.
Won his first title in 97 in the light weight division, successfully defended his light weight title eight times winning them all by knockouts. He skipped the junior welterweight division and moved directly to welterweight where he had two fights before defeating Oscar de la Hoya right here in downtown Los Angeles at the Staple Center.
Recently he had the very hard fought, exciting controversial decision loss against Miguel Cotto in New York, November 10, 2007. And now he’s back looking for another big win against Mayorga and then of course a fight with some of the other big names in the division.
He really is the good guy. Saturday day night it’s going to be good guy against bad guy; good boy against bad boy. And he just is an amazing athlete, exciting. You always see a great fight, a great performance that’s what he lives for. And it’s a real pleasure for me to turn it over now to my friend, to Sugar Shane Mosley, please Shane.
Shane Mosley: Thank you. I’m happy to be here. I’m ready to go September 27, this Saturday. (Unintelligible) training hard and I’m very fast and sharp right now. And I’m looking forward to the night and I hope all the viewers and all the writers enjoy Saturday night.
Man: Okay, thank you Shane. We can open it up for questions now. Operator.
Operator: Thank you. Once again if you’d like to ask a question, please press Star followed by 1 on your telephone keypad at this time. Our first question is coming from Dan Rafael, ESPN, please go ahead.
Dan Rafael: Thank you. Hey Shane, how are you today.
Shane Mosley: How you doing Dan?
Dan Rafael: Good. Shane I want to ask you, I don’t know if you listened to what Ricardo says but it was not a whole lot different than what he was saying at the press conference when they announced the fight. He just keeps talking endlessly about an early knockout. Do you pay any attention whatsoever or does it just sort of amuse you?
Shane Mosley: No I didn’t listen to what he was saying. I just got on the phone. But it doesn’t really interest me in him saying that he’s going to knock me out or how many rounds we’re going to do. You know, my main focus is getting to the ring and taking care of business on Saturday. And that is with the knockout so maybe it will go two or three rounds but I won’t be the one getting knocked out.
Dan Rafael: Okay. Also I wanted to know, you know, I know this fight, you know, kind of came up when after the Cotto fight looking for another marketable fight that fans would enjoy and that, you know, you could all put on a good show. But I don’t think anybody would consider Mayorga to be the biggest opponent out there.
So in your situation, what exactly is out there for you in the future presuming you take care of your business on Saturday? Is there a big fight for you at some point? In what division would it take place? I look at the landscape I’m not really sure what else there is for you to do or who else you can fight to make a big show.
Shane Mosley: Well I think that the biggest fight out there right now is Margarita and he’s just the best welterweight out there. And that’s pretty much the landscape of the thing right now. I mean there might be a few extras here and there but that’s pretty much about it at this point.
Dan Rafael: Well the reason I asked you the question is because, you know, if you listen to what the folks at Top Rank say they are in the process of trying to lay a path towards a rematch between Cotto and Margarita coming off that fight they had a couple of months ago that was so outstanding.
And so if they’re going to be preoccupied with each other fighting separate fights in the beginning of the year, fighting each other again sometime, you know, in the second half or end of the first half of the year, where does that leave Shane Mosley?
Shane Mosley: Oh well that just lets me know that they want no part of me. I’m still the top fighter out there and, you know, I continue to go out there and fight. Maybe there’s some other fights out there that I can look forward toward doing.
I’m not really sure whether it’s me, Richard and with Oscar and see if we have to go back and review who’s out there to fight. And maybe a few of the fans want to see Sugar Shane fight.
Dan Rafael: Okay one other question for you Shane. The first fight like Richard mentioned in the LA area in eight years. Your first fight since the de lay Hoya first fight. Can you just talk about your emotions of going home again for the first time in a long time?
Shane Mosley: I think it’s going to be exciting (unintelligible). I have my friends and family there. And they are going to get a chance to not drive or fly so far and be able to see me in the hometown. And, you know, there’s a lot of people at home that haven’t really got the chance to see me fight in person for a long time and definitely want to come out and check me out.
Dan Rafael: All right, great thank you Shane very much and best of luck Saturday to you.
Shane Mosley: Thank you, appreciate it.
Operator: Thank you. Your next question is coming from Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports, please go ahead.
Kevin Iole: I appreciate it. I was wondering if I could follow up a little bit on what Dan asked you about, you know, fighters at your stage, you know, you seem to get more motivated by the big fights. If there aren’t a lot of things out there are you going to fight anyways?
Shane Mosley: Most likely I will. You know, I’m motivated anyway right now to be the thorn in everybody’s backside. You know, I want to be the one people know that, you know, I’m the best fighter out there. So they have to come see me.
I’m just going to push the door down and then, you know, and make the fans and everybody say, oh we want to see Sugar Shane fight this one; Sugar Shane fight that one. So I have to continue to or look impressive and continue to beat fighters.
Kevin Iole: So maybe if you were at your peak, I don’t know when you would consider your peak but, you know, how are you different now as a fighter from when you were at your physical peak?
Shane Mosley: My physical peak, I wouldn’t say physical. I’d probably say my youthful peak, if you would say that. You know, maybe mentally I believe that I still have the knowledge to out smart and out think other fighters. I might not throw as many punches as I used to. I think I’m picking it up a little more.
I think that, you know, my punches are becoming sharp when I work out and sparing, stuff like that. I’m sparing a lot of young great talent. And it lets me know that I’m still, you know, able to contend in that area.
Kevin Iole: You know, that comment that Freddie Roach made about Oscar, I’m going to ask you. You know, a lot of times when a fighter gets to be your age, you know, people (unintelligible). Have you seen any of that where, you know, maybe you see an opening and you’re not able to (unintelligible) or is it more you’re just more of a thinking fighter than you were when you were younger?
Shane Mosley: You know that was interesting because I think that was happening. But now, you know, I’m pulling the trigger pretty good I think just in workouts and stuff. I don’t know I have this taste in my mouth where, you know, a taste for blood. And I’m just ready to pull the trigger on everybody. So it doesn’t mean – I mean right now I’m ready to pull the trigger.
Kevin Iole: And lastly and I’ll let someone ask my last question. You know, you mentioned or you referred to, you know, trying to get back to pound-for-pound status. But if you’re not able to get one of those marquee fights like a Cotto or Margarita or etc. in the ring, how do you think you’re going to be able to, you know, get to that stage?
Shane Mosley: I think the fans have to demand it. The fans have to want to see a great fight. And once the fans demand it then I think we’ll have a big fight.
Richard Schaefer: Well maybe I can add to that as well, Kevin. You know, there is Cotto and there is Margarita. But let’s face it there’s a guy that actually about a year ago beat Margarita in a pretty exciting fight and that man is Paul Williams. And in my opinion Paul Williams has as much of a claim to beat the guy at a 147 pounds as Margarita has.
We all know that Shane has never turned down anybody. So yes, there is potentially a Paul Williams. There is potentially as well an Oscar fight. There is potentially if Merriweather returns, you know, a Merriweather fight. So I think I’m not really worried that Shane will not be able to secure some time next year a mega fight. We’re not really that worried about it.
Kevin Iole: Thank you Richard.
Operator: Thank you. Our next question is coming from Franklin McNeil with Newark Star Ledger, please go ahead.
Franklin McNeil: Shane, my first question to you is that you’ve been campaigning recently for big fights at 147. So how will this fight against Mayorga at 154 be beneficial?
Shane Mosley: It keeps me in the ring. It keeps me active. You know, I didn’t have a fight because the Zab Judah fight fell out. So now, you know, I don’t want to sit around and wait for a fight and get myself rusty and not as sharp.
And, you know, when you get a little older and you sit around then, you know, you can’t bounce back as fast. So I want to make sure that I’m out in the ring. I want to make sure that I’m fighting and make sure (unintelligible).
Franklin McNeil: Okay and if the price — I know Richard just mentioned Paul Williams as a possibility — but if the fights that you seek at 147 don’t pan out, will you consider returning to 154 and staying there?
Shane Mosley: Well, you know, that’s the thing. I mean I have both weights. We’re going to have to start I mean it’s easy to bounce back and forth. But, you know, if something doesn’t materialize at 147, you never know. Maybe at 154 might be a weight that I campaign at. So we’ll see.
Franklin McNeil: Are there any potential big fights at 154 in your mind right now?
Shane Mosley: I’m not really sure there’s any big fights out there. But I know, you know, Vernon Forrest is still lurking out there. And, you know, there’s some more 154 pounders that are out there. So we’ll definitely see and, you know, look at the last gate.
Franklin McNeil: And one last question, obviously, you know, when we talk about Shane Mosley at this point, you know, in your career, we’re talking about a fighter who’s really looking for mega fights and against other high profile fighters.
With that in mind, you know, this fight against Mayorga, is it important? Is it important not only to win but to also win in impressive fashion? I know he’s talking about knockouts. But do you feel you need to win in impressive fashion to improve your chances of getting the fights you want?
Shane Mosley: You know at this point and this stage in my career, you know, when I go into the ring I like to fight. I look to win in impressive fashion in every fight not just this one, the next one, the next one, and the next one. So, yes, it is important to me, to myself, you know, self-importance of me to win each fight impressively.
Franklin McNeil: Are you predicting a knockout as well?
Shane Mosley: I believe it’s going to end in a knockout, yes. You know, I’m not sure if I’m going to knock him out in two or three, it might be five, I don’t know. But I know that, you know, I have the skill to get a knockout.
Franklin McNeil: Okay thanks a lot Shane and good luck.
Shane Mosley: Thank you.
Operator: Thank you. Our next question is coming from Nat Vinton with New York Daily News, please go ahead.
Nat Vinton: Hi Shane, my question is about your lawsuit against Victor Conte. You know, it’s kind of gone through various dismissals and re-filings. And I just wonder what’s the motivation behind this, why are you suing him exactly in your own words? I wanted to hear that from you.
Richard Schaefer: Well hold on quickly Shane.
Shane Mosley: That’s a lawsuit I cannot – it’s a lawsuit so I can’t really talk about that. We have to make sure we go through all that and my lawyer and all that. I don’t even think about that right now. I’m thinking about (unintelligible) fight.
Richard Schaefer: If you want to talk to Shane’s attorney, Judd Burstein, you’re certainly more than happy to call our office and we can give you the number. But since this is an ongoing litigation, that’s not a smart thing to do to talk about ongoing litigation.
Nat Vinton: Well that’s a little disappointing. I’d like to hear from him, from his own words. I’ve talked to his lawyer. I’d like to hear what his motivation is.
Richard Schaefer: Well as I say, it’s not going to be discussed on this call. There’s no way that somebody’s going to talk about an ongoing, active litigation. So that’s just the way it is. Okay.
Operator: Thank you. Our next question is coming from Eddie Goldman with Seconds Out Radio, please go ahead.
Eddie Goldman: Thank you very much. Hey Shane, how you doing today?
Shane Mosley: I’m doing great.
Eddie Goldman: Good. Let me ask about what you think Mayorga has left because it seems the peak of his career was 2003 when he had the victories over Vernon Forrest. And since then he’s gone just three and three and hasn’t fought as much. How much do you think he has left as a fighter?
Shane Mosley: Well I mean he looked pretty good with Vargas I believe. But, you know, he didn’t knock Vargas out. You know, he stumbled a couple of times. But with Mayorga you never know what he has. He can be, you know, at 154 he might have, you know, got himself in shape. You know, he says he’s skinnier now and, you know, he’s strong and skinny. So we’ll see, you know. Will that work for him or will it work against him? I don’t know. We’ll see.
Eddie Goldman: How is fighting at 54 going to affect you because more recently you’ve been fighting at welterweight. From what I’ve heard it seems that you actually prefer fighting at that weight at this point.
Shane Mosley: Well, you know, I’m actually – what’s weird is I feel skinny myself at 154 and that’s kind of odd. I’m very strong, very fast. I feel good. You know, I don’t have to really struggle that much to make the weight. But, I don’t know. It’s a good feeling right now. I mean I feel good. I don’t think it’s going to affect me or anything. I think it’s going to help me enhance my performance.
Eddie Goldman: Do you think it’s going to give you more power not having to cut down to 47?
Shane Mosley: I think it’s going to give me power. You know what? It’s crazy because I think I have more speed now. For this fight (unintelligible). I don’t know maybe I’m growing into 154. I’m just filling in or something I don’t know.
Eddie Goldman: And how have you adjusted the training in later years because that’s the thing that people have to do. You can’t train the same way you did in your 20s when you get a little bit older.
Shane Mosley: Oh well, you know, I think that, you know, you have to be very cautious of over working, you know, over running or, you know, working out and stuff. So I kind of monitor myself and make sure that I get proper rest and sleep. And make sure that I’m able to recover.
Eddie Goldman: Okay. He made the prediction that he’s going to win by knockout. Do you want to make an official prediction or just comment on how you think it’s going to turn out?
Shane Mosley: Yes I think it’s going to end in a knockout; I think he’s right. The only thing I think I’ll knock him out maybe in about two or three rounds as well or five. I don’t know I think five to four. But, you know, I feel so good. If he comes out reckless and crazy then he might go a little earlier. So it’s really up to him how long he wants to go.
Eddie Goldman: All right. Good luck Saturday night.
Shane Mosley: Thank you.
Eddie Goldman: Thanks.
Operator: Thank you. Once again, as a reminder, if you would like to ask a question, please press Star followed by 1 on your telephone keypad at this time. Our next question is coming from Dan Rafael of ESPN, please go ahead.
Dan Rafael: Thank you. Shane I wondered about the layoff that you’ve had, you haven’t since the fight with Cotto last year. That was a good performance. You know, you came up just a little bit short in the fight. And I asked Ricardo this on the phone a few minutes ago. Can you talk about what the layoff is going to do for you or work against you?
Shane Mosley: Well I think it’s going to – this particular layoff is working for me because I was actually in camp to fight Zab Judah so I was in camp for the whole time. And then I think two weeks or three weeks before fight, you know, that incident happened. So I got a chance to workout but not get the chance to fight.
And then I came back to camp again for this fight…
Dan Rafael: After only a two week break?
Shane Mosley: After like a two week break, yes. I come back and I start, you know, training again. So I’ve actually got my system in pretty good shape. I think I’m even sharper because of that. So I think it was a plus for me.
Now for Mayorga, he fought around when I fought against Vargas. But he’s just been, you know, hanging out or whatever. You know, he just recently stopped smoking (unintelligible) and drinking.
Dan Rafael: Right.
Shane Mosley: So I don’t know how that’s going to affect him.
Dan Rafael: Okay. Also you mentioned briefly I don’t remember if it was you mentioning it or Richard in his comments but the name Vernon Forrest came up and a couple of things about that. Number one, I don’t know if you saw his performance. He put on what I thought was the best performance he’s had since his first fight with you. He beat Sergio in the rematch last week.
I wondered number one, if you saw that fight, what you thought of it? And also is a third fight with him something that interests you even though he is up two nothing.
Shane Mosley: You know it doesn’t really do me any good really to fight him like right now. But it’s just more a personal thing with me. So maybe I might look into that. You know, maybe I might look into doing another fight.
Dan Rafael: Was that you might get into that?
Shane Mosley: I might look into doing that, yes. Look into maybe have another fight with him. But, you know, that’s not my first option. There’s going to be, you know, many options down the line. But, you know, it’s always an option.
Dan Rafael: Right and what about the fight with Mora? Did you see it and what did you think if you did?
Shane Mosley: You know, that was the first time I’d seen them fight. I hadn’t seen the first fight. So the second fight, I thought that, you know, Mora showed some guts. And he tried to fight through. I kind of figure that Vernon has a little more experience than he did but, you know, it was a good fight. And all and all both of them fought a good fight.
Dan Rafael: All right, thank you very much Shane, I appreciate it.
Shane Mosley: No problem.
Operator: Thank you. Our next question is coming from Vivek Wallace of Eastside Boxing, please go ahead.
Vivek Wallace: Hey Shane, good afternoon, how’s it going?
Shane Mosley: It’s going great.
Vivek Wallace: That’s good, that’s good. Listen Shane, a lot of people at this point in your career are obviously bringing up your age and the fact that you’re getting a little older. And I can’t say I totally understand or agree because personally I think you looked sharp, very sharp in your last few fights. And not only that but these people note the fact that you’re one of the few boxers that has actually boxed twice a year, one of the few older boxers who has actually boxed twice or more throughout your career.
But that being said, to jump on what Dan Rafael said a minute ago, due to Zab Judah pulling out, this is one of your longer layoffs. I wanted to know what special preparations or so did you guys put into your training to make sure that the potential ring rust or inactivity did not become an issue against a guy who can be as dangerous as Ricardo Mayorga?
Shane Mosley: Well like I was saying I was in camp for a long time for the Zab Judah fight. So the only thing was I didn’t get a chance to actually step in the ring and fight. I was already in great shape. I was ready to go. And, you know, I had good spar partners for Zab so I was ready; I just didn’t fight.
This time, you know, that huge layoff of a two week vacation, if you will, in Australia and came back and got right back to training. So, you know, layoff I mean I really didn’t layoff really, you know, if you will. Really I was in the gym training pretty hard. Some people just go in the gym kind of train around. But I was training hard for a fight, getting ready for a fight so it’s a different type of training.
For this fight, I mean there was nothing really special because, you know, right when I got back to Big Bear I was doing 10 and 11, 12 rounds already, like that, you know, nine or ten rounds back in Big Bear the day I got back. So I was still in good shape.
Vivek Wallace: Okay well one other question I want to throw out there quickly for you Shane. Obviously you campaigned at 154 now and it sounds like you’re pretty comfortable at that weight but there is still a lot going on down in the 147 welterweight division. And my question for you is it’s obviously easier to find fights down there. But a lot of people still want to know what are the odds potentially of you guys coaxing Merriweather out of retirement?
Is there any discussion about that still at play or is that pretty much dead in the water and you’re off to new adventures?
Shane Mosley: I don’t think Merriweather really wants to fight me. And I mean I’m not going to – I mean I’ve been trying. I talked about fighting Merriweather here and there but hey, you know, I think Merriweather is looking more to fight Oscar for real, real big money. And he wants to fight Oscar instead. So that’s fine. I just continue to go ahead and fight until he’s ready to fight me. He’s willing. If he’s not then I’ll just move on and fight the next fighter.
Vivek Wallace: Okay and my last question, if you do end up back in the 147 pound division and you get that fight with say Mayorga or I’m sorry not Mayorga but Margarita and you get through that fight successfully. Do you think that you will go ahead and walk away at that point? Or do you think there’s a possibility that you go back after Cotto? What happens at that point?
Shane Mosley: You know at this point we’re not sure as far as my gut and my belly to fight. We will have to see what the field is when we get there. I really don’t know exactly, you know, when I want to retire. But like right now if you ask me oh, am I going to retire. I’ll say no. In fact I really just don’t know when I will retire.
I mean I still have a love in the game, the boxing game. You know, there’s still, if you will, a lot of money to be made.
Vivek Wallace: Okay. You’ve been a class act. Good luck and we hope the best for you. Thank you.
Shane Mosley: Thank you.
Monica Sears: Okay everyone, it looks like that is the last question for today. So thank you Shane and we will see you this week.
Just as a reminder for all the press, Wednesday is the final press conference, Wednesday (unintelligible) and it begins at 1 o’clock at the (unintelligible) Biltmore downtown.
And then Friday, the official weigh-in will be on scale at 3:00 pm down at the Home Depot Center. So I just want to thank everyone for participating on today’s call. And we’ll see you this week.
Operator: Thank you. That does conclude today’s teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time and have a wonderful day.