The Iron Man

One of boxing's superstars, Shane Mosley is recognized as one of the best fighters in the world at any weight.

He is a three-time world champion at 135 and 147 and now at 154 pounds and veteran of 16 world championship fights.

In an interview following his recent victory over Oscar De La Hoya, he said, "Oscar's losing every which way around. I understand. He's just frustrated. He's lost to me very single time. I beat him when we were amateurs. I beat him twice (as a pro) in close fights. He couldn't beat me as a puncher and he couldn't beat me boxing. Maybe next time he'll go toe-to-toe with me. He's a great fighter. I'm just the guy he can't get by."

He has fought current of former world champions Vernon Forrest twice, Oscar De La Hoya, James Leija, John John Molina, and Philip Holiday.

Having fought his way to world championships at lightweight and at welterweight, he became known as the best pound-for-pound fighter in boxing.

Although it would be easy for him to be a content man, he won't be content until he climbs that final hurdle. After having known only victory in a star-studded career, he lost his World Boxing Council (WBC) welterweight championship to Vernon Forrest on January 26, 2002. Having won his first 38 professional bouts after concluding one of the most heralded amaterur careers ever, he means to make that right.

He has consistently overcome the odds since turning pro. Together with his father, Jack, they have formed one of the most successful tandems in the business. He has been trained by Jack since his amateur days.

The pinnacle of his career came in June 2000 when he clearly outboxed cross-town rival Oscar De La Hoya and won the welterweight title.

It was only his third fight at 147 pounds, when he moved to welterweight from being the lightweight champion. Many critics questioned his wisdom for moving to 147 and bypassing 140, and the critics weren't silenced even after resounding wins over Wilfredo Rivera and Willy Wise at welterweight.

De La Hoya, though found out what power boxing is all about on that night in June 2000 before 20,000 fans. With his father, they developed the concept of power boxing taking advantage of the boxer's superb conditioning and extraordinarily high punch output. "Your fighter has to be in excellent condition at all times to make it work," Jack said. "You step into the ring and right away you've got two big things going for you, the samina to throw a lot of punches and the ability to make adjustments if your opponent suddenly changes his style."

The fight was close at the halfway point, but he picked up the pace considerably in the second half of the fight. There was no doubt when the bout was over that he was the new King of the Welterweights.

He sought out the best competition he could find when De La Hoya declined an immediate rematch. Antonio Diaz was one of the toughest men in the division, but Shane was better in every area and stopped him in the sixth round in November 2000. "Shane is good, real good," Diaz said. "He's the best I've ever seen."

Then, the following March, Shane dismantled Australian, Shannan Taylor who was highly regarded by the media. Many felt he would provide him with a stiff test, but that was not to be. Taylor who was not nearly as fast or as strong was stopped in the fifth round in March 2001.

In July 2001, he cut down in only three rounds the bigger former middleweight, Adrian Stone.

By then, he was universally regarded as one of the top three pound-for-pound fighters in boxing and was considered the best by many experts.

He then called out Forrest who was the best available 147-pounder. They had been amateur rivals and fought a close battle in the finals of the 1992 Olympic Trials that went Forrest's way. When they met as pros at Madison Square Garden in January 2002, they were considered the two best 147-pounders in the world. Shane dominated Forrest with his power boxing in the first round, but an accidental head butt in the second round turned the fight around and Forrest scored a decision.

He was again handed the second loss of his career in a rematch with Forrest later that year.

In February 2003, he stepped in the ring against former 154 pound title belt holder, Raul Marquez in his first fight at 154 pounds. Marquez suffered a cut above his left eye due to an accidental head butt, and the fight was stopped in the third round.

In September 2003, he captured his third world title in a long awaited rematch with Oscar De La Hoya, dethroning De La Hoya for the WBA/WBC Super Welterweight crown in front of a sellout crowd in the second-highest non-heavyweight pay-per-view in history.