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Shane Mosley's 36th birthday celebration arrived a day early at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, when Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions presented Mosley with a birthday cake in formally announcing the highly anticipated November 10, 2007 title fight between current undefeated champion Miguel Cotto and Mosley.
Mosley, flanked by his father/trainer Jack Mosley and Bernard Hopkins beside him on the podium, sounded excited at the opportunity to test his skills against the reigning Welterweight Champ. "Cotto is one of the best welterweights out there besides me, but on November 10th I don't want to leave any doubt that I am that best. I respect Cotto – he's good. But he hasn't faced the opposition that I have faced in my career which includes victories over Oscar de la Hoya twice."
Mosley also highlighted the stylistic differences between the fighters: "Cotto only has one style and I have been facing fighters with different styles. I can adjust my style and I believe Cotto's style is perfect for me. I believe Cotto is going to come straight forward right at me and that's exactly what I'm looking for. I know that he is not a KO artist with one punch, but I also know that I can knock him out. I'm the type of fighter that knows how to deal with any situation." and for this fight I'm going to bring everything, whatever is necessary to win."
The challenger cited Cotto's determination as the champ's best quality – "Cotto comes to fight every time. He is strong and strong willed" – but pointed out his own determination to win, "Nothing will stop me from meeting my destiny of becoming the best welterweight out there. For this fight I'm going to bring everything, whatever is necessary to win."
The always dignified and soft-spoken Cotto welcomed the challenge in his adopted hometown: "[The combination of] my power and [the] experience of Mosley – that is the great ingredient for this terrific fight. Every time that I have been fighting at Madison Square Garden it has been electric. The support of the fans has been incredible and that shows me that they believe in me."
Showing great respect for Mosley's experience and skill, Cotto commented, "Everybody knows what type of caliber fighter Mosley is. But everyone also knows about my capacity, and for this fight I have been training 100%. I'm going to train 200% because I'll be ready for whatever Mosley is going to bring to the table."
The champ finally seemed to recognize the magnitude of his star power – not just in the Latino community – but everywhere that great boxing talent is recognized, and in doing so, displayed some braggadocio that had previously been missing from his repertoire: "In Puerto Rico, New York and Las Vegas I have been watching how my fans have been growing. I have to get more fans and defeating Shane Mosley will do that. I'm not the same as Tito Trinidad…I'm going to be even more popular."
Golden Boy representative and ageless champ Bernard Hopkins, perhaps recalling his own Madison Square Garden classic battle with Trinidad back in 2001 in which Hopkins' talent turned the tide of the mostly Latino crowd that night, spoke of the pressures on the Puerto Rican champion: "A lot is riding on Cotto's shoulders in this bout, and the Hispanic community respects that. You're going to hear 'Cotto, Cotto, Cotto.' [But] the name will start to change as the fight goes on but not because of what they hear, but because of what they see in the ring."
Co-promoter Bob Arum trumpeted Mosley's challenge as "the biggest test of Miguel Cotto's career" and added, "He is fighting a legend and Hall of Famer in Sugar Shane Mosley. November 10th will be a magical night at Madison Square Garden."
Tickets for the event went on sale at noon Thursday. The fight will also be available on Pay-Per-View.
Get 'em Shane!
Mosley, flanked by his father/trainer Jack Mosley and Bernard Hopkins beside him on the podium, sounded excited at the opportunity to test his skills against the reigning Welterweight Champ. "Cotto is one of the best welterweights out there besides me, but on November 10th I don't want to leave any doubt that I am that best. I respect Cotto – he's good. But he hasn't faced the opposition that I have faced in my career which includes victories over Oscar de la Hoya twice."
Mosley also highlighted the stylistic differences between the fighters: "Cotto only has one style and I have been facing fighters with different styles. I can adjust my style and I believe Cotto's style is perfect for me. I believe Cotto is going to come straight forward right at me and that's exactly what I'm looking for. I know that he is not a KO artist with one punch, but I also know that I can knock him out. I'm the type of fighter that knows how to deal with any situation." and for this fight I'm going to bring everything, whatever is necessary to win."
The challenger cited Cotto's determination as the champ's best quality – "Cotto comes to fight every time. He is strong and strong willed" – but pointed out his own determination to win, "Nothing will stop me from meeting my destiny of becoming the best welterweight out there. For this fight I'm going to bring everything, whatever is necessary to win."
The always dignified and soft-spoken Cotto welcomed the challenge in his adopted hometown: "[The combination of] my power and [the] experience of Mosley – that is the great ingredient for this terrific fight. Every time that I have been fighting at Madison Square Garden it has been electric. The support of the fans has been incredible and that shows me that they believe in me."
Showing great respect for Mosley's experience and skill, Cotto commented, "Everybody knows what type of caliber fighter Mosley is. But everyone also knows about my capacity, and for this fight I have been training 100%. I'm going to train 200% because I'll be ready for whatever Mosley is going to bring to the table."
The champ finally seemed to recognize the magnitude of his star power – not just in the Latino community – but everywhere that great boxing talent is recognized, and in doing so, displayed some braggadocio that had previously been missing from his repertoire: "In Puerto Rico, New York and Las Vegas I have been watching how my fans have been growing. I have to get more fans and defeating Shane Mosley will do that. I'm not the same as Tito Trinidad…I'm going to be even more popular."
Golden Boy representative and ageless champ Bernard Hopkins, perhaps recalling his own Madison Square Garden classic battle with Trinidad back in 2001 in which Hopkins' talent turned the tide of the mostly Latino crowd that night, spoke of the pressures on the Puerto Rican champion: "A lot is riding on Cotto's shoulders in this bout, and the Hispanic community respects that. You're going to hear 'Cotto, Cotto, Cotto.' [But] the name will start to change as the fight goes on but not because of what they hear, but because of what they see in the ring."
Co-promoter Bob Arum trumpeted Mosley's challenge as "the biggest test of Miguel Cotto's career" and added, "He is fighting a legend and Hall of Famer in Sugar Shane Mosley. November 10th will be a magical night at Madison Square Garden."
Tickets for the event went on sale at noon Thursday. The fight will also be available on Pay-Per-View.
Get 'em Shane!
Anyways, stick around dude, and you'll learn a lot about boxing. Then you will know things like A.) Don't pick against Shane Mosley when fighting an aggressive guy. B.)Don't pick against Shane Mosley when fighting. C.) Mosley is a badass.
