STATUS: Three-division world champion boxer will take on Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas on May 7.
HT: 5-9 WT: 154
DOB: Sept. 7, 1971 IN: Lynwood, CA
BOXING INSPIRATIONS: “Sugar Ray Leonard, Muhammad Ali, Richie Sandoval – I used to watch him training hard in the Pomana [CA] Athletic League gym when I was 10.”
NICKAME: “Sugar – since I was nine. Guy said I was just as sweet as sugar.”
HOBBIES/INTERESTS: “Play basketball, play racquetball, snowboarding, physical activities.”
PRE-FIGHT FEELING: “Think about going out, doing my job, winning. Try to be relaxed. Visialize way before…different moves, stuff I might do. Then bring it into the ring with me. Do I look at him in the ring? Oh yeah. I can see if he’s confident, nervous or scared. Like when I beat Philip Holiday…at the press conference before our fight, he looked humble, kind of nervous and confused to me. That helped me. So when I see them, I know how to attack them. If you don’t look, guys like that, may be afraid of what they might see.”
EARLY BOXING MEMORY: “When I was 4-0 with 4 KO’s. I knocked this guy out with a jab. He was Mexican, 14-2 with 12 KO’s. Fought him at the Forum [Los Angeles, CA]. And he had just gone eight rounds with a former world champion. I can’t remember who the former champion was though.”
FAVORITE MEAL: “Don’t have one.”
PRE-FIGHT MEAL: ”I really don’t have one of those either. Either steak, chicken, mashed potatoes, vegetables.”
GREATEST SPORTS MOMENT: “I think the greatest moment of my career was when I fought Oscar the first time. My proudest moment. A lot more people got a chance to see my boxing skills. And for me to move from lightweight to welterweight – it showed how great a fighter I was. ”
MOST PAINFUL MOMENT: “Oh, the first loss to Vernon Forrest was the most painful. I went down in the second round. From then on I was just fighting on instinct and I wasn’t there for the whole fight. And a little bumped up.”
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FAVORITE BOXERS TO WATCH: “Roy Jones. Oscar De La Hoya. Bernard Hopkins. I try learn a little from each. It all starts from boxing, quick combinations. I kinda like to watch James Toney. Because he’s talking while he’s fighting and he’s doing some pretty good moves in there, slipping and sliding.”
FAVORITE MOVIES: “Bruce Lee movies, Tombstone.”
MUSICAL TASTES: “R&B, rap, Biggie Smalls, Tupac, Ice Cube.”
FAVORITE TV SHOW: ”I don’t know. I don’t really watch TV.”
EMBARRASSING CAREER MEMORY: ”Hmmm…I can’t think of any.”
WHAT FIGHT WERE YOU AT YOUR BEST: ”I think I felt the best when I was in my lightweight years. I felt the best, I felt stronger than everybody. And faster. And I was bigger and taller.”
FUNNY MEMORY: “In Junior Worlds, I turned southpaw. Hit the guy with a hard left. He kind of did a fall and rolled, but he added something extra to it…his legs flew up in the air [smiles].”
FIRST CAR: “Green VW Bug. I used to put a pillow under the seat and drive around the neighborhood when I was 12!”
WORST INJURY: “Nose. I would bleed internally. Made it hard to breathe. Had to cut out scar tissue. That was way back in ’92, right before the Olympic Trials.”
PEOPLE QUALITIES MOST ADMIRED: ”Humbleness. Not really. Well, some people I like that’s cocky too so I can’t really say that [smiles]. Just real. I would say a real individual. You can tell that they’re not putting up any fronts. And caring.”
Topics: Basketball Play, Boxing Skills, Champion Boxer, Doing My Job, Greatest Sports, Hobbies Interests, Inspirations, League Gym, Leonard Muhammad, Manny Pacquiao, Muhammad Ali, Painful Moment, Philip Holiday, Pomana, Proudest Moment, Sports Moment, Sugar Ray Leonard, Sugar Shane Mosley, Vernon Forrest, World Champion
Biofile with Sugar Shane Mosley | 