"People are crazy about Mayweather being pound-for-pound the best, Pacquiao being pound-for-pound the best, but yet and still, the best welterweight, the real pound-for-pound king, because I was pound-for-pound before all of them, the real pound-for-pound king is sitting here today, right now, 38 years old, still fighting. They can not beat me! They are scared of me. They don't want to fight me right now. I'm the real pound-for-pound king," stated welterweight champion Shane Mosley as he talked more about his desire to prove that he's the best fighter in the world and his willingness to fight anyone and everyone to prove it. Check out what else he had to say about Floyd Mayweather, the upcoming clash between Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto and much more.
BT: I was watching the post-fight press conference and I saw Floyd mention that you already have a fight lined up. I know there was some talk about a Clottey fight and even some mention of Zab Judah, but I assume Floyd's referring to a Berto fight.
SM: Yeah. Nothing's signed though and like I told Richard, I'm willing to fight anybody so if Floyd don't want to fight in January or whatever date, I'll fight Berto. If Floyd don't want to fight on the next date, then I'll fight Clottey. If Floyd dont' want to fight on whichever date, then I'll fight another fighter. I'm not going to sit around and wait on Floyd to grow some balls basically and fight. I'm going to fight, fight, fight and when he's ready, when the fans and the media and everybody forces this man to fight, then we're going to fight.
BT: I'm assuming Floyd's probably going to wait around for the outcome of the Pacquiao-Cotto fight. Are you going to wait around to see what Floyd does or are you just moving forward?
SM: Just like I said, I'm fighting January 30th, so if Floyd don't want to fight on that date, I'll fight whoever is going to be in the ring on that date. Either it's Joshua Clottey or Andre Berto. If Floyd wants to fight in February after I fight in January, then I'll fight him in February or March. There's going to be no excuses for Floyd. I'll just be fighting these guys, knocking them off until he's ready.
BT: Yeah, I heard HBO was going to give you three dates next year.
SM: I want three dates next year and if they can do it, I'll do four. I want to fight everybody.
BT: I don't know if there's four guys out there for you to fight (laughing).
SM: I'm going to let the world know that I'm the best fighter, okay, so I'm not going to sit here and wait on Floyd to figure out when he wants to fight me. If I fight January 30th and he wants to fight me February 15th, I'll be fighting him February 15th.
BT: Let's say Floyd does want to wait around for the Pacquiao-Cotto winner. Let's say Pacquiao wins. Do you think they can actually make that fight? I don't see either one of those guys fighting each other for less than 50/50 or even 50/50.
SM: Actually, I really don't care what they do. I don't agree with none of that. I almost didn't go to the Marquez-Mayweather fight because I didn't agree with it. Not because I don't like Marquez, but I just didn't agree with it. I mean, come on. It's just a waste of time right now. It's just a waste of money, a waste of people's time and I didn't agree with. So, Floyd picked him out and got his wish. I went, things happened, now Pacquiao and Cotto, I don't agree with that fight.
BT: Really?
SM: No! I should have been the one fighting Pacquiao. Why? Because I'm the number one welterweight. Cotto is not! Cotto already lost to Clottey [Editor's Note: Cotto actually won a razor thin decision, but Mosley's opinion is that he really lost the fight] and he lost to Margarito. It should be either me and Pacquiao or me and Mayweather. People are crazy about Mayweather being pound-for-pound the best, Pacquiao being pound-for-pound the best, but yet and still, the best welterweight, the real pound-for-pound king, because I was pound-for-pound before all of them, the real pound-for-pound king is sitting here today, right now, 38 years old, still fighting. They can not beat me! They are scared of me. They don't want to fight me right now. I'm the real pound-for-pound king. The media needs to know this right now. We need to set the record straight.
BT: We setting it straight now.
SM: Exactly! That's why I'm here. I'm not going nowhere. I'm not going to retire until they know and until I set it straight. I'm not going nowhere. I'm right here until we set this straight. I'm the best welterweight. I'm the best fighter right now today. You guys will know that. You're going to start printing it! You will know this. I'm going to make sure of it!
BT: Well I've got a funny feeling that Floyd isn't going to want to fight you until after you fight Berto, seeing as how they're both managed by Al Haymon.
SM: Like I said, he can go fight all these different guys. He can run around, dance around, try and wait until I get older, whatever they're trying to do, but I'm going to keep myself in shape and I'm going to be ready to go and take them all out. That's why I want three or four fights next year because I want to start knocking them all out so now there's nobody else to fight but me. I'm doing what Evander Holyfield did. He moved up to heavyweight one day and started knocking out everybody until they had to fight him.
BT: Let me ask you this. Let's say Pacquiao wins in November and hypothetically both Manny and Floyd want to fight you. Which one is the bigger fight for you? Floyd or Manny?
SM: Actually, I want to fight both of them. I think that Floyd would probably be the bigger fight around the world and everywhere because we're both known. Pacquiao would be a good fight too.
BT: I think they're both great fights. I think a rematch with Cotto would be a good fight too. I think Cotto's got a good shot of beating Pacquiao. Who do you like in that fight?
SM: I think so too. I mean, if Manny wins, he's a great fighter. He can win the fight. He's a good fighter. Cotto's been weather-beaten a little bit. He's been beaten down a little bit by myself. He's been beaten down by Margarito. He's been beaten down a little by Clottey. And he's had a little bit of problems here and there so he's been beaten up a little bit. He's not the same, refreshed Cotto that we know, but Cotto is good with fighting smaller, southpaw guys. Zab Judah, he beat him down, he beat up Carlos Quintana, which I think these are big welterweight and welterweights that can hit. Zab can hit and Zab gave Mayweather some trouble. Cotto can very well beat down Manny Pacquiao because Manny Pacquiao is going to be smaller than Cotto. It's not going to be the same like a Ricky Hatton or a Oscar De La Hoya where Oscar is going in the ring at 147 and Manny's going in the ring at 148. You best believe Cotto is going to be bigger than Pacqiao going in the ring this time.
BT: I agree, especially after seeing how much bigger Floyd was than Marquez.
SM: I agree with Cotto when he says that Manny is fighting a real welterweight now. He's not fighting a guy that's...it's not going to be easy. He's fighting a real welterweight. I agree with Cotto on that. That's really why I wanted to get to Pacquiao first because I was scared Cotto might beat him.
BT: After seeing you standing next to Floyd, I thought you looked bigger than him. You might be too big and too strong for all three of those guys. Even Cotto was on his bike midway through the fight with you.
SM: Well, you know, I'm the welterweight king. I'm the champion. I'm the number one welterweight king. If they want to be the best, they have to fight the best.
BT: Well I don't want to keep you too long Champ. Is there anything else you want to say to the fans in closing?
SM: I pretty much said everything I needed to say. I just hope the fans stop being blinded by the lies that Floyd says, like me taking his shine. What shine? There was no shine when he fought. You don't get shine for Marquez. Come on! Fight a real fighter!
CLICK HERE FOR PART ONE OF THIS INTERVIEW WITH SHANE MOSLEY
[EDITOR'S NOTE: Be sure to stay up to date on the latest with Sugar Shane Mosley by visiting his website at www.sugarshanemosley.com or by following him on Twitter at twitter.com/shane_mosley]
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