Three-division world champion "Sugar" Shane Mosley alread knows that he'll have the height, reach and weight advantage when he steps into the ring on May 7th to face pound-for-pound champion Manny Pacquiao. Surprisingly, however, Mosley believes his biggest advantage won't actually be inside the ring with him. "I have the biggest advantage of all with my chief trainer Naazim Richardson. He's never lost a fight against a Top Rank champion," Mosley revealed during a Media Day Open Workout held earlier today at his training camp in Big Bear, California.
To my knowledge, Mosley is correct. Naazim Richardson has never worked with a fighter who has lost to a Top Rank champion. Having spent the majority of his career as a trainer working with all-time great and future Hall of Famer Bernard Hopkins, there were very few losses that Richardson ever had to experience. Of course, that being said, there were also very few times that any of the fighters that Richardson has worked with ever fought a Top Rank champion. In fact, the only Top Rank champion that Hopkins has ever faced was Kelly Pavlik. On top of that, the only Top Rank champion that Mosley faced while under the tutelage of Richardson was Antonio Margarito. While it's true that Richardson's fighters won both of those fights, I don't know if it's necessarily something to brag about.
The only other elite fighter Richardson works with, that I'm aware of, is IBF cruiserweight champion Steve Cunningham. Good luck finding any cruiserweight champions on the Top Rank roster. The point, Mosley may be getting a little overboard with his praise for his latest trainer. To his credit, Naazim Richardson is a master strategist and there's no doubt he's formulating a gameplan that will give Mosley the best opportunity to pull out a victory. The question is, will Mosley be able to execute that gameplan. After all, as big of an advantage that Richardson may be, he won't be the one inside the ring trading leather with the best fighter in the world.