Opinion: How Should We Remember Shane Mosley?

Editor’s note: The views and opinions expressed below are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sherdog.com, its affiliates and sponsors or its parent company, Evolve Media.

The saying goes a little something like this: “It’s not how you start; it’s how you finish.”

If that’s the case, there are so many boxers who have ruined how they will be remembered simply because they chose to limp to the finish line. Well, not necessarily ruined, but there is a certain amount of discoloration that blemishes a remarkable career when a fighter is unable to sign off before competing becomes detrimental to his or her health.

Some fighters’ greatest years outweigh whatever unwelcome memories we have of them. Fighters like Mike Tyson, Sugar Ray Leonard, Sugar Ray Robinson, Muhammad Ali and the like established their legacies to the point where nothing could ruin them. However, there are fighters who manage to undo entire careers by refusing to let go.

The latest fighter who can’t seem to get out of his own way is Shane Mosley. The former three-division world champion stumbled in his most recent comeback effort when he dropped a unanimous decision to relatively unknown David Avanesyan. At 44, Mosley lacks the power, speed, accuracy and conditioning for which he was feared in the late 1990s and early 2000s; and the deterioration of skills left Mosley as nothing more than an old name for another fighter to build a resume upon.

It wasn’t as embarrassing as Roy Jones Jr.’s fall from grace, but it’s not any less tough to watch. For those of us who remember, Mosley was a terror through 38 fights. He was a savage knockout artist with a unique blend of speed and power that spun the heads of his opponents. When he stepped into the ring with Oscar De La Hoya and took home a split decision on June 17, 2000, it appeared that a passing of the torch might have been underway. Then Mosley lost back-to-back fights to the late Vernon Forrest, won a hotly contested unanimous decision in the rematch with De La Hoya and went on to drop yet another back-to-back set to Winky Wright. The 38-0 record quickly shifted to 39-4, and many thought Mosley’s best years were behind him. Oh yeah, and in the midst of all of this, Mosley was swept up in the BALCO scandal and admitted injecting himself with EPO in preparation for his rematch with De La Hoya.

It could have ended there. Mosley got his career back on track by sandwiching victories against Fernando Vargas and Ricardo Mayorga around a decision loss to Miguel Cotto. When everyone thought he was washed up, Mosley put together a virtuoso performance against Antonio Margarito as a heavy underdog in a fight that was notoriously remembered as the bout in which Margarito was busted for using illegal hand wraps. The victory gave Mosley a second life, and he parlayed that into a fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. He landed two of the hardest punches that Mayweather had ever been hit with in the second round. That’s where his career should have ended.

Mosley would go on to lose a lopsided decision to Mayweather, turn in a listless performance in a draw with Sergio Mora and get thumped in his next two fights with Manny Pacquiao in 2011 and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in 2012. His career should have ended there, too. However, Mosley decided to step back into the ring yet again. After beating Pablo Cesar Cano by a narrow split decision, Mosley inexplicably threw in the towel due to back spasms and lost by technical knockout to Anthony Mundine. His career actually ended here, until he came back -- again.

At this point, the only thing Mosley could possibly accomplish would be to fatten his bank account. He engaged in a bizarre fight with an even more bizarre build against longtime washed-up rival Mayorga last summer before beating unheralded Patrick Lopez via 10th-round TKO in December.

Nobody cared. Still, Mosley somehow managed to land the fight against Avanesyan, with the plan being that the winner would face the winner of Keith Thurman-Shawn Porter for the WBA welterweight title. The concept in itself was ridiculous, considering that neither Mosley nor Avanesyan were remotely deserving of the opportunity to face the man who would likely be recognized as the top dog of the welterweight division. Mosley went out and proved to have nothing left but his name. If this was the Mosley of a decade ago, he would have annihilated Avanesyan. Not on this night. All it ended up being was another piece that we could add to the mountain of evidence that shows Mosley should retire. Why is he still here?

You hate to see your favorite fighters continue to go out there and lose fights because they clearly are no longer competitive on a high level. Unfortunately, a promoter will find a former star to be just the person that will vault a new fighter into the stratosphere, even though that’s usually not the case.

Mosley is no longer a threat to anybody but himself. If you’ve had the opportunity to speak with Mosley, he comes off a little punchy at times. All the wars he has been in may have taken their collective chunk out him. Here’s the question: Has Mosley done enough in the prime of his career to overshadow his failed comeback efforts? Legacy is what we remember. What will you remember about “Sugar” Shane Mosley?

Andreas Hale is the editorial content director of 2DopeBoyz.com, co-host of the boxing, MMA and pro wrestling podcast “The Corner” and a regular columnist for Sherdog.com. You can follow on Twitter for his random yet educated thoughts on combat sports, music, film and popular culture.