Boxing Preview: "Sugar" Shane Mosley vs. Andre Berto

Following his stunning upset over Antonio Margarito in late January 2009, "Sugar" Shane Mosley spent most of the following year angling for a super-fight with either Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather. Both fighters ducked him, leaving the lineal and WBA champion of the division out in the cold. Now Mosley finally has a dance partner, and January 30th will see him square off against WBC champion Andre Berto on HBO.

Andre Berto (25-0, 19 KOs)
5'8 1/2", 72" reach, 26 years old
Current WBC Welterweight Champion

Andre Berto comes from a fighting family, with both his father and brother in professional mixed martial arts. A Haitian-American, he won a bronze at the 2003 World Amateur Championships, a 2-time PAL champion, a 3-time U.S. Amateur Champion, and he went to the 2004 Olympics representing Haiti. He is a sound boxer-puncher with good speed and power, but to date his only notable win was a solid decision over former WBA champion Luis Collazo.

"Sugar" Shane Mosley (46-5, 39 KOs)
5'9", 74" reach, 38 years old
Current WBA Welterweight Champion; former champion at lightweight, welterweight and junior middleweight

Mosley is the great gladiator and sole survivor of his generation of welterweights. Trinidad, Quartey, and de la Hoya are all gone now, and only "Sugar" Shane remains. His only common opponent with Andre Berto is the aforementioned Luis Collazo, who Mosley thoroughly dominated. He has also knocked out Ricardo Mayorga, essentially retired Fernando Vargas, defeated Oscar de la Hoya twice, and fought a host of other contenders between 135 and 154 lbs. Mosley has lost a few, but his combination of speed, agility, power and boxing smarts have held all of those losses to narrow or razor thin margins. This is a man who can be defeated, but never whipped.

Prediction
Andre Berto remains a great unknown, but there are some factors in this fight that weigh in his favor. Mosley is no longer the greasy-fast Sugarman of his youth; he is still quick and can pull the trigger with frightening speed, but he has clearly lost a bit in terms of reflexes. Berto will probably come into this bout the faster man. He is also the younger fighter.

However, Mosley has boxed with big bangers and grandmasters. While he has slowed down a little, he has shown little or no signs of losing his steam. He can still fight hard for all 12 rounds of a championship fight. He is vastly more experienced than Berto, tougher than Berto, hits harder and is even the (slightly) bigger man in the ring. Mosley might need to make some adjustments and find himself stymied early on, but he will make them and start tearing holes in Berto's game. If Luis Collazo could find and ravage Andre Berto on the inside, Mosley will cut him in half if given the same chance. Furthermore, Berto's defense is merely ordinary. When combined with Mosley's counter-punching wizardry and switch-hitting talent, the Haitian-American champion may find himself in serious trouble if he gets repetitive and allows himself to be timed.

However, there is the great "if" surrounding Mosley's age. He is 38 and will have been in the ring for over a year by the time he meets Berto. He should not have sat it out angling for a super-fight for so long, because he is clearly in a period where age and inactivity can combine to create a serious off-night for even a great, well-preserved fighter. However, Mosley is a gym rat and takes good care of himself, and I would not be at all surprised to learn that he has been waging some "gym wars" to keep himself sharp.

Mosley by TKO in the 8th

Sources: boxrec.com; sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/bryan_armen_graham/01/19/berto-collazo/index.html; live fight footage