According to reports on Tuesday morning, Shane Mosley will come out of retirement in order to challenge Paulie Malignaggi for his WBA light welterweight title. The fight will take place on April 27 in Brooklyn.
Mosley first announced his retirement from the sport last summer following a one-sided decision loss to the undefeated Saul Alvarez. That loss made him 0-3-1 in his last four fights, prompting the 41-year-old to call it a career. His last win came in 2009 when he defeated Antonio Margarito. Following that, he would go on to unsuccessfully face Floyd Mayweather Jr., Manny Pacquiao and Alvarez.
Despite his announced retirement, Shane Mosley kept in great shape, due in part to training his son Shane Jr. He still believes he still has something left in the tank and claims leg injuries were partly to blame for his coming up short in his last several fights. Malignaggi’s belt, he claims, is something he can win.
“Fighting Paulie Malignaggi is a great opportunity,” he told ESPN. “Paulie is a mover, but he’s durable. A lot of people underestimate him and then they lose. But I can’t afford to underestimate him.”
Mosley (46-8-1) will challenge for the title in the hometown of Paulie Malignaggi. The purse he will earn is reportedly his smallest since 1998. He claims that capturing another title is his sole motivation for climbing between the ropes once again.
“I love the sport, I want to be in there. This is a fight to give me a world title that I want and after winning it, I will fight all comers.”
The details have not been made official, but there appear to be no road blocks standing in the way. Malignaggi has made clear previously he is in favor of this fight. He would be the likely favorite going in, and would love the opportunity to perform for the hometown fans.
