Seems like Shane Mosley has some explaining to do to his partners at Golden Boy Promotions. BY GEORGE WILLIS
LAS VEGAS–Richard Schaefer, the CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, isn’t fully convinced that boxer Shane Mosley knowingly took performance enhancing drugs despite a published report that said Mosley admitted injecting himself.
The report said Mosley told a grand jury investigating the BALCO case he injected himself with the doping agent EPO as he prepared for a 2003 title fight against Oscar De La Hoya. The reports cited transcripts of Mosley’s testimony before the same grand jury that heard testimony from Barry Bonds.
“You can’t turn back the clock and it is what it is,” Schaefer said. “Shane is a good guy. Knowing Shane, I have a tough time trying to believe he would knowingly take performance enhancing drugs. That’s just not Shane. He’s a competitor, but Shane is not a cheater.”
Mosley, who is a partner in Golden Boy Promotions, is set to fight Antonio Margarito for the welterweight championship on Jan. 24 in the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles. Schaefer said the fight won’t be threatened by reports of Mosley’s use of performance enhancing drugs. The Nevada Athletic Commission, however, is exploring whether declare his fight with De La Hoya a no-contest, which would remove the loss from De La Hoya’s records.
Schaefer and NAC chairman Keith Kizer said they’ll review Mosley’s grand jury transcript and then speak with the fighter. Mosley declined an interview request by the Post on Friday, though he was on stage for the De La Hoya-Pacquiao weigh-in.
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Bernard Hopkins says he has been “forced into retirement.” Hopkins, who turns 44 next month, wants to keep fighting, but doesn’t see any worthy opponents after handing Kelly Pavlik his first loss last October in Atlantic City. Joe Calzaghe won’t give him a rematch and Chad Dawson isn’t a big enough name. “It’s not like I want to retire, but I’m not going to fight a meaningless fight just to still be fighting,” Hopkins said. “It has to be another super star and Chad Dawson is not that. I like Chad. He is the future of the light heavyweight division and maybe cruiserweight. But I think the performance I put on in October, that’s the last you might be writing about Bernard Hopkins.”
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Looks like Miguel Cotto’s return to the ring could be at Madison Square Garden. Cotto is scheduled to fight Michael Jennings from the U.K. on Feb. 21. Atlantic City is the other option. That same night Kelly Pavlik will defends his middleweight title against Marco Antonio Rubio in Youngstown, Ohio, as part of a pay-per-view double-header.
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Let’s hope Paul Williams gets his mega fight in 2009. The lanky southpaw most recently captured the interim WBO junior middleweight title with a one-sided eight round stoppage of Verno Phillips. Williams fought through a nasty gash over his right eye that dripped blood for most of the fight. Williams has had difficulty landing a marquee opponent as everyone from Antonio Margarito to Oscar De La Hoya has looked the other way when the lanky southpaw calls. He deserves his chance to become a new superstar.
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Schaefer already has a working title for a potential fight between De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton. It is tentatively being billed as “Star Wars,” though copyrights may force some adjustment. “Both of them are stars and it’s going to be a war because both of them come to fight,” Schaefer said. Hatton is in Las Vegas to attend the fight along with British heavyweight David Haye.