Columnist Dean Juipe: Mosley isn’t ready to give Oscar a hand

Dean Juipe

Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2003 | 9:06 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4084.

He has not won a fight in more than two years.

In fact, he hasn't won a fight in more than 25 months, or, to be even more precise, by the time Shane Mosley steps into the ring with Oscar De La Hoya Sept. 13 at the MGM Grand Garden it will have been 784 days between victories for this former two-time world champion.

In that winless interim, Mosley was also beaten twice by a man, Vernon Forrest, who has since lost twice himself.

These are negatives that could leave anyone, and in this case Mosley, despondent.

And yet there's a bright side to this picture.

Mosley is getting $4.5 million to fight De La Hoya (plus another $500,000 if he wins). He has also beaten De La Hoya once as a professional -- by split decision June 17, 2000, in Los Angeles -- and he also beat him in an amateur fight when they were youngsters at 75 pounds.

One other thing: Oscar is hurt. He admitted last week that a lingering problem with his left hand, accentuated by sparring, has him at far less than 100 percent for a fight in which he likely needs to be 100 percent to win.

The betting line of De La Hoya at minus 240 and Mosley as a plus-200 underdog will undergo some revision if that hand injury remains part of the equation.

"I try not to focus on Oscar De La Hoya," Mosley said Tuesday from his training camp in Big Bear, Calif., as he attempted to find a middle ground in a discussion on De La Hoya's injury.

Pressed a bit further, Mosley relented.

"I don't know if his hand injury is that bad," he said, as if he were skeptical of De La Hoya's admission and/or the truth of the matter. "I think maybe it was blown out of proportion."

Mosley, 31, says he has fought "lots of times" with hand injuries of his own in a pro career that includes 38 wins in 40 official bouts. But he has never come out before a fight (as De La Hoya has done here) and said he was injured before a punch was even thrown.

De La Hoya's injury claim alarmed promoters and those at the MGM, as it implied that he might back out of the high-stakes bout. And while he hasn't withdrawn and apparently won't, he has managed to get people wondering about him and speculating that his admission may be a sign that he's getting his excuses in order in the event he loses to Mosley again.

Mosley wouldn't say it but it's likely he suspects the latter.

He did say he felt he was handpicked for this fight because of his supposed "vulnerability." Not only has Mosley lost twice (to Forrest) since his last win, a third fight (with Raul Marquez) was ruled a no-contest when it was stopped due to head butts in the third round.

"I guess they figured my self-esteem had probably dropped, but my self-esteem has never dropped," Mosley said. "They don't know that I'm (not only) not vulnerable, I'm at my strongest.

"I'm a little faster and I'm hitting harder.

"They picked the wrong time."

I liked De La Hoya to win this fight when it was announced in May, but this thing with his hand skewers the rationale. I wouldn't go so far as to say all bets are off, but if he arrives in Las Vegas and isn't at full strength he might very well find Mosley -- losing streak and all -- more than he can handle.