Thursday, Sept. 4, 2003 | 9:21 a.m.
The fight is sold out but the promotional ads run continually on the big screens in the MGM Grand.
Each man, Oscar De La Hoya and Shane Mosley, emphatically states he's going to win. Mosley goes a step further and says it'll be because De La Hoya "can't hit what he can't see."
That's the challenger's battle plan for their Sept. 13 fight in the casino's Grand Garden Arena: Be quicker than De La Hoya, just as he was three years ago in Los Angeles when he won their first fight by split decision.
"I have a good speed advantage on him and that's going to be the difference in the fight," Mosley said from his training camp in Big Bear, Calif. "I'm doing all the things I did to beat him the first time and a little more.
"I'm maturing. My body's getting stronger and I've kept my speed.
"I believe in my heart I'm going to win and win in spectacular fashion."
Bettors aren't quite as sure. Wednesday in the sports book at the MGM Mosley was a plus 210 underdog after opening in May at plus 175 and stopping at plus 200 last month.
De La Hoya is a minus 250 after opening at minus 210.
It's a minus 180 that the fight goes its fully scheduled 12 rounds and plus 160 that it won't.
"It's a historical fight, a stepping stone to get me back to the top," Mosley said of a pay-per-view bout that will have De La Hoya's World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association championships at 154 pounds at stake.
"It won't be any different (than the first fight)," Mosley said. "It's going to be the same. I haven't seen much of a difference in Oscar and he's basically the same fighter he was, maybe with a little more shoulder movement."
De La Hoya, 30, is 36-2 and has won all four of his fights since the loss to Mosley.
Mosley, who turns 32 Sunday and will arrive in Las Vegas a day later, is 38-2 but is coming off consecutive losses to Vernon Forrest and a no-contest against Raul Marquez.
He blames himself -- and complacency -- for those setbacks.
"You learn not to get too lackadaisical or comfortable," he said of the lesson he has taken from the defeats and the three-round fight with Marquez that was terminated early due to the latter's facial cuts. "There's always somebody out there gunning for you.
"I became more flat-footed instead of moving and firing like you're supposed to. (The losses) made me go back to the drawing board."
His father and trainer, Jack, reiterated that same sentiment during a Wednesday conference call that also included De La Hoya's trainer, Floyd Mayweather Sr. Predictably, Mayweather disagreed with the Mosleys but that hasn't lessened Shane Mosley's belief that his fast hands will keep De La Hoya at bay.
"I'm looking to win either by knockout or by a unanimous decision by a long margin," he said. "I'm training not just to beat him but to really beat him."
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