Unbeaten Champion Mosley Slowly Gaining Recognition

He’s from the Los Angeles area. He’s an unbeaten world champion. He’s good-looking, confident, smooth-talking and lightning fast.

And he’s good enough to be in that elite class considered for the unofficial title: best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

His name is . . . Oscar De La Hoya?

That’s the obvious answer, but, in this case, it’s the wrong answer.

All of the above also describes Shane Mosley of Pomona.

But while De La Hoya, of East Los Angeles, has raced down the main street of boxing to fame and fortune, catapulted by a gold medal in the 1992 Olympics and guided by the promotional machine of Bob Arum, Mosley has taken an alternate route, one less traveled, less noticed.

Although he has been the International Boxing Federation lightweight champion since August 1997, Mosley found himself in a Las Vegas hotel recently, trying to convince a stranger that he indeed held a world-title belt.

“The guy argued with me that I wasn’t a champion,” said Mosley, shaking his head in amazement.

Can you imagine De La Hoya enduring such an indignity in Las Vegas? Hardly.

“It made me feel bad,” Mosley acknowledged. “Damn, I thought, I am never going to get there.”

It has certainly taken a while for Mosley, who puts his title and his 31-0 record with 29 knockouts on the line tonight at Indio’s Fantasy Springs Casino against John Brown (19-5, 10 knockouts).

Mosley didn’t have a big-time promotional organization behind him until the last few years, he hasn’t had the big-name opponents who might define him, he has never fought in Las Vegas and hasn’t fought in his hometown area in more than two years.

So when he says, “For a long time, I felt L.A. wouldn’t get behind me,” the reasons are obvious.

Still, it hurt.

Although he was a three-time national amateur champion, made the 1992 Olympic squad and wound up 250-10 before turning professional, Mosley didn’t win Olympic gold, which would have guaranteed him entry into the fast lane when launching his professional career.

Mosley, however, wasn’t about to sit around feeling sorry for himself. Sitting around is not something he does. Ever.

When Mosley was in kindergarten, his classmates would run around until they ran out of energy, then plop down for a nap.

Not Mosley.

His parents had to buy him a tricycle and bring it to school so he would have something to do while his classmates slept.

“He would take it out on the playground,” said his father, Jack, “and entertain himself.”

Although he wasn’t in trouble as a kid, the younger Mosley didn’t shy away from using his fists on occasion. In the fourth grade, he got into a fight with a sixth grader, bruising the older student’s nose and ear.

When the outraged father of the sixth grader confronted Mosley in the principal’s office, the outrage turned to amazement.

“This little kid did that to you?” the father said to his son.

Mosley has been amazing people since he first put on gloves at 9 at the urging of his father, a former amateur boxer.

At that tender age, the younger Mosley was already given the nickname Sugar because he emulated the style of the legendary Sugars of the sport, Ray Robinson and Ray Leonard.

It’s a big nickname for a little 9-year-old, but Mosley immediately began living up to it. He won his first tournament at that age and kept winning. As a pro, he knocked out his first nine opponents.

Mosley won his title by decision over Philip Holiday, only the second time Mosley has been forced to go the distance, and world-wide recognition has slowly followed.

“I’m no longer the best-kept secret in boxing,” he said.

Mosley, 27, has his belt, seven successful title defenses, established promoter Cedric Kushner guiding his career and a contract with HBO.

And, as always, Mosley has his father in his corner as manager and trainer.

In many cases, that’s not a good thing. The boxing landscape is littered with fighters whose careers were sidetracked and often destroyed because father thought he knew best.

But not in this case, insist those who are around the Mosleys.

“I’ve seen many father-son combinations,” Kushner said. “Some are to be applauded and some are to be castigated. This one is one of the finest I have been privileged to work with.

“Jack Mosley is someone who is obviously very thorough, very competent and knows what he is talking about. He’s seen the opponents Shane is going to fight on TV or he has them on videotape. He’s seen them over and over, 10 times before Shane’s fight. He’s not just some simpleton who happened to have a talented son. He’s a very solid boxing man.”

Jack knows what they are saying behind his back.

“I’ve heard a lot of whispers,” he said, “that Shane may need this promoter or this trainer. People mean well, but they just don’t know. I have molded Shane’s basic style, which we call power boxing. I have three fighters who are undefeated [the other two being junior-welterweight Daniel Lynem, who is 7-0 with six knockouts, and cruiserweight Derek Berry, who is 5-0 with four knockouts].”

Perhaps the best contribution Jack has made to his son’s development has been to give him a sense of perspective. If there is any bitterness in Shane over his slow rise in comparison to De La Hoya, he does a good job of covering it up.

“I raised my son to appreciate what he has,” Jack said. “Money can come or not come. The important thing is that Shane is not in trouble. He is not being shot up by the police. He is not being shot up by gangs. He is not chasing every skirt in town. I’m happy because he is my champion.

“We don’t worry about what others have. If Oscar had a billion dollars, we wouldn’t care. We wish him well. Money doesn’t make us. We make money. We are not sharing in anybody else’s glory. We are building our own glory.”

*

Brown , coming off a TKO victory over Gabriel Ruelas, knows that Mosley can’t be any tougher than what he has been through the last couple of weeks.

Not tougher than trying to make his way through a wooded area near Atlantic City with 10 to 12 men waiting in ambush in trees and behind bushes, set to leap out and attack him.

Not tougher than being hurled into sand pits and being forced to crawl out.

Not tougher than sparring against three or four men at one time, or sparring for 12 rounds against 12 opponents.

The mastermind behind this torturous training program is Mal Perkins.

“We wanted him to endure something nobody else would have to endure,” Perkins said, “and he never said no to any of it. He is going to have to take it to Mosley and make it like an alley fight. What he has been through makes him mentally ready to expect anything. To win, Shane is going to have to kill John. To do that, he’s got to be willing to die himself. That’s our philosophy.”

Boxing Notes

Also on the card is a bout that could stand as a main event. Two of the world’s best junior-lightweights, former World Boxing Union champion Angel Manfredy (26-3-1, 21 knockouts) and Ivan Robinson (27-2, 10 knockouts), will meet, with the winner hoping for a shot at Mosley. . . . Mosley weighed in at 135 pounds Friday, Brown at 134 1/4. Manfredy weighed 134 1/2, Robinson 134.

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The Facts

* Who: Shane Mosley, Pomona, vs. John Brown, Atlantic City, N.J.

* At Stake: Mosley’s IBF lightweight title (12-round bout).

* Where: Fantasy Springs Casino, Indio.

* TV: HBO (delayed, 11 p.m.)

* Undercard: Ivan Robinson, Philadelphia, vs. Angel Manfredy, Gary, Ind., 10-round junior-lightweight bout.