Miguel Cotto defends his welterweight championship against four-time world champion Shane Mosley Saturday night at the Garden. HBO Pay-Per-View. Here’s the latest… Team Mosley was exuding confidence during its media workout on Tuesday at Kingsway Gym in Manhattan. Heading into Wednesdayâs final press conference, four-time world champion Shane Mosley and his father/trainer Jack Mosley canât phantom Miguel Cotto winning Saturdayâs welterweight championship fight at the Garden.
âIâm not being cocky. I just donâtâ see what he can do,â Jack Mosley said of Cotto, who is 30-0 with 25 knockouts. âAll heâs got is a left hook. Unless Shane gets sick or something thereâs nothing Cotto can do. Shaneâs been in there with bigger stronger guys. Heâs going to try to knock Cotto straight out. Nobodyâs scared of Cotto. Not Shane.â
Mosley did some light boxing for the cameras and looks in great shape.
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An energetic crowd is expected to fill the Garden. The question is who will draw more fans, Mosley or Cotto?
Logic says Cotto will be the crowd favorite. He has fought in the Garden three straight years on the eve of the Puerto Rican Day Parade and built a following of loyal fans from not only the Puerto Rican community in New York but boxing fans in general. Top Rank has made him a star in New York.
âMy people always help me,â Cotto said. âThey are for me, and theyâve always supported me. I know theyâre going to do the same for this fight.â
Mosley is from Pomona, Calif., but his wife Jin is from New York and he spends a lot of time in the area. âI think Iâll have a lot more New York fans than people think,â Mosley said. âBeing that Iâm always in New York a lot and a lot of New Yorkers want to see me fight.â
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A decent under card will precede the main event. Former welterweight champion Antonio Margarito (34-5, 25 KOs) takes on Golden Johnson (25-8-3, 18 KOs), while Joel Casamayor (34-3-1, 21 KOs) defends his WBC interim lightweight title against Jose Armando Santa Cruz (25-2, 14 KOs) and Victor Ortiz (19-1-1, 14 KOs) battles former super lightweight champion Carlos Maussa (19-4, 17 KOs) in a 10-round welterweight fight. âItâs the best under card I have ever seen on a championship fight card,â said Top Rank boss Bob Arum. âEach fight has significance.â
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While Mosley was conducting his media workout at Kingsway Gym, Cotto signed autographs outside of the HBO Store. Cotto drew a crowd close to 1,000 people wanting to get the signature of the unbeaten champion.
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Justin Hoffman, the DJ who rocked the Garden at Cottoâs fight with Zab Judah in June, will be spinning his magic again Saturday night. Hoffman, the nephew of Abbie Hoffman, works out of Las Vegas.
