With one of his ordinary smiles, WBC-WBA 154-pound champion Shane Mosley can light up a room. After defeating former champ Oscar De La Hoya on Saturday, Mosley's grin is so wide he just might be able to light up all of Las Vegas.
Along with his promoter Gary Shaw, Mosley, who took a controversial but unanimous victory over De La Hoya to win his third and fourth belts in a third different weight division, spoke with the press via conference call Tuesday.
"I'm very happy. It's a great feeling to win the WBC and WBA championship," said the 32-year-old Mosley. "Sometimes controversy can be positive."
And controversial the fight was after all three judges -- Duane Ford, Stanley Christodoulo and Anek Hongtonkam -- scored the bout 115-113 for Mosley. Bob Arum, De La Hoya' s promoter, said on Monday he will bring litigious action against Dr. Flip Homansky, who is a member of the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC), as well as an unnamed judge because of alleged wrongdoings which purportedly affected the outcome of the fight.
As of press time De La Hoya had not yet filed an appeal with the NSAC.
"I feel bad for Sugar Shane Mosley," Shaw said. "He's a very nice, honest guy. Why tarnish a victory of this magnitude (with the protests and a possible appeal)? If I had made those allegations against Homansky, I would've received a letter calling us to a hearing to revoke our license and get a huge fine. If (Arum doesn't get fined), maybe the Commission has relations with Arum. Nothing could be worse for the sport."
While many boxing fans and the HBO broadcast team have voiced their displeasure with the decision, most ringside press members saw Mosley a close winner and the controversy as needless. Shaw advised Mosley not to talk about the legal aspects of the fight.
"It would've been nice had Oscar said, 'It was a close fight and the judges took it from me, but you won,'" said Mosley, who improved his record to 39-2, with 35 knockouts and one no-contest. "I think his protests may enhance my glory. He's talking about it after the fight and everybody's listening about what's going on. I understand he's emotional. He's lost to me every time we've fought. He lost at trying to box me, he lost trying to KO me -- aybe next time he'll try to go toe-to-toe."
That's right. Mosley said "next time."
"I think a fight with De La Hoya would be great," Mosley said. "I welcome it. It's the biggest money fight for me. Let's do it again."
"What can (De La Hoya) do? He said if he lost it would be his last fight," Shaw said. "He didn't mean what he said. If he wants (the rematch), Sugar Shane Mosley is a gentleman. It took Oscar three years to give Shane a rematch. Shane will give him one, and he only needs three months."
Before the fight De La Hoya said he would retire if he lost to Mosley. Right now, he's in a holding pattern, which leaves Mosley with some other options.
"I want the big fights," Mosley said. "There's (Fernando) Vargas, (IBF 154-pound titlist) Winky (Wright), (WBC-WBA welterweight champion Ricardo) Mayorga, maybe Vernon Forrest (who twice beat Mosley), and (undisputed middleweight champion Bernard) Hopkins, if he comes down (to a catch-weight of 157 pounds). I'm not old, but I'm getting up there where I want a couple more fights -- four or five good fights."
Mosley said he thought the fight was close, but that he had beaten the "Golden Boy."
"I knew the only thing he could do was back up and use a nice left hook," Mosley said. "He tried to trap me with a big punch, but I began banging his body with rights. I wanted to break him all the way down and go for the KO. He was in retreat mode for most of the fight."
Mosley was also good-natured when it came to the additional $500,000 De La Hoya said he would pay Mosley if he, Mosley, beat him.
"He hasn't paid me yet," Mosley said with a laugh. "He said he'd pay me. If he said he will, I believe him."
And one thing it looks like Mosley won't have to worry about after beating De La Hoya this time is getting some attention from the press, something he was unable to do after his first win over De La Hoya in 2000.
"I haven't left Las Vegas yet," said Mosley, who Shaw said has done over 30 interviews since winning the fight, and has a lot of other public relation activities waiting in the wings.
In addition to being happy for himself, Mosley said he was also pleased for his father and trainer, Jack, who had drawn a lot of pre-fight criticism from the media and Floyd Mayweather Sr., De La Hoya's trainer.
"My father was very happy," Mosley said. "He knows we worked very hard for this fight. They said he (Jack) wasn't any good and that I needed another trainer. With this victory he shoved it right back in their face."