Shane Mosley
Neither man faced Mosley at the height of his powers, but the “Sugar” Shane that faced Cotto in 2007 was a little sweeter at the time. Defending his WBA world welterweight title, Cotto revealed a sound boxing brain to out-think the Californian. Mosley’s shots were the more powerful, but Cotto did not allow him to rest and the American soon tired. Mosley was able to exploit Cotto’s lack of head movement at times, stunning him on a couple of occasions but the champion always fired back to earn a unanimous decision.
Five years later, Alvarez faced a 40-year-old Mosley who had not fought since a one-sided drubbing to Manny Pacquiao 12 months earlier. The bout was more a chance for ‘Canelo’ to claim a notable scalp rather than a serious acid test, but the young Mexican did what was required in winning almost every round. Alvarez largely boxed within himself for the first half of each round before exerting more pressure to intermittently hurt Mosley. Superior in every department, it was Alvarez’s best performance at the time but difficult to assess given Mosley’s age.
Better performance: Draw
