Posted on 09/14/2021
By: Hans Themistode
Shane Mosley couldn’t believe what he was looking at. After rubbing his eyes and pinching himself to confirm, the former multiple division titlist began flashing a bright grin.
Heading into his 2012 showdown against Canelo Alvarez, Mosley was taken aback when he was pegged as a significant underdog on the night. After carving out a career that was already Hall of Fame worthy, Mosley believed there was absolutely no logical reason why Alvarez was such a significant betting favorite.
Generally speaking, Alvarez was tabbed as a -875 favorite, while Mosley came back at roughly +575. Believing that the betting market made a huge mistake on the night, Mosley took his $600,000 purse and added a few more bucks on top of it. Then, he made his way to the casino and made an enormous bet on himself. Although Mosley was 40 years of age at the time, 19 years older than Alvarez, he simply couldn’t pass up on the return he was set to make for defeating the young star.
“They were gonna pay me $600,000,” said Mosley on OK Bet to Mario Lopez. “But I made a bet for a million dollars that I was gonna beat Canelo. If I would’ve won, I’d have $6 million.”
The betting market’s trepidation to back Mosley was due to several reasons. As previously mentioned, Mosley was near the back end of his career. In addition to that, the former multiple division champion had gone a full year without picking up a win. Mosley did, however, face extremely tough competition.
In May of 2010, Mosley lost a lopsided decision to Floyd Mayweather. He would return to the ring four months later but was forced to settle for a split decision draw against Sergio Mora. Mosley would then attempt to turn things around in a showdown against Manny Pacquiao in May of 2011. That of course, didn’t go as planned, as Mosley was floored in the third round and was dominated throughout.
Regardless of his form, Alvarez had yet to face anyone even remotely close to the skill level of Mosley. His lack of experience at the highest of levels, coupled with his youth, left Mosley feeling extraordinarily confident that he could pick up the win and pocket a large sum of cash in the process.
But while the pain of stomaching yet another defeat was bad enough, the loss was only exacerbated once Mosley came to grips with missing out on a significant payday as well.
“I was thinking this snot nose kid is not gonna beat me at 154 [pounds]. I had to pay $400,000 for getting my butt kicked. Canelo got me.”