Shane Mosley Jnr is ready to become a world champion – or, at least, an interim champion.

Before that can happen, he has to get by Jesus Ramos Jnr on October 25 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, where the two will fight for the WBC interim middleweight title. 

Mosley, 22-4 (12 KOs), is the son of the legendary former titleholder Shane Mosley Snr and bears the near-impossible task of emulating his father. Mosley Jnr turned pro in 2014 and is on a five-fight winning streak since a decision loss to Jason Quigley in 2021. Last July, Mosley defeated Daniel Jacobs in the “Miracle Man’s” last fight. Mosley, a 34-year-old from Las Vegas, now believes he has put it all together to cement his own career. 

“I am ready to become a world champion,” Mosley told BoxingScene. “It took 11 years, but I am going to be a champion, and I am on the path to becoming a champion.”

Last week, Mosley’s absence was noticeable at the press conference for his fight with Ramos: only Ramos, 23-1 (19 KOs), sat on stage in Los Angeles to receive questions. The 24-year-old Ramos is a hard-hitting prospect whose luster was dulled marginally by a questionable unanimous decision to Erickson Lubin. He has since won three straight fights inside the distance. Ramos, who is from Casa Grande, Arizona, made an impression on Mosley from the press conference – but not a positive one.

“In my opinion, he doesn’t look in the best of shape right now,” Mosley said. “He looked a little bit heavier.”

As for why Mosley wasn’t at the press conference? He simply couldn’t find the time. He asked his team to reach out to the promoters, but got a late response regarding the event. Mosley is a father of four children and says he balances training with his family life, and was unable to figure it out on short notice.

Mosley enters the fight to create his own legacy and is highly motivated to do so, stating he hasn’t stopped training since December. Often compared to his father, Mosley gets the opportunity to write his own chapter against a top-up-and-coming contender in Ramos. For Mosley has reinvented himself from being the son of a Hall of Fame boxer to becoming a blue-collar contender himself after going through the ringer with losses to Brandon Adams in “The Contender” TV series finale and the defeat to Quigley. This is his chance to show who he is as a fighter. 

“This fight really puts a stamp on who I will be in my sport,” Mosley said. “It means a lot.”