Mosley taking a stand against sexism in boxing

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Shane MosleyWith his rematch against Ricardo Mayorga less than two weeks away, Shane Mosley is not only taking a stand against PBC on ESPN as Santa Cruz-Mares takes place on the same day just 25 minutes away from one another. He’s taking a stand against sexism in boxing with the addition of a female title fight to his card on Aug. 29.

It all goes down at The Forum in Inglewood, California where Mosley, 43, and Mayorga, 41, attempt to emulate their September 2008 clash that saw Mosley fight back from being down on the scorecards to score a last-second knockout of the Nicaraguan.

Under the banner of his promotional company GoBox Promotions, Mosley is fashioning the first independent pay-per-view event promoted by a big-name boxer in history.

Maureen Shea (24-2, 12 KO’s), the IFBA World super-bantamweight champion will square off against IBF World female super-bantamweight champion Yulihan Alejandra Luna Avila (12-2, 1 KO).

Shea is known for her distinctive ring name as the “Real Million Dollar Baby” because of her sparring work with Hilary Swank in the Clint Eastwood film Million Dollar Baby.

It will mark the first time in over a decade that a female title fight will be on a man’s pay-per-view. The last time it occurred was on June 11, 2005, on the undercard of Mike Tyson’s final night in the ring against journeyman Kevin McBride.

Laila Ali, the daughter of the ‘The Greatest’ Muhammad Ali, fought boxer and mixed martial artist Erin Toughill for the WIBA & WBC super-middleweight titles, which Ali won via third-round TKO. She would only three more times, retiring at the age of 29.

Ronda Rousey, UFC bantamweight champion, is one of the most popular fighters in the world, and not just because she’s a lady. She’s ferocious in the cage, gracious outside of the cage, out-spoken, and pulchritudinous.

If you’ve ever seen the kind of things Mosley puts on Twitter, you know the man is real, and he saw an opportunity to transform boxing once again by standing up for women.

“It’s an embarrassment to boxing that UFC and MMA show more respect to woman fighters than the boxing world does, and it’s about time we caught up,” said Mosley via boxingjunkie.com. “I just hope the community gets behind me in this decision by buying the pay-per-view and coming out to support at The Forum live,” Mosley said.

“I am ready for war these days and I don’t care what kind of blocks they try and put up: I am making a stand,” he added. “It’s time somebody stood up and demanded things change. Thankfully, I have the name and the funds to do that at Mosley vs. Mayorga II.”

The co-main event will feature undefeated featherweight Joel Diaz Jr. (19-0, 15 KO’s) stepping up against an experienced competitor in Luis Arceo (28-13-4, 18 KO’s).

While the UFC stands ahead of boxing when it comes to women, boxing is taking good steps. Ladies like Mikayla Nebel, Heather Hardy, Katie Taylor, and Maureen Shea are ones to look out for.

Let’s be honest, I’ve seen females fight that have put on a much better show than some of the men who get into the ring. It’s time to evolve.