It was hard to pin down the mood of former two-division champ Shane Mosley as he prepared for his first fight in the junior middleweight division at his training camp in Big Bear Lake, California last week.

	AND CHECK OUT...
	Exclusive Mosley video from Maxboxing.com | Archive

Mosley, who will fight Raul Marquez in an HBO-televised bout this Saturday, didn't have the steely focus he had before his signature victory over Oscar De La Hoya in June of 2000. He wasn't frustrated or bitter or angry like he was before his two losses to Vernon Forrest last year. He was relaxed, but not loosey goosey. He was focused but far from possessed. He was full of desire, but without any rage or negativity.

The best way to describe Mosley's mood before his 41st pro fight is comfortable. And he should be comfortable. For the first time since he won his first world title in '97, Mosley can make his contracted weight without struggling. He won't have to fast for two days before weighing in for the Marquez fight the way he often did as the lightweight champ. He won't have to shadow box for an hour or two in a make-shift steam room the way he did a few times during his welterweight reign.

There's no doubt that Mosley was always big for a lightweight. He campaigned in the 139-pound division during the final three years of his amateur career, and often weighed around 137 or 138 pounds for the first 22 fights of his pro career (before he lifted the IBF 135-pound title from Philip Holiday). The day after he weighed in for his last fight at lightweight, a title defense agaisnt John Brown in April of '99, he weighed whopping 155 pounds.

"I feel that this is my natural weight," Mosley, 38-2 (35), told MaxBoxing.com last Tuesday. "I don't feel heavy or bloated. I don't feel drained. I feel good. I feel light, I feel bouncy."

He probably feels light on his feet because when he isn't sparring or doing wind sprints up the side of the hill next to his Big Bear home and brand-new personal gym, he's lifting some heavy metal. Not little dumbbells in each hand for resistance shadow boxing (something Mosley has done for years), but real weight lifting, at least twice a week.

Dead lifts, three sets, 10 repetitions, 250-pounds. That kind of thing. Squats. Leg extensions. Vertical incline presses. He's been on this weight program that is mixed in with plyometrics and simulated boxing drills, like tossing around a 12-pound medicine ball four different ways, since his camp for his second bout with Forrest. Darryl Hudson, a former world-class sprinter who has worked on the strength and conditioning of numerous pro football and track & field athletes, including long jump world-record holder Mike Powell, is gearing these works outs to increase Mosley's mass, power, speed and most importantly, endurance.

Hudson doesn't just want Mosley to weigh as much as Marquez, a natural junior middleweight, he wants him to be able to out-speed and out-muscle the former 154-pound titlist over 12 rounds if need be.

"Shane already had the right tools for this kind of training," said Hudson, a physiologist/kinesiologist. "He's got the right mix of fast-twitch and slow-twitch muscles. It's easy to enhance the power and strength of anyone with natural speed. Shane could be a short sprinter, or a long sprinter. He has the power and explosiveness of a 100-meter sprinter and the endurance of an 800-meter runner.

"But he's also got he right attitude. He wants to work hard and loves to train and get better."

Mosley's father and trainer says that's what's most important.

"Mentally, he's ready," Jack Mosley told MaxBoxing. "Things happen in boxing and in life that can distract a man from his job, in Shane's case boxing. Shane had some of that last year, but the personal things have been ironed out now. There are no distractions in this camp."

And that has allowed Mosley to focus on improving in a number of areas. He's concentrating on technique and strategy with his father more than he has for recent fights. His chief sparring partner, former WBA 154-pound titlist Carl Daniels, has also imparted some of the wisdom he's garnered in more than 50 pro fights and nearly 14 years in the business.

Hudson has added more than lean muscle mass and raw physical strength to Mosley's frame. Hudson has also added a dietary program, stretching and breathing techniques to Mosley's training that will supposedly add to his endurance.

"One thing we've been working on is Shane's resting heart rate," Hudson said. "Believe it or not, we've got it down to 32 beats per minute. To give you a gauge, 50 is excellent. That's what long distance runners, marathoners have. World-class cyclists like Lance Armstrong have 32."

And what does this mean?

"This means his recovery will be quicker in-between rounds," said Hudson. "He can bring in more oxygen. He doesn't have to work as hard to fight at his maximum level. He can get his heart rate up to 120 during a round, and in one minute bring it down to 70 or 80. This means his heart is very strong."

Well, we all knew Mosley had heart. The guy's a pure fighter. And that's what he's looking forward to most -- getting back in the ring, under those bright lights. It's something he knows can make or break a fighter.

"In his last fight, Vernon felt what it was like to be under the spotlight," Mosley said. "He got to feel the expectations of looking good and being exciting. That first fight after your first big win, everyone is watching you. Everyone is expecting something. It caused him to get away from his program and Mayorga got him. I'm happy for Mayorga. I read that he said that I was a real champion, a people's champion."

Mosley is anxious to get in there with Marquez at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, and dazzle a good crowd of people. He's excited about trying out his new body, if you will. He says he's not the only one who's excited.

"I think Marquez is excited, too. Initially, he'll come at me, but once we start exchanging blows it will be a different story," Mosley said. "He'll have to accept reality, and then he'll accept his check and go back to Texas and commentating."

And where will Mosley go after Feb. 8? He is supposed to go straight into a mega-rematch with De La Hoya on Sept. 13, but there have been conflicting reports.

"I really don't know what's going on," Mosley admitted. "I just want a fair shake. That means that I get $8 million and De La Hoya gets $12 million.

"That's not being unreasonable. I was supposed to get $10 million in the rematch at 147 in 2000, but Oscar waived that clause in our contract. There's probably more than $21 million in the pot for this fight. They could add $500,000 to both our purses."

And if De La Hoya's promoter Bob Arum tells Mosley to take a walk?

"Give me a break, if Oscar don't want to fight Shane, he should just say so," Jack said. "We'll move on. When they see how Shane fights Marquez, I think they wont' be so ready to fight him anyway.

"That's just fine. There's Vargas, there's' [IBF titlist] Winky Wright, there's [WBO titlist] Daniel Santos. That's three big fights right there where we can make a few million a piece."

But make no mistake, De La Hoya is still the ultimate goal.

"If for some reason, I don't fight him in September, I will stay at 154. This is my new home now," Mosley said. "I will stay busy, fight tough fighters and try to build interest in a rematch with Oscar. We will fight again, sooner or later."

THE NEW SHANE MOSLEY

How big is Mosley? Check out the mini-documentary this website is offering on Max-TV.

From the waist up, he looks like a different fighter from the one we saw struggle with Forrest. Mosley's neck and arms are thicker than ever. His shoulders are capped. His midsection (obliques and abdominal muscles) look ripped and layered, much like those of Roy Jones Jr. Mosley's back is actually broader than that of undisputed middleweight king Bernard Hopkins.

Last Tuesday, Mosley weighed 161 pounds before his boxing workout. He said he weighed around 158 afterward, which was right where he wanted to be.

He's not just bigger. His actual physical strength has increased. Much was made of how he could bench about 290 before he fought De La Hoya. Now he can max out at well over 300 (about 360). He can squat 500 pounds.

And believe it or not. He looks just as fast as he did at lightweight and welterweight. Maybe even faster. MaxBoxing's video cameras had a hard time capturing the combinations he dropped while his father worked the mits with him.

"He's the best sparring I've ever had," Carl Daniels, who weighed around 171 pounds, told MaxBoxing. "I've sparred with guys who are super middleweights -- Jerson Ravelo, Ross Thompson and Henry Wharton. And none of those guys were as strong as Shane.

"I had to work on my defense versus Shane. I doesn't make since to take the fight to him. You gotta lay back and try to counter him."

That's not the style of Marquez, who told this reporter two weeks ago in Temecula, California that he was "inspired" by Ricardo Mayorga's upset win over Vernon Forrest.

"That's the way I have to be when I fight Shane," said Marquez, who is sporting a ripped six-pack. "You can't give a f__k. That's how my attitude has been in sparring and that's how I'm gonna be when I fight Shane."

If all of this weight-conditioning-plyometrics-boxing-simulation-exercises is bulls__t, Marquez will expose it this Saturday. If Mosley is making a mistake by lifting all these heavy weights right up until the fight, Marquez will let him know in brutal fashion sometime during the fight. If Mosley doesn't belong in the 154-pound division, Marquez will let him know.

That's the great thing about boxing. The truth will be revealed. And if Mosley does belong, look out Oscar, the new Shane Mosley is coming for you.