Former world boxing champ Shane Mosley to spar handful of boxers at Spokane

Boxing star Shane Mosley is set to headline Hillyard Hammer’s BoxFit owner Chauncy Welliver’s fundraising event Hard Sparring 2 on Saturday.

Welliver’s event will not feature sanctioned bouts. There are no records on the line, wins or losses.

“These are sparring sessions where I’m telling both sides to go out there and bring it on,” Welliver said.

Welliver’s hard sparring events – which pair local boxers against some of sport’s biggest names – began in 2017 with multiple-time world champ James Toney. The next two featured DeMarcus “Chop Chop” Corley and Cam Awesome.

According to Welliver, these events are a chance for the local boxers, professional or otherwise, a chance to be under the spotlight.

“I want to give them a taste of the big time for one night,” Welliver said.

Picking Mosley for this event was a no-brainer, Welliver said, after Hillyard Hammer’s BoxFit co-owner Jacob Ruffin told him that Mosley was his favorite fighter. Welliver, the Spokane heavyweight who racked up 57 wins in his 75 fights before retiring, had met Mosley during a training camp years ago, and called the boxer and asked if he would be willing to come into Spokane for Hard Sparring 2.

“(Mosley) said, ‘Yeah, I’d come up,’ ” Welliver said. “He said, ‘It’d be cool to jump in there with a couple guys.’ ”

Soon, Welliver had talked Mosley up to sparring five boxers for 10 rounds straight.

Mosley held multiple world championship titles while fighting as a lightweight, welterweight and middleweight.

He was named as Fighter of the Year by the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2000 and The Ring named him the world’s best pound-for-pound active boxer in 2000 and 2001.

Mosley’s amateur record was 150-12 and his professional record was 49-10. He gave Floyd Mayweather Jr. a run for his money in 2010, but ultimately lost to unanimous decision.

In his career, Mosley has wins over Oscar De La Hoya, David Estrada and Fernando Vargas. Now, Mosley comes to Spokane to spar five local boxers for an evening of fun.

“When (Welliver) gave me the opportunity to do this, my thought was, ‘I’m going to be helping the foundation and also supporting the younger generation of fighters that will be hopefully one day world champions,’ ” Mosley said.

Each boxer will spar for two 3-minute rounds while Mosley will stay in the ring the entire time.

Adam Smith will spar first, followed by Ryan Reck, Antonio Tessitore and Joe Roberts. Mosley will end the night against Ruffin as the last sparring partner.

The opportunity to throw hands with a true boxing star isn’t lost on the boxers.

“Did I ever think I would have an opportunity like this? Absolutely not,” Ruffin said. “Right now, I’m taking it to heart and I’m doing my best in my training and I’m really looking forward to this.”

For Tessitore, it is a chance for his daughters to have a story to tell their children “later in…