Photos by James Maasdorp
On Saturday, July 1, 2017, Canberra, Australia native, David Toussaint (11-0, 8 KOs) took on Shane Mosley Jr. (10-2, 7 KOs) in a scheduled eight-round bout in the first televised bout on the Manny Pacquiao vs. Jeff Horn “Battle of Brisbane” card.
Toussaint began the fight cracking Mosley Jr. often with a strong right hook from his southpaw stance. Mosley Jr., to his credit, did not fold, as he continued coming forward looking for openings.
Toussaint, who quit his job as an electrician only eight months prior, took advantage of his chance in front of such a large audience at Suncorp Stadium, in Brisbane. Toussaint, though lacking the power to put Mosley Jr. down or away, consistently landed the more telling blows throughout the bout.
Mosley Jr. did his best to pressure Toussaint throughout the bout, and found some success in Round 7, but for the most part Mosley Jr.’s aggression was not effective as he followed Toussaint and ate a number of hard blows as he walked forward.
Headed into the eighth and final round, Mosley Jr.’s gave him one instruction–don’t back down.
Mosley Jr. did not back down, but he was not able to muster up enough to score a knockdown or a knockout.
In the end, the fight was scored incredibly close by the judges, something this writer did not agree with, with scores of 77-75 for Mosley and 77-76 twice giving Toussaint the split-decision nod.
