He certainly made quite the career lacing up those puffy red gloves over his fists and wrists. Yet last weekend, Sugar Shane Mosley stepped out of the ring and onto the hardwood. Mosley laced up a pair of basketball shoes and took to the court in a friendly game of hoops.

For the first time ever, the Los Angeles Lakers hosted a three-on-three basketball tournament. Over the course of three days, everyday people trekked to Staples Center and L.A. Live to take to the court and try their hand at winning some prize money. Even some celebrities made it out, attempting to experiment with their inner athlete.

Many eyes were tracking the 70-plus makeshift basketball courts that filled Chick Hearn Court (the street in front of the main Staples Center entrance), though some of those eyes were intently focused on Nike Center Court – snuggly placed at the center of L.A. Live’s Nokia Plaza. That was the makeshift court where many of the participating celebrities tied up their laces, grabbed a basketball and aimed for the reddish cylinder with a net attached to it.

Some celebrities demonstrated they have decent game. Others, not so much. If one thing was certain, all the participating celebrities knew they would not impress any professional basketball scouts.

Mosley was definitely not trying to change professions. The sport nearest and dearest to him is still boxing. Nonetheless, the boxing champion still managed to have fun shooting a few 20-foot jumpers at Nike Center Court.

“No, none of that,” Mosley laughingly told Campus Circle of a potential basketball career. “I got to keep this boxing thing going.”

Mosley will never stop being a boxer, but he will still have a soft spot for basketball. In fact, he tries to play every now and then and is somewhat active in the NBA Entertainment League that is home to many celebrities who play basketball recreationally. His involvement in the “E-League” is what allowed him to get out there last weekend and play some three-on-three basketball.

“I had a lot of fun out there,” Mosley said about his experience that included playing on a winning team last Saturday thanks to his teammate and television star Donald Faison (“Scrubs”).

“I haven’t played in a long time. It’s been a couple months since I played, but I do like to play basketball. I used to go to this gym in La Verne, but I haven’t played in a while,” added Mosley.

Still, his days as a boxer are not completely over, so we may still see the Pomona native get back into the ring again.

“Boxing will always be there,” he humbly stated. “I am looking forward to getting in the ring and fighting against some really good, competitive fighters.”

Recently, he trained with a local fighter in Pomona, Robert Guerrero, and said Inland Empire heavyweight boxer Chris Arreola is a “little green behind the ears” but has a lot of promise to be the next great boxing personality, especially if he does well in the upcoming fight next month at Staples Center against Vitali Klitschko.

Regardless of what happens to Guerrero, Klitschko or Arreola, one thing Mosley knows for sure is that he will always be willing to lace up his gloves and shorts. Judging by the way he solidly set picks and cut through screens on Saturday afternoon, the 37-year-old Pomona resident still has enough in him for at least one more fight. OK, maybe two!