LAS VEGAS -- After "Sugar" Shane Mosley fired his father, Jack Mosley, as his trainer two years ago, it looked like they would become simply another of boxing's many broken father-son relationships.
But after two years apart, the Mosleys are trying to prove that you can go back home again by reuniting for Shane's rematch against Fernando Vargas on Saturday night (HBO PPV) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
They had been a team since Shane began boxing at age 8. Together they won world championships at lightweight, welterweight and junior middleweight.
Under Jack's tutelage, Shane became a star, twice defeating Oscar De La Hoya. In 1998, they were honored as fighter and trainer of the year, respectively.
"Me and my father were best friends," Mosley said. "Wherever I was at, my father was with me. He was kinda like my big brother. He loved to train me and I loved to fight, so it was a perfect match."
Although their working relationship survived back-to-back losses to Vernon Forrest in 2002, it didn't survive Shane's lopsided junior middleweight championship loss to Winky Wright in March 2004.
Shortly after the fight, Shane went over to his father's home in La Verne, in Southern California, just a few minutes from his own home, and broke the difficult news that he was firing him.
"I felt my father was slacking in different areas where he didn't have the same motivation that he once had," Shane said. "The same hunger wasn't there."
Jack said that wasn't true, but he understood his son's desire to branch out.
"Sometimes in life, people need to do things on their own," he said. "Like when he wanted to play basketball and he wanted to play football, and I said, 'Go ahead.' You want to make changes and see what you can do and what you can't do and that's kind of what it was. But the bottom line is he is here and we are going to do it again. We are going to work hard and kick some butt out there and make history."
In Jack's place, Shane hired Joe Goossen. Together they lost the rematch with Wright.
A conflict over where to train -- Goossen preferred Los Angeles while Mosley preferred his usual base in Big Bear, Calif. -- led Mosley to another trainer, former world champion John David Jackson, for his next three fights. Together they won a decisions against David Estrada and Jose Luis Cruz followed by Mosley's Feb. 25 10th-round TKO of Vargas.
Mosley and Jackson made a good team and seemed to mesh well together, but when Jackson was hired to assist with Bernard Hopkins' preparation for his light heavyweight championship win against Antonio Tarver in June, Jackson couldn't be available for all of Mosley's training camp.
So the time was right for a family reunion.
During their professional separation, Jack and Shane maintained a relationship and Jack continued to attend Shane's fights, even if he had a view from the front row rather than the corner.
"I still dropped my kids off at the house and they called him Grandpa and Granddaddy, so we were still family," Shane said. "He still came to every fight, and even though he wasn't in the corner, he was cheering me on."
When Shane decided to ask Jack back to his corner, he discussed it with his wife, Jin, who had been instrumental in moving Jack out in the first place.
It is no secret in boxing circles that Jack and Jin have had a strained relationship over the years, but she was supportive of the move.
"She thought it would be a great idea," Shane said. "If my father is motivated to come back, then he would be the best choice. Nobody else could train me like my father could."
So Shane made another trip to his father's house and asked him to return to the corner to train him for the Vargas rematch.
Jack didn't hesitate to say "yes."
"There was nothing to talk about. He asked me if I would train him and I said, 'fine,'" Jack said. "John [was] training Bernard Hopkins, so what better person to have than the one who started him out?"
Said Shane: "He was ready. The first thing he said is, 'When do we go to Big Bear?'"
De La Hoya -- who is Shane's promoter, business partner in Golden Boy Promotions and onetime ring rival -- thinks bringing Jack back will be good for Shane's career.
"Jack is a trainer who makes sure Shane Mosley is in tremendous shape," De La Hoya said. "This man knows his boxing. He came up with a strategy to beat me twice and another time in the amateurs as kids. He knows this game, and I am sure it's a big confidence boost for [Shane]."
When the Mosleys opened training camp, it was as if they never missed a beat.
"He was very excited to come back and work with me," Shane said. "He saw things I could improve on and get me back to square one -- where I was at [before], just like the old days. I saw the fire and hunger in his eyes that he really wanted to make an impact upon me and upon the world when I go out there and do the things I do. We talked about it and he knew the job, and he knew what he had to do and what he was supposed to do, and he did it. He rose to the occasion [in camp] and we are ready to fight."
Shane hopes the reunion lasts for the rest of his career. He said he thinks Jack will be with him until he retires.
"I believe he will be with me all the way through until I finish my career," Shane said. "It's real good for our family to see the father-son team get back on top again."
Dan Rafael is the boxing writer for ESPN.com.