LOS ANGELES — Shane Mosley Jr. has a long way to go to resemble Shane Mosley Sr.

The elder Mosley started fighting at 8 and was an Olympic-caliber amateur star at 19. The younger Mosley, 19, is still learning the basics. That was evident as Shane Jr. lost an amateur fight on the Fight Night Club card Thursday at Club Nokia.

Ivan Lazaro (15-6 as an amateur) of Carson, Calif., outpointed Mosley (10-6) in a three-round junior middleweight bout.

Shane Mosley Sr. was asked what was lacking in the fight and he pointed to his head.

“I started at 8,” the elder Mosley said. “He started much later (16). He has to get the mentality. When you fight, you have to believe in yourself. You have to believe no one can beat you. In his mind there are still question marks. He has to get past that.”

Shane Jr., who is about 6 feet tall, moves fairly fluidly in the ring but doesn't seem to have inherited his father's hand speed. He also was relatively timid, which contrasted sharply with Lazaro’s aggression.

Mosley landed some solid punches but they were few and far between. Lazaro simply outworked him.

“He gets in there and throws one punch at a time,” said Mosley Sr., who believes his son has the physical tools to succeed. “He’s not throwing a lot of punches. You see him in the gym and you see him here and it’s two different people. It’s all about experience – fighting over and over.”

So when does the younger Mosley turn pro?

“I’m looking at four or five years from now,” senior said. “I want to make sure he develops right, make sure he’s good. I want to make sure he’s confident in himself when he fights.”

In the main event, former Olympian Gary Russell Jr. (13-0, 9 KOs) failed to score a knockout for the first time in eight fights but thoroughly dominated Guadalupe de Leon (8-12, 4 KOs) to score a shutout in a six-round featherweight bout.

Russell boxed beautifully, demonstrating his uncommon speed and ring generalship. De Leon, a reliable opponent for rising stars, was just tough enough to survive the six rounds.

De Leon seemed to be hurt badly when Russell landed a vicious right hook with a few seconds remaining the third round and appeared to be saved by the bell. He recovered during the minute between rounds and avoided monstrous punches the rest of the way.

Russell, who never fought in the 2008 Olympics after passing out in his dorm room and missing a weigh-in, said this was his last six-round fight and plans to fight one more time this year.

In the co-main event, lightweight prospect Fidel Maldonado Jr. (5-0, 5 KOs) of Albuquerque, N.M., looked fearsome against John Willoughby (2-6, 1 KO), pounding his overmatched opponent until a commission official ordered the fight stopped the scheduled four-round bout at 2:35 of the first round.

Yakubu Amidu of Ghana, returning from a two-year hiatus from boxing, outpointed a always-game Noe Lope Jr. (7-6, 5 KOs) of Mexico in a six-round junior lightweight bout.

Amidu (17-2-1, 16) lost a majority decision to talented Ali Funeka in 2007 and was stopped by current junior lightweight titleholder Ricky Burns in November of 2008, after which he took a break from the sport. Lopez was the first to lose to Amidu by decision.

Light heavyweight prospect Trevor McCumby, making his pro debut, stopped Sharieff Hayes (0-1) at 1:20 of the second round of a scheduled four-round cruiserweight fight.

Unbeaten super middleweight Dion Savage (10-0, 6 KOs) of Flint, Mich., stopped Eddie Hunter (4-4-2, 1 KO) of Seattle with a big left hook at 1:05 of the third round of a scheduled six-round fight.

And Ramon Valadez (3-1, 1 KO) of Los Angeles outpoined Aaron Anderson (1-9, 1 KO) of Knoxville, Tenn. in an exciting four-round welterweight fight.