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Last night’s fight between “Sugar” Shane Mosley and Antonio Margarito will not be easily forgotten.
Mosley entered ring as the 4-1 underdog and almost no one believed he could pull off the upset. His only real chance of winning was to use his speed and boxing skills to outbox his opponent and neutralize WBA Welterweight Champion Margarito’s constant punching output.
Perhaps the biggest reason as to why Mosley was the underdog was because he had lost against Miguel Cotto, whom Margarito made quit last year.
But this logic didn’t apply because Mosley came in a ring with a wining strategy while Cotto didn’t.
From the first round, Mosley established his left jab followed with a straight right before going on the inside and breaking the offensive rhythm of his opponent.
As the rounds progressed, Mosley went more for a body attack, using a variety of the shots, but his fast and powerful straight right continue to do the damage.
Margarito just seemed to have no Plan B. He continued to press forward, but he was getting increasingly pummeled. Even on the back foot, Mosley was throwing punches and doing everything to disrupt the momentum of his opponent, and unlike Cotto, Mosley never chose to defend from the ropes, so Margarito never had the time and space for his powerful but slow punches.
The difference in this fight was that in each round, Mosley managed to force Margarito to fight on his terms, dominating when on offense, and then going inside and swarming his opponent in a way that would have made Ricky Hatton proud.
In the later rounds, Margarito tried to mount pressure, but Mosley was too smart to stay in range. When on the attack, Mosley used double and triple jabs to set up his punishing right, ending the sequence by closing down on the inside.
In final seconds of round five, Mosley finished a combo with a powerful left hook that left the broadcast commentator gasping for words as they struggled to comprehend Mosley’s dominance.
Margarito had some success in a round eight, but in the closing seconds of the frame, he missed his target completely with a slow, looping right, leaving himself totally exposed for counterattack. Mosley needed no invitation and he didn’t stop onslaught until his opponent was on floor.
Margarito was saved by the bell, but there was no such saving grace in round nine when Mosley’s continued full-on attack, which lasted less than a minute, forced the referee to stop the fight, seemingly unaware that towel was already thrown in by Team Margarito.
Full credit should be given to Antonio Margarito, 37-6 (27), but in this fight he had no chance against the superior Mosley, 46-5 (39), who’s fight strategy and execution was impeccable, and credit should be given to his new trainer Nazzim Richardson, for coming up with a master plan.
In a post match interview, Margarito himself acknowledged it that he was given no space by Mosley to generate any punching momentum, and that was the key difference in the contest.
This was Mosley’s best boxing performance, and it must be satisfying to prove so many boxing writers wrong.
With the victory, Mosley is looking forward to a potential rematch with Miguel Cotto.
