In boxing, fighters rarely acknowledge the obvious, especially when it is perceived as a criticism. To the pugilist, admitting vulnerability is a sign of weakness. It’s true. It’s why Kelly Pavlik dismissed the size disparity before his fight with Bernard Hopkins and why Oscar De La Hoya downplayed Manny Pacquiao’s speed. In case you missed it, a physically superior Hopkins pummeled Pavlik last October, and Pacquiao’s lightning-quick hands carved up De La Hoya’s face like a turkey in December. So it came as no surprise that, when asked about facing the constant pressure of Antonio Margarito — the same pressure that felled Miguel Cotto last summer — Shane Mosley had an answer ready. “Cotto was not familiar with what Margarito brings to the table,” said Mosley. “I’m familiar with it because I’ve been brought up in California where I fought a lot of Mexican fighters. I know that type of style. I know how to pace myself, how to win rounds.” “Pace” should be part of the slogan for Saturday night’s welterweight title fight between Margarito and Mosley (HBO, 10 p.m. ET) because whoever is able to dictate it will likely emerge the winner. Margarito’s style is relentless. Against Cotto, the 5-foot-11 Margarito (37-5) absorbed the kind of punishment that would have sent a light heavyweight careening to the canvas. Round after round, Cotto connected with thudding power shots to Margarito’s skull. And round after round, Margarito kept pressing forward until Cotto, his body weakened and his spirit gone, eventually gave up. “I’m always going to fight the same way,” said Margarito. I’m always going to try. I’m always going to depend on my training. The way I get prepared for fights, that’s what wins me fights.” Mosley (45-5), on the other hand, is all about speed, a “stick-and-stick-again, throw-punches-in-bunches” welterweight who, at 37, still has considerable pop behind his shots. In his last fight, Mosley battered Ricardo Mayorga for 12 rounds and still had enough left in the tank to finish Mayorga off with one second left in the final round. So which fighter will be able to dictate the tempo? The answer to that question will come down to three factors: 1. Mosley’s ability to stay active for 12 rounds The blueprint to beating Margarito is out there — just look at his loss to Paul Williams. Against Williams, Margarito tried to get inside but the uber active Williams was able to keep him at bay by throwing more than 100 punches per round. Not all of them connected and at no time did it appear Margarito was hurt, but Williams was able to avoid significant punishment while racking up the rounds on the judges’ scorecards. Cotto had a similar strategy: he won many of the early rounds against Margarito. But in the later rounds, Cotto’s hands slowed and his feet stopped moving, allowing Margarito to inflict a grotesque amount of damage before Cotto’s corner threw in the towel. Can Mosley fight like Williams? Or will he wind up running out of gas like Cotto? Conventional wisdom says that the aging Mosley, who lost a close decision to Cotto last year, won’t be able to keep up that kind of pace. But Mosley says he will use a weapon that Cotto didn’t: body shots. “If Margarito’s body is open and he’s giving it to me, then I’m going to take it,” said Mosley. “We definitely worked on that, and when you fight guys like Margarito, you have to work on everything. You can’t just work on boxing and movement, you have to work on punching as well and targeting different spots of the body.” 2. Margarito’s ability to withstand another brutal assault Margarito may have the strongest chin in boxing, but even he can’t tell you why. “I think it’s something I was born with,” he said. “I really don’t have any other answer other than the fact that I prepare very well for every fight [and] that my preparation allows me to take some punches.” Still, even the strongest of fighters are knocked down eventually, and one has to wonder whether the 30-year-old Margarito can handle another Cotto-like attack. Because, make no mistake, Mosley packs a punch. He has engaged in some of boxing’s most brutal slugfests (two fights with De La Hoya and two with Fernando Vargas, among others) and has shown a knack for landing punches with pinpoint accuracy. If Mosley can effectively wear Margarito down with body shots, he stands a chance at knocking him out in the later rounds. 3. Mosley’s focus How can Mosley not be focused for arguably the most important fight of his career? Well, when you fire your trainer (and your trainer also happens to be your father) and you are dealing with marital problems (and your wife has been your business manager for the last six years) and you are still answering questions about your involvement with steroids, your mind tends to wander. For this fight, Mosley dumped his father, Jack, who first introduced him to boxing when he was 8 years old, in favor of Nazim Richardson, who most know as Hopkins’ trainer. Mosley says the split with his father was amicable (“We were butting heads a little bit,” said Shane), and Jack Mosley says he will be at the fight supporting his son. But can such a dramatic change not have an impact? Then there are his marital problems, which Mosley won’t specifically address but which loom as a 20-pound weight leaching onto Mosley’s brain. Under normal circumstances, a fractured marriage can be difficult. But the Mosleys are far from normal. Jin Mosley, a business savvy New Yorker and the mother of Shane’s three children, has been running Team Mosley for years and has been a visible (and audible) presence for many of his fights. Can Mosley put his family issues out of his mind? Finally, there is Mosley’s involvement with BALCO, the much publicized drug lab run by Victor Conte, which Mosley has been linked to. A recently released grand jury testimony from 2003 shows that Mosley admitted to injecting himself with blood oxygen enhancers in the weeks leading up to his second fight with De La Hoya. When asked about the testimony, Mosley said he had “put that in my shelf.” But has he? If the chips fall for Mosley, if his stamina holds up for 12 rounds, his punches have something behind them and the outside the ring issues that appear to be swirling around him can disappear for 36 minutes, he can win this fight. But if Margarito has his way and if this purported prizefight turns into a glorified brawl, the end of Mosley’s night — and perhaps his career — could come quickly.
