When the bout between Shane Mosley and Antonio Margarito was announced in early December at Staples Center in Los Angeles, Mosley declared that he would once again state his Southern California supremacy on January 24th. After all, he had defeated his Golden State colleagues Fernando Vargas and Oscar De La Hoya twice each. But the overwhelming majority of pundits believed that at age 37 he would simply be unable to weather ‘the Tijuana Tornado’.
But in the very same venue where Mosley ascended to stardom in 2000 when he first topped the man who has a statue outside of it, he turned Margarito into a tropical depression. Using his advantages in quickness, footwork and hand speed, he was able take apart Margarito and then shockingly stop the man who was thought to be impenetrable.
As Dennis Green might say – Crown him!!! He is who he thought he was!!!
The King of Cali.
And he makes a strong argument that he is the best this region has ever produced. Even before this sterling performance he was a shoe-in for Canastota, but this outing in front of nearly 21,000 patrons (most of whom came cheering for Margarito and were silenced early on) is perhaps his defining moment. Despite a multitude of personal and legal distractions, nothing could stop Mosley on this occasion.
?We worked very hard in Big Bear, worked on our game, strategy and it came through,” he would say at the post-fight presser. “Everything that we worked on came to pass.”
Led by Naziim Richardson, perhaps the hottest trainer in the sport today, the game plan was simple and effective. Employ hard right hands from the outside. And on the Lakers? home floor, time and time again Mosley would hit Margarito with sizzling rights about as often as Kobe Bryant does mid-range jumpers. When Margarito finally waded inside, he was neutralized by the strength of Mosley.
?People underestimate my strength; physically I’m strong and that’s what I keep trying to tell people,” he would explain. “For a long time I fought these big guys, I mean, Vargas came in at 168, Mayorga was 170, 171. These guys are big and I’ve been able to knock them out. When I fought Margarito he didn’t feel nowhere as heavy as those two guys I fought.”
Then there were the body shots. While Margarito is a noted in-fighter, he was hit early on with a series of punches downstairs that seemed to thwart his momentum. Unlike Cotto, Mosley would draw a line in the sand and hold his ground.
?I think that was the real key; Margarito’s a very big welterweight and a lot of times people don’t really go to his body, they go for the head a lot. I did possess at one time some great body shots at lightweight. I think people forget about that,” said Mosley, who made everyone remember. To him, this style of fighting came naturally. “Just my experience fighting with a lot of Latino fighters, growing up in California, I know how to take body shots, I know how to block them and throw them, as well. So a lot of people say I’m half-Mexican because I live out here in Southern California.”
He doesn’t just live there. He rules it.
THE OTHER SIDE
At the post-fight press conference, Margarito’s promoter Bob Arum would warn against just summarily dismissing Margarito based on one loss.
?Remember, that’s not the way sport is; a pitcher can win four games shutting out the opposition and the fifth game he can be knocked out of the box in the first inning. It happens in every sport, including boxing. It happened in boxing years ago. Sugar Ray Robinson, one of the greatest fighters that ever lived, he fought Jake LaMotta five times and he only lost one – but he lost. All the great fighters have lost and they come back and they win. Mosley lost to Cotto, Margarito knocked out Cotto, Margarito got knocked out by Mosley. So what? Every night the result can be different,” he would point out.
While that is certainly a valid point, for all the conjecture of just how Cotto will come out of that grueling battle on July 26th, what shouldn’t have been overlooked is that Margarito also took an unusual amount of punishment in there also. There have been fights in the past – most notably Diego Corrales-Jose Luis Castillo – where both participants come out irrevocably damaged. The ‘thrillogy’ between Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez could be another example but perhaps not as noticeable as they are so evenly matched and they kept facing each other.
The best case scenario is that Margarito just matched up horribly with Mosley and had a bad night. And history has shown that slick, fast, athletic fighters give him fits. Worst case scenario is that he goes through a Pipino Cuevas like downturn in his career after he was brutally stopped by Thomas Hearns. Margarito’s style is such that once the decline starts, it’s a steep and fast one. Unlike a Roberto Duran or Bernard Hopkins, he can’t finesse his way through fights. By the fifth and sixth rounds, he just seemed to be reacting a little bit differently to the punches of Mosley.
Margarito is just 30, but it’s a very hard 30. He’s been a professional fighter for half his life and most of his fights are physically taxing affairs. The very fight that took him to this plateau might very well have been the fight that ended his prime, which in many ways is a shame, as he had fought so long and hard to get there.
In a perfect world, Margarito walks away, content in knowing that he had earned millions in a career that started 9-3. But we all know that boxing is far from a perfect world.
HOWEVER
On the flipside, this dunce was the same guy back in late September that was writing off Mosley after he struggled mightily with Mayorga at the Home Depot Center and stated he shouldn’t get in the ring with Margarito. I also said Kelly Pavlik would be too young and fresh for Bernard Hopkins in October. (I did get one right with Manny Pacquiao-Oscar De La Hoya thankfully)
They say you should know what you don’t know.
Right now, I don’t seem to know a damn thing.
So nobody should ever listen to me – at least not now.
IT’S A WRAP?
Being ringside at the fights on Saturday night I didn’t really get the story on Margarito’s handwraps. But if there is clear evidence of hanky-panky, then those who perpetrated this should be punished to the fullest extent of the law.
This game is dangerous enough as it is.
M&M
I’ve been told that if HBO had their way, that a bout between Mosley and Floyd Mayweather would take place in June, with the winner of that fight to face the winner of the May 2nd bout (yes, it’s finally a done deal) between Manny Pacquiao and Ricky Hatton.
Not a bad Final Four, huh?
Mosley-Mayweather is an intriguing match-up (if it should come to fruition). Mayweather may not be able to hurt Mosley or blow him away in the speed department, but the same openings that were available to Mosley against Margarito won?t be there this time around. Then there is the rust factor. How will not fighting since May of 2007 affect Mayweather?
I’d love to find out.
FINAL FLURRIES
HBO has picked up the option of long-time commentator Larry Merchant, which will see him on the network till mid-2011. More on Merchant this week on Maxboxing….I really like middleweight prospect Matvey Korobov. He’s just 3-0, but he’s a guy to watch….Gotta say, LA Live near the Staples Center is something else. Hard to believe that just three, four years ago that was a parking lot….Robert Guerrero, who needed just 42 seconds to stop Edel Ruiz, looks very, very strong at 130 pounds….I can’t wait to read Joe Torre’s new book. It has the makings of an HBO documentary….
