Shockwaves are still rippling through the boxing world after Sugar Shane Mosley’s decisive victory over Mexico’s Antonio Margarito. More than a few are calling the Pomona boxer one of the best in the past 50 years.
“You have to go back to Sugar Ray Robinson to find a boxer that kept coming back and beating guys he was not supposed to beat,” said Armando Muniz, a former welterweight challenger in the 1960s and ’70s.
The win by Mosley was not the surprise, it was the one-sided domination and the knockout of a strong fighter who had never been stopped in 15 years of pro boxing. The win also rearranges a lot of future plans for the entire welterweight division.
“We have a fight coming up between Manny Pacquiao and Ricky Hatton, maybe the winner fights Shane Mosley,” said Eric Gomez, a Golden Boy Promotions matchmaker. “Anything can happen now.”
Sadly, Margarito was on the cusp of becoming a Mexican legend on the same plateau as Julio Cesar Chavez, Salvador Sanchez and Ruben Olivares. A win over Mosley would have placed him on a fast track to an eventual showdown with Pacquiao. It also would have meant sold-out stadiums and superstar status.
Not anymore.
“It was a bad night, that’s the truth,” Margarito said. “Don’t take anything away from Shane Mosley. He’s a great fighter.”
Mosley’s victory proves several things, especially that boxing is entering a new era where promoters are willing to match their best against each other to provide compelling and intriguing bouts.
“Shane had been begging us to let him fight Margarito,” said Gomez, who is also a vice president with Golden Boy Promotions. “He kept telling me that Antonio Margarito was perfect for him.”
Mosley’s win also proves that at 37 he physically still has a lot more left to give as a boxer and that he has a great chin and enough power to knock out anybody in the welterweight division.
It also proves that his business partner and two-time former foe, Oscar De La Hoya, has a great chin, too. In two battles between Mosley and De La Hoya, neither was ever knocked down.
“Shane Mosley deserves a lot of credit for being the kind of fighter who will fight anyone,” said Muniz, who was denied the WBC welterweight title against Jose Napoles though that boxer could not continue in their 1975 fight. “I really feel Shane Mosley deserves more credit than people give him. He’s a clean-cut guy who never says anything bad about anybody. He’s just like Sugar Ray Robinson.”
In the past five months, Mosley has faced numerous problems outside of boxing, including a divorce from his wife of seven years, a defamation lawsuit filed by a former trainer and allegations of steroid use. He’s survived it all.
“Shane doesn’t let anything get him down,” said Jack Mosley, who did not train his son in this fight. “Shane does what he has to do.”
The question now is what more can Mosley do?
Across the street from Staples Center, several hours after the fight, I ran into Riverside’s Chris “The Nightmare” Arreola and his trainer, Henry Ramirez. Both were shaking their head at the knockout victory by Mosley.
“I still can’t believe it,” Arreola said. “Sure I thought Mosley could beat Margarito, but not by knockout.”
That knockout could be the catalyst for another great year of professional boxing.
