LOS ANGELES --- Just when the boxing community may have been getting ready to count Shane Mosley out, he offered them his rebuttal.
Mosley, 37, who entered Saturday night’s WBA Welterweight title fight against Antonio Margarito as the underdog, dominated the fight from the beginning, pressuring Margarito with his superior quickness on his way to a ninth round TKO in front of a crowd of 20,820 at Staples Center.
The crowd, which was predominantly pro-Margarito, was the largest in Staples Center history.
Mosley of Pomona dropped Margarito late in the eighth round with a flurry of right hands. Margarito managed to beat referee Raul Caiz Sr.’s 10- count.
Mosley pressured Margarito to start the ninth, backing him against the ropes with several punches to head. Margarito’s corner was eventually forced to throw in the towel forty-three seconds into the round, stopping the fight.
Of the eighth round knockdown, Mosley’s trainer Nazim Richardson said that he didn’t think the fight was over ‘but I knew it was coming.’
Mosley improves to 46-5. Margarito falls to 37-6.
All three judges, Dr. James Jen Kin, Max Deluca and Nelson Vasquez, had Mosley ahead on their scorecards.
“I won the fight with my strategy and I stayed focused on my game plan,” Mosley said. “I had a good coach (Naazim Richardson), I knew it was a tough fight, but it was a great plan. It was my left hook …It was the same one that caught (Fernando) Vargas and Ricardo (Mayorga).
“He was very powerful, but he couldn’t resist my rhythm.”
The game plan that Mosley referred too was simple: keep the pressure up. That was something that Miguel Cotto didn’t do against Margarito in their fight July 26. Margarito won the fight by TKO in the 11th round.
“We exploited that his (Margarito) pressure could work against him,” Richardson said. “We turned his pressure against him and killed him with it.”
This was Mosley’s first fight with Richardson as his trainer. Mosley hired Richardson after he fired his father, Jack, in November.
“When you have a great game plan and excellent athlete, everything works out well,” Richardson said. “They said that he (Margarito) was the monster and we conquered the monster.”
Both fighters used the first round as a feeling out process, but Mosley started to settle in quickly and from that moment on, Margarito’s corner saw trouble signs ahead.
“The problems started right away in the first round,” Margarito’s trainer Javier Capatillo said. “It was too frustrating to watch.”
Mosley was able to get his punches off at will throughout the fight. Several times, Margarito smiled after Mosley tagged him with one of his perfectly placed left hook or right cross.
“I was just getting caught over and over,” Margarito said.
The CompuBox numbers tell the same story. Mosley landed 178 punches to Margarito’s 108. He also landed 118 power punches to Margarito’s 78.
The victory keeps Mosley’s name near the top of what is a crowded welterweight division.
He said that he’s ready for whatever is next.
“I’ve been asking for (Miguel) Cotto,” Mosley said. “But, I’ll fight anyone. …If they (Margarito-Cotto) want to fight again, then I’ll fight the winner, that’s fine.”
Mosley lost a close decision to Cotto in 2007.
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Here is my live blog during the Andre Ward-Mikkel Kessler fight in the Super Six World Boxing Classic. Ward entered the fight 20-0 with 13 KOs. Kessler carried a 42-1 record with 32 KOs.
The first group stage of the WBC Super Six World Boxing Classic concludes Saturday and it is up to Andre "S.O.G" Ward to avoid the American fighters from being shut out.
