SHANE MOSLEY PROVED HE HAS ENOUGH LEFT IN HIS TANK
By Ed de la Vega, DDS
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 25 Jan 2009
Los Angeles, CA:- Tonight at the famed Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles, Shane Mosley, the affable ?old? man from nearby City of Pomona proved that in certain instances, age and experience can offset youth and strength.
Mosley lifted two belts from the Tornado from Tijuana, Antonio Margarito via a stunning knockout in the 9th round. He is now the new WBA and IBF Welterweight champion.
Mosley?s victory further highlighted the dramatic loss of Oscar de la Hoya to the Filipino spitfire, Manny Pacquiao. It proved that even with age, proper training, correct nutrition, scientific weight management and a proper frame of mind almost always produce better results.
The above however, will certainly not guarantee a victory particularly if the opponent is a buzz-saw like Pacquiao who continually moved in and out of range. But doing things correctly like Mosley could have provided Oscar de la Hoya a better fighting chance. That is not to say however that he will beat Pacquiao because clearly no matter what he did, given what Pacquiao demonstrated, ODLH would have lost. But perhaps not as bad as quitting on the stool.
Mosley?s win was vivid demonstration of what ring savvy can do for a fighter. He knew that Margarito has a granite chin and putting him down to the canvas could be a problem. Thus, he used his experience to the max. He showed a great respect for the power of Margarito and followed his game plan carefully.
Mosley was patient and methodical thus, frustrating the now ex-champion with body shots and a looping right hand. In the end, his power and speed did Margarito in. The Tijuana Tornado clearly, did not have a response to the very fast hands of Mosley that carried a lot of power to boot.
So what is now up next for the new champion?
Certainly, a unification bout with Paul Williams, the WBO champion should happen within the next 3-4 months to prove that his win over Margarito is no fluke.
At age 37, Mosley should not wait too long. In fact, he should take on Williams as early as possible. And if he wins, take on Andre Berto, the WBC champion who just successfully defended his WBC crown against Luis Collazo a week ago.
If he wins both fights, then he should quit. After all, what else is there to conquer?
For Margarito on the other hand, now is not the time to sulk. All he needs to do is go back to the drawing board and start all over again. That is easily said than done. But, he certainly can do it. At age 30, he still has a lot to go and the talent to make him a champion again.
Perhaps he can re-start his career with a re-match with Williams. That fight would be a sizzler. Even one with Berto looks palatable. Anything, just to allow himself to recover his career that was derailed by a 37-year old Mosley. Perhaps he can even challenge Manny Pacquiao.
Final Punchstats shows that Mosley threw 507 punches, while Margarito, 485. Out of those Mosley threw 240 power punches while Margarito, 303. However Mosley connected more, 118 to 78 a stunning 49% vs. 26%.
Mosley won all the rounds on two of the judges? cards, James Jen Kin and Max de Luca. Margarito got two rounds from the other judge, Nelson Vasquez who gave him rounds 2 and 7.
At the post fight conference, Mosley was humble enough to admit that Margarito did hurt him ? a couple of times?. However he added that he knew Margarito had more of those coming, so he was very careful to avoid them.
The crowd was announced as ?sold-out?. The crowd was predominantly Latino and without any doubt, a great deal of them went home very sad because the last great Mexican hope lost a thriller to an ?old man?.
Top photo: Mosley tags Margarito with a left during their world championship fight Saturday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ed de la Vega, DDS.
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