Sugar Shane Mosley sweeter than ever in demolition of Antonio Margarito

Shane Mosley went into his fight against Antonio Margarito with a lot going against him. His involvement in BALCO and use of performance-enhancing drugs has grown. His marriage is reportedly in trouble. The last two tall fighters he fought - Winky Wright and Vernon Forrest - combined to give him four of his five career losses. In Margarito, he was facing boxing’s “It Guy,” who had cemented his standing among boxing elite’s with his stoppage of Miguel Cotto. Oh, and he was 37.

Nine brilliant rounds later, Sugar Shane was the welterweight champion, and a lot of those problems got a lot easier to deal with. After dominating Margarito throughout the fight, Mosley dropped Margarito in a wild 8th round, and then turned it on to stop him in the 9th.

Never allowing Margarito to find a rhythm for his windmilling, winging shots, Mosley dominated throughout, landing countless heavy right hands to Margarito’s head while managing the fight brilliantly. It was quite possibly the best performance of Mosley’s storied career.

In a way, the fight brought back memories of Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s demolition of Diego Corrales some years back. And with Mayweather making noises about coming back, Mosley just made himself an attractive opponent. And a showdown with Mayweather is a problem Mosley would definitely not mind having.

-WKW