By Cliff Rold (Photo by Chris Farina/Top Rank)
It’s about as can’t miss as it gets. In the ring will be two men with an established affinity for violence in volume, excellent chins, and knockout power. At stake will be the valuable real estate of last impressions in a sport where ‘what have you done for me lately’ is a more serious question than perhaps it’s ever been.
Throughout the road to this weekend, from discussion to negotiation, negotiation to cancellation, cancellation to contract, the two names on the marquee have been all that were needed for fight fans to smile and then to anticipate.
Long overlooked outside of hardcore circles, Margarito has finally become a star and, more importantly, the man at 147 lbs. after a fifteen year professional struggle to the top. His epic win over Miguel Cotto in the summer of 2008 validated the consistency and tenacity he displayed over the course of a five year run as the WBO titlist. A win over Mosley, with phenom Paul Williams out of the division, seals his place atop the mountain if only because, seriously, who else has a claim?
Mosley knows about hard roads to the top. While his road was not as long as Margarito’s, his sensational talents weren’t fully revealed to the world until he toppled Oscar De La Hoya in a Summer 2000 bout every bit as classic as Margarito-Cotto. Now in his sixteenth professional year, Mosley will give up advantages of age and size in an attempt to remain amongst the active fistic elite a little longer.
Let’s go to report card.
The Ledgers
Antonio Margarito
Age: 30
Title: WBA Welterweight (2008-Present, 0 Defenses)
Height: 5’11
Hails from: Tijuana, Mexico
Record: 37-5, 25 KO
Record in Title Fights: 11-2, 1 No Contest (9 KO)
Previous Titles: WBO Welterweight (2002-07, 8 Defenses); IBF Welterweight (2008, 0 Defenses)
Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Defeated: 4 (Andrew Lewis, Kermit Cintron (Twice), Joshua Clottey, Miguel Cotto)
Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Faced in Defeat: 2 (Daniel Santos (also 1 No Contest), Paul Williams)
Vs.
Shane Mosley
Age: 37
Title: None
Height: 5’9
Hails from: Pomona, California
Record: 45-5, 38 KO
Record in Title Fights: 14-5, 11 KO
Previous Titles: IBF Lightweight (1997-99, 8 Defenses); World/WBC Welterweight (2000-02, 3 Defenses); World/WBC/WBA Jr. Middleweight (2003-04, 0 Defenses)
Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Defeated/No Contested: 8 (Phillip Holiday, John John Molina, Jesse James Leija, Oscar De La Hoya, Raul Marquez (NC), Fernando Vargas, Luis Collazo, Ricardo Mayorga)
Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Faced in Defeat: 3 (Vernon Forrest, Winky Wright, Miguel Cotto)
Battle Breakdown
Speed: Mosley A-; Margarito B
Power: Mosley A; Margarito A
Defense: Mosley B; Margarito B
Intangibles: Mosley A; Margarito A+
Live on HBO at 10:00 PM EST/7:00 PST, Margarito and Mosley will play before a packed house predicted currently at over 18,000 sold in the Los Angeles Staples Center. For all the hype and hoopla in various disappointing ‘superfights’ in recent years, this should be the sort of crowd, and fight, fans walk away feeling super about.
Even at 37, Mosley will retain the advantage in speed and it should be telling earlier in the fight. Just as Cotto was able to build an early lead by landing and moving against Margarito, Mosley may well be ahead as the fight hits the six round mark. It would be less than shocking if he swept the early rounds.
Margarito can’t let him do that.
Unlike Cotto, Mosley integrates his offense and defense naturally. There’s never a visible transition from one to the other. Natural integration isn’t the same as excellent defense, and Mosley isn’t Willie Pep, but he has the athleticism to take less punishment early on, thus saving his legs for the predictable late storm.
One of Mosley’s qualities for the paying public is he gets hit and it doesn’t really matter who he’s fighting. Much has been made of a sometimes sloppy performance in his last outing against Ricardo Mayorga but it could be much ado about not much.
Prior to warring with Cotto himself, Mosley won two fights against a version of Fernando Vargas nearly all agreed was shot. Mosley may have dominated the second encounter but the first was competitive from bell to bell and the speed advantage favoring Mosley was similar to what he’ll have this weekend. He didn’t look sensational against David Estrada or Jose Luis Cruz before Vargas either and yet, against Luis Collazo and Cotto there he was fighting as well as he ever had. Late in his career, another “Sugar” regularly vacillated between the rocking chair and returns to greater form. Mosley may not be Ray Robinson, but the same trend has been present lately.
To offset Mosley’s fast hands, Margarito will have to employ the same tactics he did against Cotto and some of the same Vargas employed against Mosley. He’ll need to stick the jab even if it misses, maintaining pressure and body work early with a plan for a late payoff. Margarito may also have wanted to review tape of the first Mosley-Vernon Forrest bout. In the second round of that 2002 affair, Forrest nearly took Mosley’s head off with a rifling uppercut. Margarito has one of the best left uppercuts, as a lead or finishing shot, in Boxing. It’s his money shot and will be weighed against the slinging overhand right and bouncing left hook of Mosley.
The knockout ratios of both men don’t lie. Each has their share of highlight reel knockouts. Of the two, Mosley has produced more single shot stops. Margarito has produced the sort of punishing early ends that seem almost Grim Reaper like, stealing the spirit of his foes one blow at a time. He did it to Cotto, Antonio Diaz, and Kermit Cintron twice.
He does it while eating leather.
Like Mosley, Margarito has never been unhittable but there’s a head shaking ability to absorb shots in Margarito. While it’s surely part psychological, Margarito’s reactions to being tagged come with grins and not the type that say ‘hey, you got me’ but instead say ‘hey, is that all you got?’ His high stepping jogs towards Cotto as the fight wore on, after absorbing blows Cotto had cut other world class fighter down with, were key moments in the second half momentum shifts of their battle.
In terms of the things not easily seen, intangible in-ring qualities like character, heart and will, both Mosley and Margarito are near unassailable. If there is an edge, it falls to Margarito only because he just got into the circles he desired for so long. Mosley has been a part of pound for pound debates and big money pots for much of the decade. At his age, he’s got comforts just being afforded to Margarito. With relative youth on his side, could Margarito just want it more right now? He looked like he wanted it more than anyone could ever have imagined against Cotto.
The Pick: It seems most are picking this bout for Margarito strong, but it says here this fight is no sure thing. Mosley may be aged but he hasn’t looked done yet despite various previous stages where he looked like he might be. It’s really a fight in two parts. Mosley needs a lead of at least three rounds through the first two/thirds and needs to have the legs when Margarito picks up steam. Pick up a strong enough lead and Mosley may be able to lure Margarito into the same trap the Mexican found against Williams. Forced to come from behind, Margarito ran out of gas in the final round after a commanding eleventh.
Margarito knows this and that could be where the trouble is. A fast start could allow him to snare some of the valuable early real estate and narrow the margins he’ll need late, forcing Mosley to stand and trade. Pushed to call, the pick is Margarito by decision but by the thinnest of margins and based in part on the youth advantage and the feeling that Margarito is at full stride while Mosley has one foot in yesterday. A draw would be less than shocking. No matter the outcome, this should be one hell of a show.
Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com
