By Manuel Perez: I’m not sure what Shane Mosley (45-5, 38 KOs) was thinking when he decided on fighting WBA welterweight champion Antonio Margarito (37-5, 27 KOs) on January 24th, at the Staples Center, in Los Angeles, California. Of all the potential opponents that Mosley could have chosen for a well-paying bout, he decided to take on arguably the most dangerous welterweight in the division in the 30-year-old Margarito. At 37, Mosley’s timing for the bout couldn’t be worse even if he tried, because this isn’t the type of an opponent a fighter of that age should be fighting.
Margarito finishes opponents, making a wreck of them and sends them packing in defeat, bleeding badly and wondering what happened to them. In a way, it’s like Mosley is seeking out the old elephant’s graveyard, walking into a place voluntarily where he very well be finished off and sent into retirement.
With two consecutive losses to Winky Wright and another loss to Miguel Cotto in the past four years, it would be logical to assume that Mosley will be on the losing end against Margarito on January 24th. The only question now, however, is how badly will he be defeated. In his prime, Mosley was a blinding fast puncher with extraordinary boxing skills and superb foot movement around the ring.
Now, his speed has slowed down a lot and he is more of a stationary type fighter, though he still has excellent boxing skills, but just not the energy he had in his youth to utilize his vast skills. Energy is going to be what he needs, and a lot of it, if he hopes to stand a chance against Margarito. Standing in front of him and trying to beat him with speed probably won’t work for long.
Mosley doesn’t have nearly the same work rate as Margarito, which means that he’ll be getting drilled with 80 to 100 punches every round. At best, Mosley probably can hang with Margarito for a couple of rounds, but after that, he’s going to find himself getting overwhelmed with punches.
At that point, I can see him doing one of two things: Either staying in his place and fighting until the bitter end, making a last stand of sorts or choosing to run, similar to what Miguel Cotto unsuccessfully tried in his 11th round TKO loss to Margarito in July.
If Mosley chooses to stand and fight it out, he probably won’t have the energy to be able to trade for more than two or three rounds before he starts taking a terrible beating and end up getting stopped. Whereas if he tries to run, his old legs, not used to having to move continuously, will likely betray him before too long.
By running, I think Mosley might last five rounds before he’s forced to stop due to fatigue, and then fight it out. Once that happens, it will be quick and brutal, with Margarito destroying him with barrage of punches to put Mosley down.