By Manuel Perez: WBA welterweight champion Antonio Margarito looked like a beaten fighter even before the first punch was thrown last night against Shane Mosley at the Staples Center, in Los Angeles. Sometimes a fighter leaves it all behind in the training camp. In Margarito’s case, I think that’s exactly what happened to him. He looked arm weary as early as the 1st round and never threw more than 60 punches in any one round of the fight – well below his average of a 100 punches thrown per round.
With Margarito looking listless, it’s no wonder that Mosley was able to stop him in the 9th round. Margarito never quit, though. He went down swinging, showing what a proud warrior he was. Margarito looked much the same way that Oscar De La Hoya looked after he had trained too hard for his fight with Manny Pacquiao in December, having little energy and only capable of fighting hard for one round.
Margarito later said “On the inside, he [Mosley] was able to clinch, and I couldn’t get him off.”
With Mosley hitting and grabbing often, Margarito’s offense was limited drastically and he was able to start it up without being shut down with a clinch or two.
This was brought up by other people as well, who noticed the strategic clinching from Mosley, and there’s little doubt that it had a big effect on the outcome of the fight. But I’m not suggesting that was the whole reason Margarito lost to Mosley. I think Margarito was too weak to fight well to begin with and looked nothing like his normal self.
Margarito had a tough time trying to make it into punching range without getting hit with jabs. I think Mosley’s jab seemed to mess up Margarito’s timing and prevent him from getting off his punches. Margarito tried to get started in the first couple of rounds, but he had trouble when he would maneuver inside for his hooks. Mosley would sometimes push him away with both hands, and other times grab him in a headlock to stop him from punching.
Mostly, however, Margarito looked weight drained and weak. I had heard that he had taken off some extra weight going into the fight and it may have had an effect on his stamina, power and ability to throw a lot of punches. All of those ingredients were missing from his offense against Mosley. And, though I’d like to give Shane full credit for the victory, I can’t because of how weak Margarito appeared in the fight.
Naturally, I doubt that Mosley will give Margarito a rematch due to the fight ending in a knockout, but he should. Margarito at least needs a chance at a rematch to prove the fight was a fluke and to be given a chance at regaining his title. Mosley probably won’t fight him and will move on to someone like Miguel Cotto or the winner of Ricky Hatton vs. Manny Pacquiao in May.
I think Cotto will beat Mosley again if Shane makes the mistake in fighting him. Cotto has Mosley’s number and will beat him to the punch all night long. Margarito still wants to fight Cotto, saying “That will be the case. Once again, I will be champion of the world,” when asked after the fight whether he wanted to fight Cotto.
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