On Saturday Jan. 24, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA, boxing legend Sugar Shane Mosley 45-5-37 KO’s will step into the ring against Antonio Margarito 37-5-27 KO's for the WBA Welterweight Championship belt.
Mosley is 37 years old and he is ranked No. 3 in Ring Magazine. On paper, and from past matches, Mosley is easily the winner. He is faster, has better head movement, faster hands, and is the more technical fighter.
However, at 37, and with a poor performance in his last fight, some say Mosley is done. His last fight was in September against Ricardo Mayorga at junior middleweight 154lbs.
Mosley usually fights at 147 lbs and will do just that on Saturday night. In the fight against Mayorga, Mosley looked sluggish and slow, as he took a lot of punches from a fighter not even ranked.
He did KO Mayorga with one second left in the last round. Was it the extra weight? Was it his age? I don’t know. I do know that on Saturday night he needs to be in the best shape of his life or he may end up on the canvas looking up!
The reason that they call him the Tijuana Tornado is because Antonio Margarito is as rough and tough as they come. He is not fast nor technical. He just keeps moving forward, no jabs just wicked uppercuts to the body, punches from different angles, and constant pressure.
What impress me more than anything about Margarito is his ability to take punishment, yet keep moving forward . Last July, Margarito took on Miguel Cotto and the fight was amazing to watch.
Cotto won the first few rounds with wicked combinations snapping Margarito’s head back. But Antonio kept coming even smiling after being hit. Cotto kept trying to move but halfway through, the tide had turned and Cotto’s will was gone. In the 11th round, the accumulation of body shots took its toll. It was a TKO for the Tornado.
Sugar Shane needs to be what he usually is, the superior boxer. He will need to jab, move, and use his hand speed to land left hooks to the body and right crosses to the head, just as Cotto did in the first few rounds of his fight against Margarito..
Unlike Cotto, Shane needs to stay off the ropes and use lateral movements to try to avoid Margarito’s body shots. He needs to keep the fight in the center of the ring.
Mosley is always in great shape, but Saturday he is going to need to pace himself against the beast from Mexico. The first thing to go on a boxer is his legs, then his hand speed. Is this happening to Shane? At 37, he is taking the aged boxers test. I don’t think he passes. My prediction -Margarito knocks him out in the 10th round.
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