After a great start to boxing in 2009 with last week’s Berto-Collazo fight, HBO follows up this Saturday with a big name matchup as Shane Mosley takes on Antonio Margarito in Los Angeles, CA. Coverage begins at 10 pm ET on HBO. Margarito will be defending his WBA Welterweight title against 3-division champion Shane Mosley.
Antonio Margarito vs. Shane Mosley (WBA Welterweight Title)
Money Line: Margarito -400; Mosley +275
Antonio Margarito built a reputation as a welterweight that nobody wanted to fight. Things became more difficult for Margarito when he lost to Paul Williams, thus giving other welterweights an excuse for avoiding him. After beating Miguel Cotto last summer, however, Margarito finally has the bullseye on his back. Margarito looked phenomenal in dispatching Cotto. He took Cotto’s best stuff early and then stepped on the gas, never to let up. His motor never seems to end and Margarito knows no other direction other than forward. Couple a steel chin with his punch output and Margarito is nearly impossible to beat.
The first man to try and take Margarito’s WBA title will be Shane Mosley, a man that spent much of his career in the discussion for best pound-for-pound fighter. The only problem is that those days are gone for Mosley. His signature quickness isn’t there any longer. Mosley contends he is in the best shape of his life but this could be a very long night for Mosley. He will have to use his boxing intelligence to adjust to Margarito during the fight and possibly turn it into a boring fight if he wants to have a chance to win.
Fight Predictions
Trent: Mosley won’t back away from Margarito and make it a boring fight. He doesn’t have the length and awkwardness that Paul Williams used to frustrate Margarito. Mosley is my favorite fighter going today and it pains me to say that he has no chance against Margarito. Both men are tough as nails and have never been knocked out in their careers, but it will be a long night for Mosley. Shane will get off to a good start (most Margarito opponents do) but Margarito’s fight acceleration will be inevitable. Margarito will lay it on thick in the late rounds and a weary Mosley will have no choice but to succumb to the Tijuana Tornado. The ref will end it in the 10th. Margarito by TKO.
Corey: A few years ago, I would have taken Shane Mosley to win this fight with a relatively easy decision by outclassing the slower Antonio Margarito with superb counter punching. They talked about fighting back in 2005-2006, at which point the Mosley that annihilated Fernando Vargas, in my opinion, would have been too much for Margarito. And that’s not a knock on Margarito. Mosley just looked that stellar. But Mosley is anything but his usual self as of late. He looked far too vulnerable against Ricardo Mayorga in September, which leads me to believe Margarito will pound him in the late rounds, winning a unanimous decision as Mosley manages to survive. I’ll see it something like 117-111 or 116-112 as Mosley takes some early rounds.
Fight odds from Bodog.
