My favorite boxing blogger, SC from Bad Left Hook put together a great two piece article about whether Shane Mosely has a chance against Antonio Margarito in the first big fight of 2009. It should be a really good fight on January 24th, but based on Mosley’s bought against Ricardo Mayorga and recent fight schedule, not too many folks are giving him a chance.

SC hits on a few themes that make this article so great.

Is Margarito the new indestructible fighter?

Margarito is being cast into the role of the indestructible force, which so many have been throughout boxing history, and it’s a story that almost always ends with the force meeting up with someone that takes them back down to the ranks of the mortal. Margarito is 37-5 for his career, with 27 knockouts. Three of those five losses can be all but disregarded, as they came when he was still maturing as a fighter.

Is 154 a bad weight for Mosley, especially this late in his career?

Mosley, who was excellent in his November 2007 loss to Cotto, let himself become a once-a-year fighter in 2008, and his one performance was anything but impressive. Though it had a classic ending as Sugar Shane finished Nicaraguan brawler Ricardo Mayorga with one second remaining in the fight, Mosley looked tired, old, sluggish, and unfocused fighting at 154 pounds. He was never at his best at 154, as the weight is simply that extra little bit too much for his frame.

Is Mosley like De La Hoya in that his late career shows that he beats guys he’s supposed to beat and loses against the really good fighters?

Since that win over the “Golden Boy,” Shane has gone 6-3, beating Fernando Vargas (twice), Ricardo Mayorga, Luis Collazo, Jose Luis Cruz and David Estrada, and losing to Winky Wright (twice) and Miguel Cotto. In other words, on the three occasions he’s faced a truly top-shelf opponent, Mosley has lost. He hasn’t fought badly in any of the fights (no Tito Trinidad losses), but he’s lost.

Does Mosley’s style work against him in this fight?

It’s already been brought up in the comments for part one of this preview, but if Mosley is to beat Margarito, he will have to ignore that impulse to brawl. It simply doesn’t seem as though, at 37, he’ll have the firepower to stand up to the younger, stronger, and bigger Margarito for 12 full rounds without getting beaten down at some point.

I’ll let SC give you the answer to his question on his own site, but it was truly brilliant work from him.

Part One
Part Two

Trackback URI | Comments RSS