PREFIGHT
Both fighters weighed in tonight at 160 pounds. Celebrities on hand include Sugar Ray Leonard, Sylvester Stallone, George Lopez, Mark Wahlberg and Joe Pesci. The challenger, Shane Mosley, comes out first. He looks intense and focused. Surprisingly, quite a number of boos for the multi-division champion. Mosley is accompanied to the ring with San Diego Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson. The champion, Antonio Margarito, enters next and the crowd cheers in anticipation. He looks extremely confident as he smiles to the crowd. 20,820 fans are in attendance...the largest crowd for boxing at the Staples Center...a testament to the type of drawing power Antonio Margarito has in California after his win over Cotto. It was reported that before the fight, an illegal pad (referred to as a hard plastic shell) was found in Margarito's gloves and his hands had to be rewrapped three times.
ROUND 1
Stiff jab lands for Margarito. Mosley lands a jab to the body of his own. Left hook lands for Mosley upstairs. Right to the body lands for Mosley. Both men dig shots to the body. Wooooooo...big right hand upstairs lands for Mosley. Nice uppercut lands for Mosley. Hard right to the body lands for Mosley. Margarito digs some shots to the body. Mosley lands two left hooks upstairs against the ropes. Right to the body lands for Mosley. Two jabs land for Margarito. Mosley answers with a right. Good round for Mosley.
Margarito 9 Mosley 10
ROUND 2
Stiff jab lands for Mosley. Jab downstairs and upstairs lands for Mosley. Margarito lunges in with his own jab. Straight left lands for Mosley as he backs Margarito up to the ropes. Overhand right from Mosley is partially blocked. The second one lands though. They trade jabs. Margarito presses forward and Mosley ties him up. Left hand lands for Margarito. Margarito lands a couple of uppercuts on the inside. Mosley shoeshines him with a nice combination. Some roughhousing on the inside and the crowd boos. Round to Mosley.
Margarito 18 Mosley 20
ROUND 3
Right hand lands for Margarito. Wooooo...nice 1-2 lands for Mosley. Margarito lands a left that gets Mosley's attention as he retreats. They trade jabs. Left hook lands for Mosley. Right and a left on the inside lands for Margarito. Uppercut lands for Margarito. Left hand lands for Margarito. Mosley lands a right. Nice right hand lands for Mosley. Another. Margarito smiles at him. Right to the body and one upstairs lands for Mosley. Jab and a right lands for Mosley. Margarito lands his jab now. Again. Three-punch combo lands for Mosley. Woooooo...another nice right hand lands for Mosley. Margarito lands another one of his own and they trade. Left hand lands for Mosley. The action is heating up. Better round for Margarito, but not enough to win it on my scorecard. Round to Mosley.
Margarito 27 Mosley 30
ROUND 4
Mosley lands a stiff jab to the body. Right hand lands upstairs for Margarito. Jab lands for Mosley again. Margarito works Mosley on the inside. Right to the body and a right upstairs lands for Mosley. Margarito lands a left hook. Another HARD right hand lands for Mosley. Margarito lands a left hook. Uppercut and a left hook lands for Margarito. Nice right hand lands for Mosley. Wooooo...another great right hand down the pipe lands for Mosley to end the round. Round to Mosley.
Margarito 36 Mosley 40
ROUND 5
"Knock the grease off this dude," Naazim Richardson tells Mosley in the corner. Jab lands for Margarito. Overhand right lands for Mosley. Uppercut and a left hook lands for Margarito. Left hook lands for Mosley. Right and a left lands for Margarito and Mosley answers with a 1-2 of his own. Uppercut lands for Margarito. Right hand upstairs lands for Mosley. 1-2 lands for Margarito and Mosley digs a hook to the body. 1-2 lands for Mosley. Big left hand lands for Mosley. Right to the body and a left upstairs lands for Mosley. Wooooo...hard left hook lands for Mosley. Margarito getting worked in there. Round to Mosley.
Margarito 45 Mosley 50
ROUND 6
Stiff jab from Mosley snaps the head back of Margarito. Hard jab to the body lands for Mosley. Right hand lands for Mosley. Another. Another. Mosley peppers Margarito with his jab. Jab lands for Margarito, but he eats an overhand right from Mosley. Woooooo...crisp overhand right lands for Mosley. Margarito lands a left to the body, but Mosley answers with one of his own. Mosley works Margarito on the inside. Right hand lands for Mosley and Margarito retreats to the ropes. Wooooooo...another HUGE right hand lands for Mosley...and another. Margarito taking some serious damage in there. 1-2 lands for Mosley. Round to Mosley.
Margarito 54 Mosley 60
ROUND 7
Left to the body lands for Mosley. Right hand upstairs lands for Mosley. Mosley landing whenever he wants to. WOOOOOOOOO....HUGE right hand lands for Mosley. Margarito lands a couple of weak uppercuts. Mosley lands a right hand upstairs. They trade jabs. Woooooo...another HUGE overhand right lands for Mosley. Mosley digs some hard shots to the body. Left hook lands for Mosley. Margarito looks extremely weak in there. Five jabs and a right hand lands for Mosley. Margarito lands a right. Mosley ties him up. Right and a left hook upstairs lands for Mosley to end the round. Round to Mosley.
Margarito 63 Mosley 70
ROUND 8
Mosley lands a couple of jabs and another right hand upstairs. Margarito lands a jab. Left hook lands for Margarito. Wooooo...nice right hand lands for Margarito now. Left hook lands for Margarito. Mosley counters with a right. They trade on the inside. Right hand lands for Mosley. Margarito answers with a 1-2. Another right hand lands for Margarito. Mosley grins. More trading on the inside. WOOOOOOOOO....HUGE uppercut and a right from Mosley has Margarito rocked. Right hand lands for Mosley again and Margarito looks done. WOOOOOOOOOOOO....BIG left hook followed by a right and another left and Margarito is down. WOW. He's down. Margarito is up at nine and there's the bell. HUGE round for Mosley.
Margarito 71 Mosley 80
ROUND 9
Sounded like they were thinking about stopping it Margarito's corner. Blistering combination lands for Mosley and Margarito looks just about done. Right hand lands for Mosley...another...and another. Right and a left lands for Mosley. A left hook and another right hook...another left hook and another right from Mosley crumples Margarito and that's it. The towel comes in and the ref stops the fight. WOW.
Mosley TKO9
THE WINNER BY WAY OF TKO AT :43 OF ROUND 9....AND NEW WBA WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPION OF THE WORLD....SUGAR SHANE MOSLEY
COMPUBOX
Margarito total punches: 108/485
Mosley total punches: 178/507
Margarito total power punches: 78/303
Mosley total power punches: 118/240
POSTFIGHT
"Focus...I focused on the gameplan...this was my night...we fought our butts off," stated Mosley. "We did have a plan...we executed and we did it...I knew he was going to walk into the punches...it was kind of an easy plan to do because Margarito fights hard; he fights one way...you can't just beat Margarito, you have to be a special person. That special person was me...I always go for the knockout," he continued. "I softened him up with the body shots...but like I told you, I'm a big welterweight too."
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