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It took ‘Sugar’ Shane Mosley (45-5, 38 KOs) five rounds to finally get his rhythm and overwhelm Ricardo Mayorga (29-7-1, 23 KOs) with his slick boxing and roughhousing in a fight that punctuated by the 37 year old Mosley with a spectacular knock-out win one second before the final bell. While the fight was light-y
ears away from the intensity and brilliance of the first Julio Cesar Chavez (107-6-2, 86 KO’s) - Meldrick Taylor (38-8-1, 20 KOs) contest, one could not help but draw a vague parallel between the two fights. Mosley beat Chavez by a single second in the record.
Mosley spent the first three rounds shaking-off ten months of ring rust and figuring out Mayorga and his right straights before he finally started to heat up with a one-two combination to open the fourth round. Mayorga ruled the first three rounds with his trademark antics and right leads.
The California native was for most of the first quarter well within the range of Mayorga and thus fell prey to straight rights which caught him clean several times. Mosley tried to box the Nicaraguan early in the first round but the guy who conquered his conqueror just kept landing his wild and wide straight rights. Mayorga surprisingly outworked the master craftsman on the first three rounds. Mayorga was even able to roll away beautifully with a straight right thrown by Mosley during the second round.
The all-American smile of Mosley’s was not there and he looked to be in a slight trouble as Mayorga was commanding the fight strongly. Mosley’s corner advised him to duck under Mayorga’s punches and work the body, which would eventually pay off for him midway onwards.
Ring rust now shaken off, the fourth round served to be his warm-up to the restoration (albeit not completely unlike his younger years) of his old rhythm on the fifth. He was now ready to get inside Mayorga's wild punches and dig downstairs and throw more upstairs. Also, he was now ready to take one in order to give two. Old Mosley was back.
The fourth and fifth rounds saw Mosley connecting with several hard shots to the head and body, which forced Mayorga to step inside and clinch. Mayorga was now too close for his wild but powerful straight rights to land. He was throwing away his only hope to win the fight against the future Hall of Famer. He was giving up the tool that overwhelmed the ferocious KO artist Fernando Vargas (26-5, 22 KOs) and the classy Vernon Forrest (41-3, 29 KOs).
Mosley didn't have to work hard ducking under the punches as Mayorga was clinching on several occasions during the middle rounds courtesy of different kinds of crushing punches he landed t
o the head and the body. The fight seemed to be a wrestling match as Mayorga continued to hold on in the sixth. Mayorga had now slowed down and Mosley landed a big three-punch combination that set the crowd roaring. Mosley was now the boss; he was baby-sitting the Nicaraguan loudmouth.
The infighting clinic continued to the seventh and eighth. Mayorga ate lots of left and right hooks and his body received similar punishment. Mayorga landed some of his own but the master craftsman Mosley was several notches above him in speed, defense and overall infighting ability. El Matador was visibly shaken off and tried to feign supremacy and control by raising his hands at the end of round eight but no one was buying, certainly not Shane.
Mayorga appeared to have caught his second wind at the ninth and tenth rounds. Mayorga was able to land some ugly punches to Mosley, who now seemed to be a little confused. Was it a sign of aging or the punches he was taking has now taken its toll on him? Probably both, as Mayorga closed the ninth round with a beautiful uppercut.
Mosley temporarily switched to the southpaw stance on the next round. It was either to confuse his opponent who was making a strong comeback or to shake-off his own confusion. But it paid-off as he was able to outwork Mayorga on the inside. Mayorga connected his own punches, but it was ‘Sugar’ Shane who got the better of the exchanges here. There was now fierce inside fighting between the two.
It was again an infighting lesson in the eleventh for Mayorga as Mosley connected with a beautiful right hand. The action was followed up by the two fighters by exchanging powerful body shots, culminating in both fighters being warned by the referee for low blows. Mosley connected flush with some clean head shots and Mayorga twice raised his hand to the crowd. Mayorga was projecting the usual bravado but who would buy it as Mosley was clearly winning most of the round?
Going into the twelfth and final round, Mosley was leading on the scorecards of two of the judges but his co
rner didn't want to take the chance. They wanted Mosley to mix it up and finish the fight in a strong fashion. This saw more wrestling and body shots for the two minutes of the round until Mosley caught his opponent with crushing right hands that shook the Nicaraguan terribly. A beautiful combination followed up and Mayorga crashed to the canvass with the clock now ticking down to the final seconds. With less than ten seconds left Mayorga got up but looked spent. A devastating left hook from Mosley sent Mayorga down again. He didn't bother to get up.
The official time of the stoppage was 2:59 seconds of the 12th round. It was a very impressive KO win for old Mosley, proving to the world he can still win a grueling fight with his strong chin and big punches despite his advancing years. An immediate fight with Antonio Margarito (37-5, 27 KOs) or a rematch with Miguel Cotto (32 -1, 26 KOs), would be very interesting, although it does seem remote possibility for now with their impending busy schedules.
The official scorecards of the three judges on the time of the stoppage were: 105-104 for Mayorga, 105-104 for Mosley and 107-102 for Mosley.
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