Mark Ortega
Tonight's fight between Antonio Margarito and "Sugar" Shane Mosley is an interesting one for a number of reasons. Each fighter enters the ring with a chance to answer many questions that have been raised about them. For Margarito, will he be a different fighter now that he is on top? How much did the war with Miguel Cotto take out of him? For Shane Mosley, how will personal issues, namely with his wife and manager Jin as well as the surrounding aura of BALCO, affect him in the ring?
Margarito is a 4-to-1 favorite for this bout but has many questions that need answering. For one, will the inactivity since his war with Miguel Cotto help or hurt him? Margarito's most sluggish performances have come in fights that came off of a long layoff. Also, Margarito has absorbed all sorts of punishment over the years but never in the way that he was abused by Miguel Cotto in that brilliant fight last July. Cotto landed at will but was unable to hurt Margarito, but who knows how all that punishment will affect him in the ring tonight. Also, a rematch with Cotto is on the table regardless of the outcome of tonight's bout, as long as Cotto gets by Michael Jennings next month. Could Margarito be looking past Mosley? Those in Antonio's camp say that there is no way that is possible and that he worked as hard as he ever had in training camp, and judging by his weight (under 146 pounds), it would be hard to deny that. You have to remember that when Margarito opted to defend his title against mandatory challenger Paul Williams two years ago, a fight with Cotto was on the table should he win. He lost a close fight and many thought that was going to be his last chance. Margarito got his shot and didn't waste it, so it is my opinion that Margarito comes ready tonight.
With Mosley, there is the question of when will Shane Mosley finally turn old? He showed glimpses of being a shot fighter in his last bout against Ricardo Mayorga, but many gave him some slack due to the awkwardness of his opponent. In his bout against Cotto a little over a year ago he looked fantastic in defeat, and nearly closed the gap on Cotto's lead in the second half of the bout. Shane is going to need that second wind against Margarito, who also picks up his game in the second half of bouts. Will all of the outside annoyances, some of which had Mosley directing questions at press conferences to a lawyer, keep him off of his game? This is highly doubtful as well, as there are very few people who prepare for a fight as good as Shane Mosley, and with Bernard Hopkins' trainer Nazim Richardson in his corner for this one it would be hard to imagine Shane coming into the fight with anything but his best. The biggest question will be, at this stage of his career, is the best Sugar Shane Mosley better than this Antonio Margarito?
Either way, it should be a helluva fight, an early Fight of the Year candidate that could either send one man on the way to superstardom or enhance the legacy of another.
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