Mosley vanquishes Margarito!

Mark Ortega

In perhaps the biggest in a string of upsets, Shane Mosley pulled off a ninth round knockout over Antonio Margarito to capture the WBA welterweight title in front of a record crowd at Los Angeles' Staples Center.

In what will be known as "The Battle for LA", Margarito surprisingly lost nearly every second of the fight. His defeat is further spurned by accusations that Margarito had plaster in his glove. The threat was serious enough that before the fight, Margarito's hands were rewrapped three times. Mosley trainer Nazim Richardson spotted the fallacy and asked that it be checked out. Once it was further investigated something was found and an investigation should be launched.

Margarito was slowed by Mosley's surprising onslaught of body work in the early rounds. Margarito would tag Mosley good a few times a round but was never able to follow up on it. Mosley was landing mostly in combination, although early on you could not tell that Margarito was stunned.

Margarito went out in a way that most champions today do not opt for, the going out on one's shield. Margarito went down violently to end the eighth round, and if anybody was Antonio Margarito's friend the fight should have been stopped there. Margarito made it through the round, and when his corner threatened to stop the fight he demanded they allow him to continue. Still on wobbly legs, Margarito walked into some incredible shots from Mosley, stunning the "Tijuana Tornado" badly enough to stagger him and force him to rest a hand on the ropes to keep his balance. A dozen or so clean power shots or so later and the referee finally calls mercy to the bout.

Talks of a Mosley-Mayweather bout that has been intriguing for decades have begun, and if that bout came to fruition then 2009 may be the best year of the century. Margarito was said to be headed for a Cotto rematch win, lose, or draw but after such a one-sided beating he may need a soft touch or should just hang up the gloves for good. And that is the opinion of this writer, one of Margarito's biggest supporters.