Has Antonio Margarito been exposed; is his Aura of invincibility gone? How Mosley did it!

Antonio MargaritoBy Robert Jackson: In the aftermath of a 8+ round destruction of the the ‘most feared’ Antonio Margarito by a past his prime Sugar Shane Mosley one has to ponder what happened, how Mosley accomplished this feat and whether Margarito has been exposed, whether his Aura of Invincibility is now gone. This writer in pre-fight conversations with fans and fellow boxing scribes suggested a tougher battle against Mosley for the Tijuana Tornado than most thought, but not this tough. I gave Mosley a chance of winning albeit a slim one.

Mosley a 16 year veteran of Pro-Boxing and the California boxing scene proclaimed an intimate knowledge of the Mexican fight style honed by many rounds of sparring and several Pro bouts against Mexican pugilists. Many took this proclamation lightly and granted it minimal merit. That knowledge and experience was corroborated by the fights events and outcome. Mosley also brought in Bouie Fisher understudy Nasim Richardson, who recently guided Bernard Hopkins to a similar dismantling of Kelly Pavlik, another wise move on Sugar Shane’s behalf. And, unlike the Cotto Fight Machine, Team Mosley watched film of Margarito’s fights, in particular Margarito’s dominating victory over Cotto, a fight where considerable insight and dissection of Margarito’s tendencies were gained. From this scrutiny, Mosley determined that fighting Margarito in or near the center of the ring was the best strategy.

Mosley also ‘closed the distance between them’, if he got caught on or near the ropes or corners, after he attacked, and when Margarito went on the attack, smothering Margarito’s punches and power. Mosley used quick foot movement to place himself at angles for defense and offense, and attacked Margarito’s body early and often with deceptive punching, sometimes double jabbing to the body then to the head. Mosley’s other tactical moves included clinching once Margarito put punches together and using his legs to muscle Margarito onto the ropes, on the ropes Mosley went on the attack with short, crisp, power punches to the body and head. These tactics confused Margarito and as the fight wore on the body shot’s, crisp-powerful left hooks and right hands took there toll on Margarito’s resolve and iron chin, in-short Margarito did not know what to do the reverse his fortunes, and in the later rounds of the fight Margarito was retreating rather than coming forward as is his custom.

The TEMPLATE for defeating Margarito has been laid, weaknesses exposed and the ‘most feared’ not so scary any more. In hindsight it would’ve been better if Margarito had taken the $4M to rematch Paul Williams rather than half that amount to lose to an aging but still vital fighter named Mosley. How will Margarito respond to this loss? what about his ‘iron chin’? By losing to Mosley the rematch between Margarito and Cotto won’t have the luster it might’ve had if Margarito had destroyed Mosley as the 4:1 betting odds suggested he would have. For his rematch against Margarito, Cotto may want to watch films , especially Mosely/Margarito.