 Cotto Slays Another Giant with Hard-Fought Win over Mosley
 By Thomas Gerbasi (Nov 11. 2007) Photo © German Villasenor
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NEW YORK, November 10 – Too slow. Too robotic. Too chinny. Miguel Cotto is also too good, as he retained his WBA welterweight title for the third time tonight at Madison Square Garden with a close, but unanimous 12 round decision win over ‘Sugar’ Shane Mosley, who showed in defeat that at 36, he still has enough in the tank to challenge the best in the game.
And Cotto has to be considered in that select group of the pound for pound best in the world as he improved to 31-0 with 25 KOs thanks to solid pressure, accurate punching, and a nice variety in his offensive attack. Mosley, who gave as good as he got but was never able to dent Cotto’s chin, falls to 44-5 with 37 KOs.
Scores were 115-113 twice and 116-113 for Cotto, who was making his fourth headlining appearance (and second in a row) in the ‘Mecca of Boxing.’ In his last bout at MSG, the native of Caguas, Puerto Rico stopped Zab Judah in the 11th round.
As expected, there was little feeling out process as Mosley immediately dug to the body and Cotto responded with hooks upstairs. After this initial burst of energy, the two stood in the pocket and dared the other to make a mistake, all the while firing out shots that alternated between probing and debilitating. Cotto seemed to get the better of the early exchanges, with each punch receiving a huge roar from the partisan crowd, but Mosley refused to give ground.
Both fighters traded jabs in the early going of round two, with Cotto’s rangefinders being followed with power shots that got Mosley’s attention. In the second half of the round, Mosley upped his workrate, drilling Cotto with a hard right. Cotto fired back with both hands to the body, inciting Mosley to a series of power shots of his own as the fans in attendance stood in appreciation.
Cotto’s jab was on the mark again in round three, along with thudding body shots that were starting to take their toll. But just when the Puerto Rican star seemed to be taking over, Mosley would fire back a flurry or an overhand right to regain his opponent’s respect. In the final minute, the two wrestled it out at close range, but with 30 seconds left, the fists started flying again with both men having their moments.
Left hooks were the order of the day in round four for Cotto, and he scored well to the head and body with punishing shots, while Mosley’s shots were still coming, but with a lot less steam on them, save three overhand rights with a minute to go that got Cotto’s attention. By the end of the round though, Cotto was in control again, and he seemed to be wearing Mosley down.
The pace dipped slightly in round five, with more wrestling taking place than fighting in the first two minutes. In the final 60 seconds though, Cotto dug in shots on the inside and Mosley fired over the top with his right hand, which was landing on, but not hurting the hard-charging champion.
After the relative lull in the fifth round, the action picked up in the sixth, with the exchanges coming more and more frequently, and Cotto ending most of those exchanges in emphatic fashion. In the final minute, Mosley got on his toes and started boxing more, much to the chagrin of the crowd, but it didn’t seem to affect Cotto too much, as he was still able to land scoring blows on the challenger.
Back on his toes to start the seventh, Mosley landed hard shots to the body and head and seemed to be getting into a solid rhythm that left Cotto a step behind, and though the Pomona native stuck to the same strategy in round eight, Cotto made a concerted effort to corner Mosley, allowing him to get more stiff jabs and body shots in.
Backpedaling for the first time in the fight, Cotto was on the receiving end of Mosley’s attack for much of round nine until a late surge in the last 15 seconds got him back on track.
Mosley, buoyed by his strong showing in the previous round, jumped on Cotto in the tenth, with the crowd switching allegiances by chanting “Mos-ley, Mos-ley”. What followed was more heated action, with both fighters taking turns in the lead before Mosley pulled slightly ahead.
The packed house got back in Cotto’s corner to begin round 11, and the Boricua Bomber responded with some of his cleanest power shots of recent rounds. Mosley didn’t back off though; instead, he stalked his opponent, and when he got him on the ropes, he let both hands go. With each punch now holding great importance in the scoring of the fight, each fighter tried to outdo the other, with a big Cotto left towards the end perhaps being the difference in this stanza.
With three minutes to go, both fighters were semi-cautious for the first two-thirds of the final frame, with a clash of heads producing a cut over Cotto’s right eye. The blood apparently affected Cotto as Mosley pursued him around the ring, but there would be no stirring finish to what was a stirring fight.
Former WBO welterweight champion Antonio Margarito looked spectacular in his first fight since losing his crown in July to Paul Williams, stopping veteran Golden Johnson in the first round of a scheduled 12 round WBO Intercontinental title bout.
Both fighters came out fast, with Margarito (35-5, 25 KOs) immediately attacking Johnson (25-9-3 with 18 KOs) with both hands to the head and body. And after a few well-placed combinations, the former lightweight title challenger was on the deck. Johnson gamely rose, but was sent down again. And while the end appeared to be moments away, Johnson hung in there under the ferocious assault until a vicious left uppercut put him down a third time and forced referee Wayne Kelly to halt the bout at the 2:38 mark.
In an interim WBC lightweight title bout, Jose Armando Santa Cruz appeared to have handed Joel Casamayor the most decisive loss of his 11-year pro career, but instead it was Casamayor who was gifted with an unpopular 12 round split decision.
Scores were 114-113 twice, and 113-114.
Santa Cruz got on the board early with a short left hand that put Casamayor on the canvas, but the Cuban craftsman rose immediately and got back to counterpunching his aggressive foe.
The Californian kept coming though, and his size advantage looked to be playing a major role in the early going as he tried to impose his will on Casamayor, whose punches – when they came at all - weren’t having much of an effect.
To add to his woes, Casamayor was cut over the left eye in the fifth round and it looked like age was finally starting to catch up to the 36-year old a step ahead of Santa Cruz. Of course, in the next round, the resilient veteran came back with a series of quick power shots that may not have slowed his opponent down, but they did score some much needed points.
In round seven, both traded hard left hooks with telling effect, with Santa Cruz’ perhaps being a shade harder, and he kept the heat on throughout rounds eight through twelve in steady but unspectacular fashion as Casamayor was game and still throwing, but he was also slowing down with each successive stanza until the final bell tolled.
With the win, Casamayor ups his record to 35-3-1 with 21 KOs. Santa Cruz falls 25-3 with 14 KOs.
In the pay-per-view opener, junior welterweight rising star ‘Vicious’ Victor Ortiz made quite an impression on the Garden crowd, knocking out former world champion Carlos Maussa with a single left hand at 1:47 of the first round.
Ortiz (20-1-1, 15 KOs) appeared ready for the long haul, patiently looking for openings as Maussa (19-5, 17 KOs) came forward in his typically aggressive and awkward style. But after the Colombian banger (who had beaten Vivian Harris, gone eight rounds with Cotto, and nine with Ricky Hatton) landed with a series of wide rights, Oxnard, California’s Ortiz ended matters with his left hand, sending Maussa down for the ten count.
Junior welterweight prospect Billy Dib (17-0, 9 KOs) passed one of his toughest tests to date with flying colors, pounding out an eight round unanimous decision over veteran Rogers Mtagwa (24-12-2, 17 KOs). The final verdict read 80-72 and 79-73 twice in a fight that was a lot more competitive than those scores would indicate.
Bronx junior middleweight Ronny Vargas (4-0, 3 KOs) survived a spirited early effort from Mount Holley, North Carolina’s Bryan Mullis (4-2-1, 1 KOs), and went on to pick him apart with power shots in round two, with referee Johnny Callas calling a halt to the bout at the 50 second mark.
Schenectady, New York junior welterweight Michael Faragon made his pro debut a successful one, outpointing Javier Garcia (2-2) in an uneventful four rounder. Scores were 39-37 across the board.
A welterweight swing bout saw New Jersey’s Michael Nyjohn Anderson debut with a win over Brooklyn’s Olade Thomas (1-3). Scores were 40-36 and 39-37 twice.
In the junior featherweight opener, Evangelista Cotto-trained Jesus Rojas (10-0, 8 KOs) remained unbeaten with a six round pounding of game but outgunned Carlos Diaz (9-11-4, 7 KOs). Referee Sammy Viruet called a halt to the bout at the 2:12 mark.
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