Big ol’ welterweight Antonio Margarito weighed in at 145 and some change Friday, a bit less than two pounds below the limit, while Shane Mosley was two-tenths over initially. If you’re a Mosley fan, you have to like the sound of that. Why? Because Margarito has apparently had a tendency to overtrain before fights where he starts sluggishly, and Margarito coming in at such a low weight for such a naturally big man who’s rumored to have had trouble making weight for this fight points to the possibility that he’s done it again. Margarito hasn’t weighed so little since his bout with Paul Williams, and he lost that one in part because he started so slow, making it hard for him to catch up on the scorecards or overwhelm Williams late the way he has so many opponents in the past.
I’m not saying that’s what happened here, I’m just speculating. And other reports suggest that Margarito hasn’t sparred as much for Mosley as he has for other opponents. So we’ll see. By contrast, perhaps there’s something detrimental about Mosley not making weight at first, as if he had trouble getting down, too, but it was only .2, so I don’t anticipate as much of a potential problem for him.
I don’t say any of this, by the way, to diminish Mosley if he wins. Mosley trainer Nazim Richardson said something the other day to journalists covering the fight that I wish more writers and fans would get through their heads in situations like this.
“After this fight, please don’t de-fang, don’t de-claw Margarito. I don’t want anybody to say he was exposed. You say he’s a monster; let him be a monster after the fight also. After this fight, put Shane back to where he belongs. Margarito’s a beast, nothing less. So when Shane Mosley beats him, recognize who Shane Mosley is.”
Even if weight problems do contribute to a win by Mosley, make no mistake: If Mosley pulls this off, it will be one of the biggest triumphs of his career.
