Mosley Earns an Oscar

For eight years, Shane Mosley battled and toiled in the shadows, lost in glitter of The Golden Boy.

For eight years, Mosley shared nothing with De La Hoya other than a common hometown.

For eight years, Mosley watched De La Hoya get the fame, the adulation and the incredible paydays.

All Mosley could do was grit his teeth and tell people his day would come.

That day was Saturday.

In a ferocious, free-swinging battle, Mosley won a split decision over De La Hoya in front of a sellout Staples Center crowd of 20,744, capturing the World Boxing Council and International Boxing Assn. welterweight titles.

There were no knockdowns and no shame for either man. There was no holding on, no gasping for air, no rounds taken off to conserve energy. Only two quality fighters operating at a skill level rarely reached.

But ultimately, the 5-foot-9 Mosley was too fast and too smooth for the 5-11 De La Hoya. Mosley darted in and out, he moved side to side and he even briefly switched to southpaw, ultimately frustrating De La Hoya, who spent much of the night closing in on Mosley, but never caught him.

“It was a great fight,” Mosley said, “a close fight. Oscar De La Hoya is a great champion, but I was the better man tonight.”

Judges Lou Filippo (116-112) and Pat Russell (115-113) both had Mosley winning. Judge Marty Sammon gave it to De La Hoya, 115-113.

The Times and the Associated Press both had Mosley winning, 116-112.

“He kept right on coming,” De La Hoya said. “He was in great condition and had good power. The people got their money’s worth.”

For once, the fight matched the buildup. With De La Hoya coming from East L.A. and Mosley from Pomona, and with Staples Center eager to break the stranglehold Las Vegas has on big-time boxing in the western half of the country, this was a natural choice for its inaugural fight.

As far as Mosley was concerned, it could have come any time over the last eight years. While De La Hoya won a gold medal at the Barcelona Olympics and went on to become the most popular non-heavyweight in the world, Mosley, backed by poor promotion until he signed with Cedric Kushner in 1996, went largely unnoticed except by true aficionados of the sport.

When Mosley, the former International Boxing Federation lightweight champion, jumped up two weight classes and then fought only twice before signing to meet De La Hoya, people questioned whether Mosley had taken on too much, whether he could withstand De La Hoya’s power, whether Mosley could perform in a spotlight unlike any he had ever experienced before.

Mosley answered all those questions early, withstanding the first onslaught by De La Hoya.

The question about De La Hoya was whether he could match Mosley’s blazing speed and dazzling footwork.

“I knew he was fast,” De La Hoya said. “I matched his footwork.”

Not quite.

For the first time in his career, De La Hoya found himself getting beaten to the punch repeatedly. For the first time, he found his deadly jab, considered the best in boxing, matched and often surpassed by a quicker jab.

The fight flowed back and forth in waves.

Mosley established in the first round that he could hit De La Hoya from all angles and would not be intimidated, either by De La Hoya’s powerful left hand, or the big-time setting, which included a full house filled with stars of both the Hollywood and sports variety and an international pay-per-view audience.

De La Hoya, who has now lost two of his last three fights to fall to 32-2 with 26 knockouts, was heavily criticized in his loss to Felix Trinidad last September for running and giving up all pretense of being aggressive over the final three rounds.

No such problem Saturday.

Once he saw that Mosley’s speed was racking up points for him, De La Hoya moved in and displayed the kind of aggressiveness he used to display on a regular basis early in his career.

Mosley, who had bragged before the fight that he had all sorts of weapons in his bag, pulled one out in the eighth that appeared to confuse De La Hoya. Mosley switched to southpaw, which negated De La Hoya’s powerful left hand and brought back memories of De La Hoya’s 1997 fight against Pernell Whitaker, a natural southpaw who nearly beat De La Hoya before losing a close decision.

“I confused De La Hoya a lot,” Mosley said. “He didn’t know what to do. I was playing mental games.”

De La Hoya, who stressed in the weeks before the fight that he was training like he had never trained before, seemed to tire in the 10th and 11th rounds.

Mosley, on the other hand, feeling increasingly in command and showing no signs of fatigue, seemed to grow in confidence.

Then came the 12th round.

“We went toe-to-toe and did some soul-searching,” Mosley said.

Indeed they did.

De La Hoya went after Mosley the way he had gone after Ike Quartey in their 1999 fight, a fight he pulled out at the end.

But Mosley was waiting for De La Hoya, scoring with right hand after right hand after right hand.

In all, Mosley outscored De La Hoya, 45-18, in punches landed in the 12th, a performance that should have erased any doubt about the outcome.

“He was flat-footed and wasn’t much of a boxer,” Mosley said of the final round. “He was trying to work the body a lot.

“I just wanted to make sure I had enough energy to close.”

In all, Mosley connected on 284 punches and at a 42% success rate, compared to 257 punches and 36%for De La Hoya.

With the victory, Mosley remains unbeaten at 35-0 with 32 knockouts.

Ahead looms the rematch that Mosley agreed to before signing his contract. Promoter Bob Arum expects it to be in November.

“He wants a rematch,” Mosley said. “It’s just a matter of honor because he gave me a shot.”

Said De La Hoya, “Every great fight has a rematch.”

And be assured, this was a great fight.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

BATTLE OF L.A.

MOSLEY defeats DE LA HOYA

THE SCORING

Judge Filippo: 116-112, Mosley

Judge Russell: 115-113, Mosley

Judge Sammon: 115-113, D.L. Hoya

Steve Springer: 116-112, Mosley

A GREAT ONE

After a terrific battle, both fighters would do well to consider what happened to another great fighter who was ringside for this one--Muhammad Ali.

Page 16

STAYING COOL

Being part of the biggest fight in Los Angeles history while taking on a guy who has known nothing but the big stage was supposed to unnerve Shane Mosley, but it didn’t. Page 16

THE OTHER FIGHTS

Morales is impressive with three knockdowns in three-round TKO over Juarez at Staples Center, and Castillo takes Johnston’s WBC lightweight title in Bell Gardens. Page 17