Victory by Mosley Is in Grand Style

What was seen as his biggest weakness turned out to be his greatest strength.

“Sugar” Shane Mosley, the prototypical late bloomer, had never fought on such a grandiose stage. He was used to intimate crowds from which he could seemingly reach out and gather strength.

His big fights were on reservations or in 1,800-seat concert venues.

Surely, being part of the biggest-money fight in Los Angeles history and opening up the Staples Center to the sport while taking on a guy who has known nothing but the big stage would unnerve Mosley.

Turns out that Mosley thrived in the pressure.

Mosley’s split-decision win over Oscar De La Hoya on Saturday night was more than a coming-of-age story for the Pomona native It cemented his turn as an elite fighter in the welterweight division.

It was only Mosley’s third fight at the weight, and he jumped up two weight classes, from 135 to 147 pounds, to make it.

Mosley, 28, had given up his International Boxing Federation lightweight title, which he held for 18 months, to make the leap.

Some wondered if he had true welterweight power.

That question was answered in his debut in the class last September.

Mosley stopped Wilfredo Rivera with 22 seconds remaining in the 10th and final round at Temecula, Calif., dealing Rivera his first loss by knockout.

Then Mosley thumped Willy Wise, a $9-an-hour forklift driver from New York, knocking him out in the third round in Las Vegas in January.

The brutal and convincing win established Mosley, in the eyes of the public, in the upper echelon of welterweights and paved the way for the fight between him and De La Hoya, who had promised four fights and four knockouts in 2000.

It was more symbolism than anything else when an L.A. boxing magazine prodded Mosley into posing for a picture in De La Hoya’s old neighborhood, issuing the challenge.

But there was more to it than that.

Mosley liked to talk about how he once beat De La Hoya when they were young amateurs.

De La Hoya claimed not to remember the bout.

De La Hoya went on to Olympic gold and ensuing stardom while Mosley decided that the politics of getting to the Games were too bothersome. He ended up headlining a card at the Pond of Anaheim in 1995 that attracted only 504 paying customers.

De La Hoya was an international celebrity, while Mosley was seen as an intriguing little guy making the move up to the glamour division.

But in front of 20,744 at Staples Center Saturday night, Mosley made a jump bigger than moving up two weight classes.