Sosa Is Given a Boxing Lesson by Mayweather

He winked.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. had been caught by an overhand right and fell into the ropes, forced to grab and hold Victoriano Sosa to stem the attack.

There were 45 seconds remaining in the sixth round and the crowd was chanting Sosa’s last name, imploring the upset-minded challenger to finish off Mayweather and take his World Boxing Council lightweight title.

But while in the clinch, an unconcerned Mayweather looked down at the ringside broadcasting team and winked, as if he knew something.

He did.

Sosa, often the more exciting and busier fighter, was not landing clean blows, while Mayweather was picking Sosa apart with pristine jabs to the face and stomach.

Mayweather weathered the sixth-round storm Saturday night and put on a jab clinic to come away with a one-sided unanimous decision, 118-110, 119-109, 118-110. The Times scored it 117-111.

The announcement, though, angered the Selland Arena crowd of 7,255, which was nearly 3,000 less than capacity and witnessing the first world title fight in the city’s history.

“Don’t go by the oohs and ahs,” said a fresh-faced Mayweather, who improved to 30-0. “That’s not what boxing’s about.

“A lot of [Sosa’s] shots hit me in the arms and shoulders. I’m just happy with my victory. I don’t go out there to brag and boast. I mean, he was throwing more punches than me but I was landing more shots.”

The CompuBox numbers showed Mayweather landing 55% (248 of 448) of his punches while Sosa connected on only 14% (79 of 565).

Still, Sosa, a native of Santiago, Dominican Republic, who claims to be related to the Chicago Cubs’ right fielder and could have used his purported second cousin’s home run swing in the ring, was unimpressed.

“I’m very surprised,” said Sosa, whose eyes were swollen and whose record dropped to 35-3-2. “He has to give me a rematch. I beat him.

“Here in California, I guess you have to kill someone.”

Or maybe not get tagged so often by jabs.

“I could hit him with the jab all day,” said Mayweather, who connected on 60% of his jabs (147-246), compared to the 7% (12-182) the wiry Sosa landed. “I hit him with the jab whenever I wanted to.”

Mayweather’s speed took over in the later rounds and he began to toy with Sosa, playing peek-a-boo on defense and hitting him with reactionary rights when not tagging him with jabs.

But Mayweather seemed stung by the chorus of boos that accompanied the announcement of his successful defense and his arena exit, even though he earned $2.8 million for the fight.

“Look, I want to stay world champ and box smart,” he said. “I’m not Mike Tyson. I don’t go for the knockout every time. I look for the victory. I’m a boxer.”

It doesn’t take a knowing wink to understand that.

*

On the undercard: WBC International super lightweight champion Miguel Cotto defended his title against Joel Perez with a fourth-round knockout.

Cotto (15-0, 12 KO’s) peppered the side of Perez’s head with left hooks through the first three rounds before dropping Perez (34-6-2) with a left hook to the stomach. Gasping for air, Perez (34-6-2) failed to rise before referee Raul Caiz Jr.’s count reached 10.