Mosley Shows He’s Back in the Swing of Things

LAS VEGAS — Shane Mosley did not score a knockout victory over David Estrada, but he did enough encouraging things to make his return to the welterweight division a success Saturday night at Caesars Palace.

Showing some of the defensive skills and punching power that made him a three-time world champion, Mosley won a unanimous 10-round decision to highlight ESPN’s first pay-per-view boxing card.

“I felt a lot sharper and that I could move my head a lot better,” said Mosley (40-4) about his return to 147 pounds after losing two consecutive fights to Winky Wright at 154. “I wasn’t flat-footed like I had been; I felt like I was on my toes, moving around and stuff.”

All three judges had Mosley winning easily with one judge giving him nine of 10 rounds. After a sluggish start, Mosley took command of the fight with a series of left hooks to Estrada’s body in the third round.

“I thought I hurt him,” said Mosley, who had not won a bout since he defeated Oscar De La Hoya on Sept 13, 2003. “But he did a great job of covering the body well. He’s a tough fighter and he had a strong will.”

But Mosley could not finish off Estrada (18-2), who had legendary trainer Angelo Dundee in his corner. In the middle rounds, Mosley did a good job of anticipating and slipping punches and countering with his power shots.

Estrada rallied late but he could not rattle Mosley, who won the final round on all three judges’ scorecards.

“This was my first fight back at this weight and I really didn’t know what to expect,” Mosley said. “I’m still not 100% where I want to be, but I felt a lot better in this fight.”

With his victory, Mosley put himself back into the thick of the welterweight division. His next fight could be against undisputed champion Zab Judah, but a more likely matchup would be against Antonio Margarito, who won by a fifth-round technical knockout over previously unbeaten Kermit Cintron in the main event.

Margarito opened a cut over Cintron’s right eye in the third round and then punished him until his corner stopped the fight.

Margarito, who defended his World Boxing Organization belt, improved to 31-4.

“We watched a lot of film and we were very confident that we could beat this guy,” Margarito said about Cintron (24-1). “I wanted to show everyone what I could do against the best fighters in the world.”

In an entertaining heavyweight undercard bout, 2000 U.S. Olympian Calvin Brock remained unbeaten with a unanimous 10-round decision over Jameel McCline. Although Brock (25-0) was knocked down in the seventh round and was outweighed by 47 pounds, he had more power in his punches down the stretch. McCline dropped to 31-5-3.