Mosley Gets Swell TKO in 10

It began with a punch that landed squarely on the left eyebrow of Fernando Vargas in the first round Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

It grew into a small bump, then a large lump, then a grotesque bulge as Shane Mosley kept pounding away at the growing target with his right hand, and occasionally his left. Short punches, overhand blows, stinging jabs all found the target.

The eye began to close until it was just a slit and then, the eye shut completely.

Vargas kept coming, holding his arms out like a man searching for a light switch.

But finally, mercifully, even though the match was close on all three judges’ scorecards, referee Joe Cortez, after consulting with ringside physician David Watson and Marc Ratner, executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, stopped the junior-middleweight bout at the 1:22 mark of the 10th round of the scheduled 12-rounder, fought in front of a crowd of 9,237.

“Before I knew it, the eye was swollen like a balloon,” Mosley said. “I saw it grow and I couldn’t believe it. As it got bigger and bigger, I was like, ‘Wow. Look what we have here.’ I was looking over at Oscar [De La Hoya, Mosley’s promoter] and Bernard [Hopkins, a partner in De La Hoya’s promotional company], and they were yelling, ‘The eye! The eye!’ ”

Vargas didn’t agree with the stoppage.

“I didn’t think it was that bad,” he said of his left eye. “I could still see. I wasn’t retreating. I would have stepped it up immensely if I thought they wanted to stop the fight. I was the one putting the pressure on him. When they stopped it, I thought they were just breaking it up.”

Said Rolando Arellano, Vargas’ manager, “This is the business we are in. If you can’t see, you can’t fight.”

While most ringside observers had Mosley ahead by three or four points when the fight was stopped, the judges’ saw it differently. Paul Smith and Chuck Giampa both had Mosley ahead by only a point, 86-85. The third judge, Patricia Morse Jarman, had Vargas ahead, 86-85.

The eye injury left unanswered the question of how much these ring veterans have left. The 28-year-old Vargas (26-3, 22 knockouts), who earned $4 million for the fight, has been perceived as damaged goods since he was brutally beaten by both Felix Trinidad in 2000 and De La Hoya in 2002 in the same Mandalay Bay arena.

Even though he had fought only four times in the last 2 1/2 years because of thyroid and back problems, Vargas showed he could get in shape and withstand Mosley’s punches.

All but one.

The 34-year-old Mosley (42-4, 36), whose purse was $3 million, had something to prove as well. After two losses to Winky Wright and two mediocre wins against lesser opponents, Mosley was able to put himself into position for a future title fight with Saturday’s win. But he did it with his punching power, accuracy and ability to withstand Vargas’ best shots, not with the speed and footwork that once left opponents confused and helpless. That was a younger Mosley, fighting with a style he no longer seems capable of employing.

So what’s next?

Vargas said he wants a rematch at 154 pounds.

Mosley said he is going down to welterweight (147) with the hope of luring Floyd Mayweather Jr. into the ring.

“Come on,” Vargas responded. “I haven’t been a welterweight since I was 18 years old. He knows I was on him all night.”

Now Vargas will be on Mosley for a rematch, hoping that, with two good eyes, he can finally make others see that he is not yet finished.

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Mark Johnson goes by the nickname “2 Sharp.” But there was nothing sharp about Johnson as far as Saturday’s semi-main event. Scheduled to challenge World Boxing Organization bantamweight champion Jhonny Gonzalez, Johnson weighed in at 119 1/2 pounds, 1 1/2 over the limit.

“I came down from 150 in three weeks,” Johnson said. “Trying to make the weight killed me.”

Johnson was fined $4,500 by the Nevada State Athletic Commission and the fight was no longer a title match.

Johnson (44-5, 28) didn’t fare any better once the bell range. Gonzalez (32-4, 28) knocked Johnson down in the fourth round and knocked him out at 1:08 of the eighth.

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In a preliminary fight, undefeated heavyweight Calvin Brock improved to 28-0 with 22 knockouts by knocking out Zuri Lawrence (20-11-4) at 2:58 of the sixth round of a scheduled 10-rounder.

Brock delivered a crushing left hook that sent Lawrence down with such force that his head bounced three times on the canvas. Lawrence then lay motionless for several minutes before he finally opened his eyes and was helped to a stool.