Canelo Wins UD From Game Shane Mosley

Shane Mosley didn't win against Canelo Alvarez, in the main support bout to the Floyd Mayweather-Miguel Cotto feature bout on Saturday at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, but he did win back some fans who didn't think he gave the best account of himself against Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. Canelo got more than many folks who thought Mosley was damaged goods coming in bargained for, as he needed to work the whole twelve against the oldster. After 12, the judges, bless them, didn't screw up, and awarded Canelo a UD, 119-109, 118-110, 119-109.

This was a rock solid win over a Mosley who, indeed, looked to be at 100% for this fight. Canelo after to Larry Merchant said that it was great experience, the “beginning” of his career. Was it an audition, a winning audition, for a Mayweather fight? Yes, he said, he's ready for Floyd, Cotto or Pacman. Shane joked that kids are now beating him up. He said Canelo's defense is good, he's “pretty quick,” he has great composure. “He can go a long ways,” he said. He said it may be time to hang em up.

Mosley (46-7-1; age 40; from Pomona, California; six time, three division champion) was 154 pounds , while WBC junior middleweight champ Canelo (39-0-1; age 21; from Mexico) was also 154 .

Manny Steward said he thought Mosley would give a good account of himself in this match before the first round, for the record. He was spot on, though CompuBox said Canelo outlanded Shane, 252 to 100. That doesn't take into account Mosley's heart, which had him in Canelo's face to the final bell.

Jessie Reyes, CJ Ross and Glen Trowbridge were the judges, by the way. We said a prayer they wouldn't screw up before the first bell. It worked, apparently.

In the first, Canelo waited and assessed. At 1:30, he started to jab. Mosley didn't look all that crisp, maybe he would get lubed up. Mosley landed ten, while Canelo landed 11. In the second, Canelo landed lead rights. His hook got cooking, and he closed distance, unafraid of Mosley's power. In the third, Mosley looked to land a little jab. A one-two showed that Shane's reflexes had dimmed even more than before. A cut opened from a butt, on Canelo's left eye, on the lid. His corner said the cut was no big deal. In round four, a mean round two made the crowd buzz. It was patient round for Canelo. It was a tight round. “I need you to bring the energy, Shane, like you want this thing,” trainer Naazim Richardson told Mosley.

In the fifth, Canelo got cooking at 1:30. His hooks had the crowd buzzing. Mosley was right there, in the pocket, not running. Canelo had the power punch edge, 26 to 11, in that round. In the sixth, left hooks to the body, and right crosses were landing clean on Shane. In the seventh, Mosley didn't back off, though he was getting tagged a bunch. After the round, Richardson said, “That's your best round.”
That was not encouraging. In the eighth, Shane bulled him, tried to blunt him. He threw a shoe-shine combo, circa 1998, and the crowd liked it. He was busy and energetic, good stuff from Shane, though Canelo landed more power shots, according to CompuBox. In the ninth, Canelo ripped with body shots, getting himself more room to work. Mosley, bless him, hung tough. “If you got something left, you gotta put em together,” Richardson said after.

In the tenth, Shane used his legs more. He showed solid energy, but did get tagged in the last third. In the 11th, Mosley still edged forward for much of the round. In the 12th, Mosley came forward, threw one-twos. He ate, but bless him, he wasn't huffing that hard with a minute left. We went to the cards.

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