I'm still trying to understand how much it played apart in the breaking down of margo. I still think the biggest factor was shane's WILL. I think he broke Margo's will, to the point Margo knew he couldn't hurt shane, wasn't effective and that Shane wasn't going to stop. The strategy wasn't that complex....just get ur combo's off then, hold Margo when he tried to do the same. I have always loved and been a big fan of Shane, but i still think that both Cotto and Cintron especially hit harder than Shane. Not only did he managed to dent Margo's "supposedly undentable chin" Margo also looked quite fatigue, and he's been know to have marathon runner like stamina
Speed kills, especially against a slow, defenseless plodder like Margarito. When you throw in Shane's strength and explosiveness, it was just a bad matchup for Margo.
The speed is what truly killed Margarito, as Pea already mentioned. He didn't see those shots coming, and Shane was whacking him in combination. Speed usually does kill, especially when your power is being multiplied by it. Shane also had scar tissue in his nose removed after the Cotto fight which more then likely helped his stamina to some degree.
Like others said; speed kills. When he hurt Margo with his left, he was also sitting fully on every shot..
Some various factors that I felt really won the fight for Shane: Speed Kills Margo had no answer for Shane's speed, both hand speed, (which resulted in him getting whacked faster than he could react to or hope to dodge) and foot speed, (which allowed Shane to control the tempo and movement of the fight). Too much aggression can be bad for you One of the more interesting wrinkles of the plan Mosley and Nazim put into place: usually when fighting a bully type fighter, you try to take away his effectiveness and take him out of his game by making him go backwards. Instead they let him come forward, knowing Margo throw would ineffective punches at long range while coming inside leaving him open and walking right into Shane's mid-range artillery. And walking forward into a punch magnifies the force and effectiveness of it. And since Margo didn't know any other way to come forward besides trying to throw punches to overwhelm his opponent as he did, they knew his hands wouldn't be in position to guard and he'd be open every time. Break your opponent's rhythm Margo depends on his activity to break fighters down, overwhelm their efforts to defend themselves, and put them on the defensive. So what do you do to nullify that? Well, after Shane's faster hands nail Margo with bombs while he's coming forward, tie him up at close range when he gets inside rather than getting the activity and workrate going. And go ahead and tie Margo up pretty much any other time he starts putting together groups of punches too. This stops him from ever getting his game on track or into his comfort zone. The whole fight is largely using Shane's speed and cycling through the other two tactics again and again. Never able to get into his type of fight and unable to adjust, Margo never knew what hit him or how to change the fight to his favor. Shane's power helped, of course, but power alone wouldn't do it, and had to be used in coordination with these other factors and tactics to make the fight for Shane.
I believe it had a pretty big part in it. But I think it was a lot more than that. He'd land fast, crisp combinations to the body and the head and then tie Antonio up and push him back. This wore Antonio down to the point of exhaustion and frustration. So all in all I'd say its a combination of speed, smarts, bodywork, strength in the clinch, experience, and confidence. A beautiful performance by Mosley and he was real classy even after the handwrap allegations. BTW did anybody see Hopkins rub the crap out of Mosley's shoulders so that the camera could see him too. And then during the fight Hopkins was sitting directly in front of Mark Wahlberg and kept standing up and shouting with Mark breaking his neck trying to see. :yep You gotta love B-Hop.
It was a combination of Mosley's power, his ability to "get off" first (a result of his speed), and a smart gameplan (holding and smothering Margo after every punch delivered) that brought about Margo's end. Margo has probably been in with guys who brought each of these individually, but none of them altogether in one package.
If it was just speed as some of the first replies indicated Cotto would have won, as he proved his hands are on the level of the likes of SSM's speed (at this stage of his career). I think the gameplan itself, based on common sense really, capitalizing on the predicatble, never changing style and strategy of Margarito is to be given most of the credit, and so Mr. Nazim Richardson. I like and agree with this response regarding it and think the following points are key -
It was Shane's ability to land loaded shots over and over again on Margo's chin, often when he was moving into the punch. Also, Mosley's body work probably took a bit out of Margo, as well.
Moselys superior skill, accurate punches to head and body as well as his ability to impose his will spelled defeat for margarito more than power did (even though it did play a part).
I stated last summer that even an anvil can eventually break. We've been busing extolling the virtues of Margo's tough, chin and grit for years....and in that time he's been absorbing punishment. Eventually something has to give and a fighter wears out. One more thing, I cannot recall anybody going to Margo's body as consistently as Shane did.
This post expresses what I was going to say on the subject. Cotto got off first, but his refusal to tie up at any point in the fight certainly played a role in his loss.
