Last Saturday night Miguel Cotto defended his WBA welterweight title against Shane Mosley, winning by unanimous decision and placing his hat in the mix as one of the elite pound-for-pound fighters around. Although it may not have been reminiscent of the mauling style that we’re used to seeing from the Puerto Rican star, it opened our eyes to the potentially complete fighter that Cotto is quietly growing into.

Instead of charging with the unbridled aggression that dismantled Zab Judah in June, Cotto displayed an impressive jab and chose to box rather than brawl. The scheme, which partly was influenced by the respect that Cotto’s camp had for the 36-year old Mosley, allowed “Junito” to take advantage of his larger frame and slowly wear down the former three-time champion.

At 31-0, Cotto’s win solidifies his rising presence in the sport by taking down the older, but still tenacious Mosley in a victory that caps a swift ascension to the top, and commences the talk of big-money bouts to follow. With three of his last five fights having taken place at Madison Square Garden, and a large percentage of the Puerto Rican population saluting his every punch, New York has become Cotto’s home away from home. Now the real question is if anyone is willing to take on the challenge of giving him his first loss, and would they be willing to take him on at the Garden? The first interesting prospect is a matchup with Oscar De La Hoya, whose participation would create a frenzy among Latin American boxing fans. However, De La Hoya has other plans in mind, as he reportedly has already promised his Puerto Rican pop-star wife that he would not take on a Puerto Rican fighter in his next bout.  

Then there is the possibility of Floyd Mayweather, who is still the king of the boxing world until defeat proves otherwise. Unfortunately, Mayweather has been flip-flopping on his retirement plans and still must first contend with Englishman Ricky Hatton before those discussions even enter the picture. The closest and intriguing quick fix could be Antonio Margarito, who knocked out Golden Johnson in the first round undercard of Cotto-Mosley. Margarito is already under Bob Arum and Top Rank management, the company Cotto is signed to. However, he has already publicly stated that Maragrito already will not receive his sympathies after he chose to take on Paul Williams rather than face him this past June. Williams, who ended up winning that fight by unanimous decision, is the least sexy choice, though he could also be a provocative one, considering his undefeated record and the fact that the fight would be a unification bout.

As for Mosley, many wonder if this could be the end of the line. At 44-4, his four losses have all been to champions (Winky Wright, Vernon Forrest twice, and Cotto). Although talks of his demise may prove to be premature after Saturday night, Mosley does have a second career brewing working for De La Hoya’s Golden Boy promotions, and has little left to prove in an impressive and classy career. If it is the last we see of “Sugar Shane,” it was a valiant performance indeed in a fight that he easily could have folded after the first few rounds. Props to Cotto and as Lennox Lewis would say in his corny accent “big ups” to Shane for an entertaining night of boxing in the world’s Mecca.