 Shane Mosley celebrates victory as his dad, Jack, looks on |
Shane Mosley scored a convincing win over fellow American Fernando Vargas in their light middleweight rematch at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Saturday. Referee Kenny Bayless called a halt to the clash towards the end of round six after Mosley, 34, had knocked Vargas, 28, to the canvas with a solid left.
Vargas got up but Mosley moved in with an unanswered barrage, forcing Bayless to step in with 22 seconds left.
"I saw the opportunity and I threw the perfect left hook again," said Mosley.
"It was a combination that me and my father were working on in training camp. I set it up with the jab, step back and then hit him with the left hook."
Vargas, a former IBF light middleweight champion, looked lethargic and was beaten to the punch throughout by Mosley, whose superior hand speed gave him every round on the scorecards.
 | I thought I was doing well up until the left hook... I thought it was slowly going my way |
Mosley won their first fight in February, when the referee stopped the contest in round 10 with the left eye of Vargas badly swollen.
Vargas blamed the defeat on headbutts, but there was no controversy on Saturday.
"I thought I was doing well up until the left hook," said Vargas, who may now consider retirement. "I thought it was slowly going my way.
"I can't take anything away from his performance. I was trying to put my punches together. I thought I was doing good and he caught me with a good shot. That's boxing."
Mosley, a world champion at lightweight, welterweight and light middleweight, had reunited with his father, Jack, for the fight with Vargas.
They split after Mosley suffered a second straight loss to Ronald 'Winky' Wright in November 2004.
 Mosley's hand speed allowed him to dominate the fight from the start |
"We were in the gym working real hard, and he was very inspirational, not only to me, but to everyone in the camp," said Mosley.
The American now plans to drop back down to welterweight for a possible clash with unbeaten IBF champion Floyd Mayweather.
On the undercard, American Juan Diaz retained his WBA lightweight title with a ninth-round stoppage of Philippines challenger Randy Suico.
Diaz, who scored a unanimous victory over Jose Miguel Cotto in April, was making his fifth defence.
Daniel Ponce De Leon then defended his WBO light featherweight belt with a stunning first-round knockout of Sod Looknongyangtoy.
Ponce De Leon landed a left that rendered the Thai fighter unconscious 52 seconds into the fight.
"I was working on that punch all throughout training camp," said the Mexican. "I knew he was susceptible for it, and it came through for me."
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