racingmeridian.com

It’s the best night, it’s FIGHT NITE! Welterweight Champ Antonio Margarito takes on legend Shane Mosley in a twelve round fight from the Staples Centre in Los Angeles. Margarito can build on the momentum of an outstanding 2008 campaign. The Champ pummeled the well meant Kermit Cintron in April before pulling a July upset of the mighty Miguel Cotto. Two sparkling performances. Indeed, it is arguable that Margarito has not legitimately lost a fight in twelve years. He was stopped on cuts by Daniel Santos in 2004 and robbed of a decision against the egregiously overrated Paul Williams in 2007, but has notched nothing but W’s in his other performances since June of 1996. Unappreciated, ignored, avoided, these are the words associated with Margarito. He has seized centre stage and is in formidable form. Mosley enters off a win in Sept 2008 over Ricardo Mayorga. The spectacular last round knockout served to take attention away from the wear and tear Sugar demonstrated at various points of the fight. Mosley has maintained a high level of opposition, losing a close decision to Cotto in 2007 while easily defeating top contender Luis Collazo earlier in the year. He is no pushover and retains the sharpness and combativeness to make tonight’s fight a compelling spectacle. But…Shane is going to fade as the fight develops. Margarito will be stout, aggressive and powerful. He is the most physically imposing opponent Mosley has faced since his two losses in 2004 to Winky Wright. It will be a valiant and heroic performance from Mosley, but it will not be enough. I’ll bet Margarito on the decision and also throw some money on stoppages in the final three rounds. Mosley has always been a classy presence in the sport and it is possible he will continue to fight after tonight. But his position at the elite level of the sport is as tenuous today as was De La Hoya’s before his battle with the Pacman…the Toronto Sun is reporting the Anaheim Ducks are mulling over a trade of Chris Pronger to the Toronto Maple Leafs. What they expect in return is not outlined. Hard to see how this makes sense for either team…I’ve always found people who watch all star games to be seriously weird and dangerously lonely…how would you feel if you had the resources to attend maybe one Red Wings game all year, and the game you attend does not feature Pavel Datsyuk and Nikolas Lidstrom because of Gary Bettman’s decision to suspend them. The Red Wing stars are sitting on the bench for missing the all star game. Punishing paying customers is about the last way I would approach this problem…NFL.com reports the San Francisco 49ers are inching closer to acquiring the services of disgraced QB Michael Vick. He could return in time for the 2009 season and, in these cynical times, a well oiled public relations campaign should have the utter scumbag polished up for the consumption of the masses. Bet on it happening…Manchester United, already winners of the World Club Championship, could be poised for one of the greatest years in soccer history. Alive and kicking in the FA Cup, the Carling Cup, the Champions League and at the top of the Premier League, they threaten to redefine every measure of supreme accomplishment. I’m watching them whup Tottenham on Justin TV as I write this, Cristiano Ronaldo continues to play at a sublime level…trainer Christophe Clement has added valuable insight to the issue of steroids and thoroughbred racing. Clement reveals that the roids had their most important impact on the speed of the animals. Steroids enhance early speed. With their absence this year, Clement posits that North American racing is going to change dramatically. Handicapper Nick Kling has written an eye opening piece on January racing at Aqueduct and Gulfstream, and offers persuasive evidence that the change is already under way with significantly more off the pace runners achieving success…I like Hey Byrn in the Sunshine Classic today from Gulfstream. The talented colt was caught up in Derby fever last year and mishandled. He starts again off a nice performance in an allowance race and could move forward…