Shane comes back

Monday, Feb. 12, 2007 | 7:17 a.m.

Shane Mosley made a smooth return to the welterweight division - along with a convincing case he still has what it takes, at age 35, to compete among boxing's elite.

Back at 147 pounds after taking on big names such as Oscar De La Hoya, Winky Wright and Fernando Vargas at junior middleweight in recent years, Mosley showed speed, poise and stamina in outpointing Luis Collazo by unanimous decision Saturday night at Mandalay Bay.

"It feels good to be a welterweight again," Mosley said. "I felt light on my feet. .. I felt very fast and strong."

After adding the interim WBC welterweight title to his Hall of Fame resume, Mosley (44-4, 37 knockouts) began plotting the next stage of his "invasion" of the 147-pound weight class, as promoter Bernard Hopkins put it.

Mosley said he would like to fight again as soon as June. He said he had no preference as to an opponent, but mentioned the three other current welterweight belt-holders: Miguel Cotto (WBA), Kermit Cintron (IBF) and Antonio Margarito (WBO).

Floyd Mayweather Jr. created the temporary vacancy in the WBC title by opting to fight Oscar De La Hoya, Mosley's promoter and chief of Golden Boy Promotions, at junior middleweight May 5 at the MGM Grand in the biggest fight of the year.

"Mayweather's fighting Oscar, so there are three more welterweights out there - Cotto, Margarito and Cintron," Mosley said. "All these guys are fighting for titles or championships. We can all get together and see who's the best welterweight."

Each fighter presents a potentially attractive matchup with Mosley, but it might not be so simple to make the fights.

A planned bout between Cotto and Margarito in June could end up in litigation regarding a promotional dispute.

Hopkins, also a partner in Golden Boy, said negotiations with officials from Top Rank Inc., Cotto's promoter, could be difficult because of "animosity" between the promotional companies.

"Any one of them would be hard to fight," Mosley said. "Cotto fights a pressure type of fight - he comes right at you, and he's strong. Margarito, the same thing. He's that type of fighter. Kermit Cintron, he has good power and he hurts you with the big right hand."

Mosley, a minus-330 betting favorite, used his power and his right hand to wear down Collazo, maintaining his advantage in speed and growing busier in the fight's later rounds. Mosley sent Collazo to the canvas when he caught him with a short right hand in the 11th round for the fight's lone knockdown.

Mosley won by scores of 118-109 twice and 119-108 on the judges' scorecards. The Sun scored it 117-110 for Mosley.

Collazo, a 25-year-old left-hander from Brooklyn, N.Y., landed a couple of wide-open straight lefts to Mosley's head early and fought gamely in the second half of the bout, although he said he was hampered by an injured left hand.

"In the second round I hit him with a big straight left," Collazo (27-3) said.

"In the third round I tried to do it again and I hurt my left hand. I couldn't throw it the way I wanted to. Shane did his job. He's a legend in the sport."

As Hopkins sees it, the welterweight division looks like a natural fit for Mosley as he enters the autumn of his splendid professional career.

"As a fighter, I'm always told to watch the legs, watch the bounce, watch the energy ratio when you get close to the homestretch," Hopkins said, giving Mosley high marks in those areas.

"He's found his old home, his old division. To me, I think he should stay at '47, end his career at '47 and fight the best fighters at '47 that want to fight him."