On Saturday September 27th Shane Mosley made his return to the ring against dangerous slugger Ricardo Mayorga, in front of over 5,000 fans in his hometown and an audience watching on HBO's World Championship Boxing. Mosley won a very entertaining fight by KO in the very last second. Opinion on his performance remains split. Some say Shane looked old. Some say that Shane was just a bit rusty. Some think Mayorga was ahead at the time of the stoppage. Some think Mosley was ahead. The fight was open to different views, and many rounds were hard to score. Here I will look at the fight, and what lays ahead for both fighters.

At the start, it was Mayorga who made the fast start. Shane had trouble timing his shots. Interestingly Mayorga hadn't trash talked Mosley as much as many of his other opponents - and looked more focused on fight night than he had for a while. After the first two rounds, Mayorga was on top. The unexpected was beginning to unfold.

Then came the middle rounds. Mosley began to find his range more, and began to find Mayorga at ease. Mayorga didn't necessarily get worse - it seemed more like Mosley was getting better, and outclassing him, as was expected by the majority of fans. In the first four rounds Mosley landed 28 punches. In the next four rounds he landed 57 punches. After 8 rounds, it looked like Mosley had dragged the fight back. He had picked up most of the middle rounds. However the fight took another twist as it went towards it's climax. Fatigue began to set in. Mayorga had a lifeline. He sensed it, and threw his biggest amount of punches - 63, in round nine. He won his first round for a while. The fight seemed back on.

As the final round started, many thought Mosley had already done enough in the middle rounds - including this writer. Others had the fight pretty close or even had Mayorga winning due to his high workrate. A dramatic final round was expected. And a dramatic final round we got. With just seconds remaining, Mosley landed a big combination on Mayorga. He went down. The fight had taken another twist. Mayorga got back on his feet, but had virtually nothing left, and Mosley floored him again with an awesome left hook to the jaw. Mayorga went down again. This time the fight was stopped. There was one second remaining. Mosley had made it hard work for himself, but he had got the job done.

Because opinion is divided about how bad Mosley looked against an average opponent and whether he was winning or not, opinion is also divided about what he should do next. Some have suggested retirement. That would seem silly in my opinion, going out with an average performance with still plenty to prove. I would put the average performance down to inactivity and Mayorga's unpredictability rather than age. Therefore I think Shane has a big fight or two left in him. Antonio Margarito has been mentioned as an opponent, however he already has one eye on a Cotto rematch. A rematch with Cotto is another option for Shane, however Cotto has his eyes on the Margarito rematch as well. Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer has mentioned Floyd Mayweather Jr. as a possible opponent. This fight gets me very excited. Two of the quickest fighters ever going head to head. Sounds brilliant. But there are two major stumbling blocks: Floyd is supposedly "retired", and Shane is no longer as quick as he was. However, I still feel it would be a good fight. So long as Mosley's average performance was down to inactivity and not age. It would sell, and has a lot of appeal to fight fans worldwide.

As for Mayorga, there isn't a lot left. His appeal is running out. His chin has softened considerably in the last few years. A fight that may interest him is another match with Vernon Forrest. However, Ricardo has already beaten him twice. There isn't much need to fight him again. Mayorga has expressed interest in a De la Hoya rematch, however that makes no sense either. So whilst Shane still has big fights left, it seems like there isn't a lot left for Ricardo Mayorga. Still, he's had a good career, and has always given fans their money's worth - not just in the ring either. Some of his trash talk was legendary. Some of it was just disrespectful. But it was always very, very entertaining.

So, after the fight, there are lots of questions. Mosley made hard work of a fight he should have won pretty easily. However, that doesn't mean he's finished. He's still a threat. Fighters in the Welterweight division should still fear Shane Mosley.