Shane Mosley vs Adrian Stone

Shane Mosley retained the World Boxing Council welterweight championship at the Caesars Palace Pavilion in Las Vegas on July 21, 2001, by knocking out Adrian Stone after 2 minutes and 1 second of the third round. Referee Jay Nady did not begin a count after Stone collapsed heavily beneath a final right hand. Both men weighed 147 pounds. Mosley entered as a 20-to-1 favourite and improved his unbeaten record to 38 victories, 35 of them inside the distance. Stone fell to 30 wins, four defeats and two draws. An estimated crowd of 4,900 occupied the 5,100-seat arena.

This was Mosley’s third defence of the championship he had won from Oscar De La Hoya by split decision in June 2000. He had since stopped Antonio Diaz and Shannan Taylor, and was regarded as one of the leading fighters in boxing regardless of weight. Stone, born in Bristol but based in the United States for much of his career, had held the lightly regarded International Boxing Organisation light-middleweight title. He moved down to welterweight for his opportunity against Mosley, having last competed at the division three years earlier. He possessed respectable strength and experience, but had not previously met an opponent of the champion’s speed or standing.

Stone’s awkwardness caused Mosley some inconvenience during the opening two rounds. The challenger stood upright, changed his rhythm, and attempted to punch as he moved away, preventing Mosley from immediately establishing the clean, rapid combinations for which he was known. Mosley pressed forward behind the jab but was occasionally made to reach, while Stone sought to catch him coming in. Stone’s work was cautious rather than commanding, and the champion landed the more substantial blows whenever they exchanged. Judges Carol Castellano, Jerry Roth and Mark Green each scored both completed rounds for Mosley, giving him a 20–18 advantage.

Mosley was not at his most fluent in those first six minutes. He followed Stone at times instead of cutting off his retreat and did not always judge the distance correctly. Stone, however, achieved little beyond making the champion think about his approach. He lacked the jab and sustained activity required to keep Mosley outside, and his occasional counters carried insufficient force to discourage him. Mosley remained composed and began to time the challenger’s movements more accurately towards the end of the second round.

The third brought a sudden and decisive change. Mosley increased his pace and drove Stone towards the ropes, where the challenger no longer had sufficient room to evade the attack. The champion began a sequence of eight unanswered punches. Six were overhand rights, mixed with a left hook and followed by one final right. Stone’s guard was repeatedly beaten from the same side as Mosley shifted his weight forward and continued punching without giving him an opportunity to clinch or escape.

A left hook caught Stone heavily and left him exposed for the concluding right hand. The punch landed cleanly against the jaw before Stone could recover his balance. His legs gave way, and he fell backwards, his body turning as he descended towards the canvas. Nady moved between the fighters and waved the contest over immediately. The referee’s intervention came before Stone’s head struck the floor, and there was no reason to administer a count. Stone had been rendered unconscious and was later reported to have suffered a concussion, although he recovered without further serious injury.

The finish was severe but contained no controversy. Stone had not been gradually worn down, nor had he been subjected to a lengthy beating. He had remained competitive in the limited sense of surviving the first two rounds while making Mosley work for openings. Once the champion found the correct distance and began releasing punches in succession, the difference in hand speed, accuracy and power became too great. The final combination was delivered with such speed that Stone was struck several times before he could reorganise his defence.

Mosley’s victory completed his third and final successful defence during his first reign as WBC welterweight champion. Afterwards, he again expressed interest in a second contest with De La Hoya or a unification match, but his next appearance was instead against Vernon Forrest in January 2002. Forrest defeated him by unanimous decision, ending Mosley’s unbeaten record and taking the championship. The Stone contest, therefore, stood as the last victory of Mosley’s first uninterrupted rise from lightweight champion to the head of the welterweight division. Stone continued boxing and later returned to light-middleweight, but at Caesars Palace, he had been confronted by a champion at the height of his speed and punching effectiveness.

Shane Mosley was operating on a different level from Adrian Stone at Caesars Palace. Stone was a tough Bristol lad who had rebuilt his career in America and earned his opportunity, but he was a 20–1 outsider for good reason. Mosley had beaten Oscar De La Hoya, was unbeaten in 37 contests, and was widely regarded as the best pound-for-pound fighter in boxing. Stone had never faced that combination of speed, strength and finishing instinct.

Stone did reasonably well for two rounds by staying awkward, moving and refusing to give Mosley an easy target. But he was surviving rather than winning. All three judges gave both rounds to the champion, and once Mosley began finding the distance, the gap in class became obvious.

The finish in the third was savage. Mosley drove Stone towards the ropes and let his hands go with frightening speed. Stone was caught repeatedly by overhand rights, then a left hook left him exposed for the final right hand. He went down heavily, and Jay Nady was absolutely right to wave it off without counting. Stone was unconscious before he reached the canvas.

There is no shame in Stone losing like that. He was simply in with an exceptional fighter near his peak. Mosley could sometimes become impatient and follow opponents, but once he hurt a man, he was one of the finest finishers of his era. This was not a competitive world-title fight. Stone discovered what elite level really looked like.