In Saturday night's rematch for the WBA 154 lb. title, Shane Mosley gave WBA Junior Middleweight belt-holder Winky Wright everything the champ could handle. Still, Wright got the edge on the judges' scorecards.

    Wright was not able to cruise to a unanimous decison as he did back in March. Intent on atoning for his lackluster performance in the first fight, Mosley did far more damage to Wright this time around. For those impressed by Wright's consistently effective jab and steady-paced attack, Winky was the winner. But if you appreciated sporadic power hooks which appeared to stagger Wright several times, then you had Mosley winning the fight.

    After each round, the two fighters touched gloves in respect over the head of referee Joe Cortez. Then Wright and Mosley would solicit support from the crowd during the return trip to each fighter's respective corner.

    Wright's solid right jab kept Mosley at bay for much of the fight, Yet, Mosley created the bout's most dramatic moments. In rounds five and eight, stunned right with hooks to the head and body. While eleven and twelve. At the urging of new trainger Joe Goossen, Sugar Shane launched all out attacks in the final two rounds. In round eleven Wright held excessivly to stifle the attack. But in the bout's final round, Wright grabbed onto Mosley for dear life because Sugar Shane's assault was finding its mark. It's astounding that any judge could have given Wright the final round, but two of the three scorecards had Winky taking the last round.

    Had the third judge given Mosley round twelve, the decision would have been a majority draw. After the announcement of the razor-thin decision, Wright gave Mosley credit. "He was a great fighter. I caught him with more shots He deserved the rematch, though. He came to fight." said Wright. two fights the two men left standing would be Hopkins and Tito. Of course it is now expected for these two to sign a

    Mosley maintained that he landed "the better, cleaner shots." When it came to landing body blows, Mosley put in a yeoman's effort, pelting Wright to the body with solid hooks throughout the fight.

    Mosley fired his father as his trainer after the first fight, when Wright dominated behind his right jab on his way to a decision that gave him the undisputed 154-pound title. In Mosley's corner for the rematch was Goossen, but that wasn't enough in the early rounds for Mosley to change the pattern set in the first fight. "I thought we won the last round, thought we won the fight," Goossen said.

    Punch stats showed Wright landing 273 punches to 154 for Mosley, but Mosley seemed to land the harder punches. The edge was in the jab, where Wright was credited with landing 138 to only 46 for Mosley.

    The win was the second straight setback for Mosley, who seemed destined to fight big money bouts after beating Oscar De La Hoya last year.

    Now it is Wright, a fighter who toiled in relative obscurity most of his career, who seems ready to cash in against the likes of De La Hoya, Felix Trinidad and Bernard Hopkins.

   "Tito's No. 1," Wright said of Trinidad. "But I'll fight Oscar, Bernard Hopkins, whoever the fans want."

   Both Wright (48-3, 25 knockouts) and Mosley (39-4, 35 KOs) weighed the class limit of 154 pounds. coming up that may have some bearing on the current situation.