By Ron Borges

 NEW YORK – Too much Sugar might be bad for you but last night there was just enough of it left in Madison Square Garden for Miguel Cotto to taste a sweet victory.

It is a familiar story in boxing, one that was pounded out once again by the 27-year-old WBO welterweight champion – too young, too strong and, in the end, even too fast.

That was what left Shane Mosley beaten decisively, battered to the body and lashed to the face by a string of hard jabs that established Cotto’s supremacy early and maintained it even when Mosley finally began to close the distance late in the fight to try and make it interesting.

The 36-year-old Mosley succeeded in doing that but while the fight was competitive throughout it did not seem as close as two of the three judges scored the bout. Glenn Feldman and Peter Trematerra had Cotto winning 115-113 while the third, Wynn Kurtz, had it 116-113, the same as this card saw it. In any case, there was never really a moment where it truly seemed Mosley was taking over despite his best efforts.

Cotto always had the answers, many of them established early as a result of a body attack that had Mosley choosing to hold and wrestle for much of the fight as if he’d been studying John Ruiz tapes rather than those of Cotto.

Despite his short arms, Cotto’s jab was superior all night, time after time slapping Mosley in the face until his right cheek began to swell and his face had turned red in the middle of it.

Nothing would dissuade Mosley from trying however and he rallied in the final four rounds but even that was unconvincing enough that while one of the judges had Mosley winning the last three rounds, another had Cotto winning three of the last four and a third had them splitting those rounds. Regardless, it was far too little and far too late to surmount the lead Cotto had built up.

The champion won the first half of the fight with his left jab, which carries unusual power behind it because he’s a converted southpaw. His body attack, which has splintered many of his opponents, was not as effective as it had been in the past but it did its nasty work well enough at the expense of Mosley that the challenger spent much of the night holding whenever they got inside. At times they wrestled, with Cotto trying so hard to free himself from the clutches of Mosley that one of the challenger’s legs would come up off the ground as if he were a man desperately clinging to the side of a ship to avoid falling overboard.

By mid-fight Mosley (44-5) began to move more and more but not to establish angles, as he had often done in the past. Now he was simply trying to establish distance. Not punching distance but to keep his distance from the champion, who was hurting him repeatedly with not only his jab and his body punches but also with straight right hand leads which have caused Mosley problems in the past and did again last night.

“My jab was pretty good,’’ Cotto said later. “My jab made the difference in this fight. I was able to reach him with my right hand. He’s a great fighter. He’s still Shane Mosley. I think him for giving me the opportunity to show the people you’re going to have Miguel Cotto around for a long time.’’

But to his credit Mosley refused to buckle as 25 of Cotto’s first 30 opponents had. He not only never wobbled but over the final rounds he began to chase Cotto, who morphed into the mover Mosley had been perceived to be by many pundits when it was wise for him to do so.

Cotto sustained a cut over his right eye in the final round as a result of an accidental clash of heads but when Mosley tried to press that slight advantage Cotto simply moved away. Once there was a time when a younger, quicker, less exhausted Mosley might have been able to press that advantage but on this night all he could do was come forward in pursuit of a man he never could corner.

“I came up short but I thought I fought a good fight,’’ a quietly resigned Mosley said after the decision was announced. “The difference was maybe I should have boxed a little more and fought a little less. He had a pretty good jab when I was standing flat-footed trying to get (my) overhand rights in.

“He’s a young warrior. He’s a champion. He’s consistent with his shots and his right hand was good in this fight. He changed up a little bit, which is good. He’s a little more deceptive than I thought and he was strong in the clinches.

“I believe with my experience I should be able to get guys out of there like him but I couldn’t. He’s not the type of guy who gets hurt and his heart fails and he goes back into the corner in a shell. He fights back.

“I guess if the judges see it that way, that’s what it is. I’ll have to go home and look at the film and see if I should hang ‘em up or keep going.’’

Never before, win or lose, had Shane Mosley hinted that he might have fought his last until Cotto was finished with him. There was a reason for that and the reason was the punishment Miguel Cotto had given him, much of it internal and unseen by the public’s eye. It was the kind that makes a man think of day work. Even a sweet man like Shane Mosley.