It wasn't Castllio-Coralles I, but Fernando Vargas and Shane Mosley went into the trenches and threw punches with hard intentions. Vargas was clearly the bigger man, but it was the faster, combination-throwing Mosley whose laser of a right hand continually found Vargas' left eye, swelling it close and forcing referee Joe Cortez to stop the fight in the 10th round at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas last night.

Vargas came out the aggressor, bu Mosley was sharp, landing left jabs and hooks to the body as well as right hand counters, while slipping Vargas' punches and making him appear slow. By the end of the first round, Vargas left eye was bruised, an ominous sign of things to come.

Mosley continued beating Vargas to the punch for the next two rounds, as Vargas increasingly used his body to lean and wear down the smaller Mosley. It was effective, and by the middle rounds Mosley was showing signs of fatigue, though he never stopped landing the right hand. By the end of the 8th round, the left eye of "El Feroz" was completely shut. In the 9th, "Sugar" Shane continued to do damage to the one-eyed Vargas, who, although buckled at one point by an onslaught of punches by Mosley, never stopped applying pressure. At the end of the 9th round, Vargas' eye was looked at by ring officials, and he was allowed to continue. In round 10, Vargas was at a clear disadvantage, and Cortez rightfully stopped the bout the instant Mosley started landing combinations. I had the fight 89-83 for Mosley at that point, with Vargas winning round 5 and the 7th round even.

Mosley, 42-4 (36), who throughout the fight attempted to touch gloves in a diplomatic gesture with the unwilling Vargas, scores his first TKO win in almost five years, though it wasn't knockout in the traditional sense. Vargas, 26-3 (22), never one to show strength in the category of sportsmanship, not only failed to congratulate Mosley on his victory, but complained about the stoppage and then told HBO's Larry Merchant that the grotesquely bruised eye was a result of a headbutt. Vargas retains the dubious distinction of getting stopped every time he has faced an elite opponent, and though Mosley didn't stop him in the same ways that Felix Trinidad and Oscar De La Hoya did, there can be no doubt that had the fight gone on, he would have.

Mosley vows that he will remain at 147 for the remainder of his career without venturing into higher weight classes for bigger paydays. Fights with Antonio Margarito, Zab Judah, or Floyd Mayweather are all on the horizon for "Sugar" Shane. As for Vargas, this was a must-win fight for him, as it was for Mosley. Although the crowd at Mandalay Bay was pro-Vargas, he was but a shell of his former self, and is clearly not the same promising fighter he once seemed to be. He hinted at retirement, but chances are "El Feroz" will stick around for one more bout if he can convince De La Hoya to give him a rematch.

And by the way, does Mosley win that side bet of $100,000?

On the undercard, Johnny Gonzalez stopped Mark "Too Sharp" Johnson with a left hook to the body and head in the 8th round of their bantamweight fight.