UPSET OF THE YEAR VOTING RESULTS

Shane Mosley over Antonio Margarito: 46 percent
Danny Green over Roy Jones Jr.: 32 percent
Andre Ward over Mikkel Kessler: 16 percent
Juan Carlos Salgado over Jorge Linares: 6 percent

Note: These are not the official RING awards. Those will be announced next month in the magazine.

Shane Mosley looked as if he had grown old during his fight against Ricardo Mayorga in September of last year. He seemed sluggish, he didn’t throw his punches in bunches, he just didn’t seem like Mosley even though he scored a 12th-round knockout.

And that followed a unanimous-decision loss to Miguel Cotto in his previous fight. A lot of people believed Mosley was in decline.

Meanwhile, Antonio Margarito was rolling. The exciting Mexican brawler was coming off a sensational knockout of Cotto and seemed all but indestructible, which why few fighters dared take him on.

Thus, when Mosley and Margarito agreed to fight on Jan. 24 in Los Angeles, some “experts” feared for Mosley’s safety.

To be fair, no one could’ve imagined what would take place that night at Staples Center.

First, Margarito was busted before the fight with a foreign substance in his hand wraps that ultimately would result in his suspension. And, second, Mosley, at 37, was never better once the bell rang to start the fight.

The then-four-time titleholder proved to be far too quick and far too good for his tough, but lumbering opponent. Mosley simply broke Margarito down to set up one of the most-spectacular knockouts of 2009.

Mosley put a fast-fading Margarito down and almost stopped him in the eighth. He finished the job the following round by pummeling his helpless foe against the ropes until referee Raul Caiz jumped in to end the slaughter as Margarito collapsed to the canvas.

Mosley had done the improbable, re-invigorating his career in the process. He went from declining to a spot on most Top 10 pound-for-pound lists. He has a date with rising star Andre Berto on Jan. 30 and hopes for an even bigger fight before 2010 is up.

“Not everybody could beat him,” Mosley said in the ring immediately after the fight. “You have to be a special person to beat him. And that person was me.”

Margarito hasn’t fought since and can only hope to be re-instated, at which time he would try to re-build his career.

The fight was a stark example that anything can happen on fight night — particularly when a fighter as gifted as Mosley is involved.

Michael Rosenthal can be reached at [email protected]