In today’s boxing world, nothing gets fans more excited than a matchup of two top welterweights. In what is probably the best and deepest division in boxing, there are many great fights to be made.

This weekend, two of the top welterweights in the world meet up in Los Angeles, as current WBA champ and Ring number one Antonio Margarito (37-5, 27 KOs) takes on Shane Mosley (45-5, 38 KOs), ranked third by Ring Magazine.

Margarito took the top spot in the welterweight division when he stopped Miguel Cotto last July in a Fight of the Year finalist. Margarito was able to withstand Cotto’s superior handspeed and accuracy by having a granite chin and lungs of steel.

Margarito has two weapons that have gotten him to where he is — volume and a chin. With his ability to throw 100 punches in any given round and be none the worse for wear the next round, combined with his ability to absorb any punches thrown his way without so much as taking a step backwards can break an opponent both physically and mentally.

With Cotto, we saw that he suffered a broken nose early in the fight, and due to his inability to breath properly, he wasn’t able to keep up with Margarito’s pace. Cotto has always been the breaker, not the breakee, and against Margarito, he was broken.

Mosley also squared off with Cotto, and nearly became the first man to beat him. Mosley lost a close decision, but may have given Margarito a few pages in the playbook of how to beat the Puerto Rican. The job that Mosley perhaps started, was finished emphatically by Margarito.

Since his fight with Cotto, Mosley fought once in 2008, beating Ricardo Mayorga by 12th round KO. While many praised Mosley for finishing the job, there were several spots in that fight where Mosley showed his age. For most of the fight, Mosley seemed lacking in energy, and more than anyone since Vernon Forrest, Mayorga was able to hurt Mosley. Mosley said after the fight that he was never hurt and that he was in control of the whole fight, but that certainly wasn’t the case. In fact, going into the final round, Mosley was trailing on one scorecard and up just a point on the other. If that fight was any indicator, Margarito may be just the wrong opponent for Mosley.

Margarito is fighting as well now as he has at any point in his career. The fighters he has struggled with over the past few years were both at least his height of 5’11″ (Paul Williams, Daniel Santos). At 5’9″, I don’t think that Mosley will be able to box with Margarito the way that Williams did in Margarito’s last loss. Not only that, but if anyone at the welterweight level can punch with Margarito in terms of volume, it’s Williams.

I think Mosley’s experience, intelligence and speed will give Margarito problems early in the fight, but Margarito’s volume will be the difference in this fight. Mosley will not be able to hurt Margarito, but there is a chance that Margarito can hurt Mosley, particularly at this point in his career.

Mosley is now 37-years old, and just twice in the last 23 months. In his last fight, he looked old for the first time. I can’t imagine he looks much better in this fight.

I think Margarito will break Mosley down, taking over the fight by the sixth or seventh round. I expect Margarito to have a comfortable lead on the scorecards late in the fight, and I even see the potential for a late-round stoppage for Margarito.

Prediction: Margarito unanimous decision.