LAS VEGAS. July 16: Shane Mosley dominated Fernando Vargas before scoring a sixth-round TKO in their 154-pound non-title bout on Saturday.

It was a rematch between the two fighters after their controversial bout in February, won by Mosley in the 10th round when the bout was stopped with Vargas's left eye badly swollen.

Vargas felt the first fight should not have been stopped and complained bitterly about head butts, but there was no controversy on Saturday as Mosley clearly won the first five rounds before ending the fight 2:38 into the sixth.

Mosley (43-4, 37 KOs) knocked Vargas to the canvas with a solid left with about a minute to go in the sixth round. Vargas got up but was clearly in trouble, with the referee stopping the fight shortly after.

Mosley flattened Vargas with a walloping left hand for his second victory in the rivalry in five months.

But Mosley had a plan that Vargas simply couldn't see in the rematch – and it ended with a punch that caught Vargas completely by surprise.

“When I was in the ring, I remembered watching Oscar (De La Hoya) fight Vargas, and he threw that perfect left hook,” Mosley said, referring to the Golden Boy's 11th-round TKO of Vargas two years ago. “I was bouncing around, and I saw the opportunity, and I threw the perfect left hook again.”

The charismatic four-time world champion is back on form after four losses from 2002-04, and he might get a match-up with Floyd Mayweather Jr or Antonio Margarito next year if Mosley drops to 147 pounds.

Mosley was more aggressive and sharp from the opening bell, patiently landing the right hand that hurt Vargas repeatedly in their first fight. Vargas seemed frustrated and disorganised, never winning a clear-cut round.

Mosley opened a cut above Vargas' right eye in the fifth round, but neither fighter had done much in the sixth until Vargas failed to block that crushing left hand from Mosley, buckling Vargas' knees and sending him to the canvas.

“I thought I was doing well up until the left hook,” said Vargas, who never even saw the punch until he watched the replay. “I thought it was slowly going my way.”

Mosley climbed the ropes while Vargas twice struggled to get up. The fight resumed for 10 seconds, but Vargas couldn't defend himself from Mosley's final blows before referee Kenny Bayless stopped the fight with 22 seconds left in the round.

Vargas made $3.4 million (euro2.7 million), and Mosley was guaranteed at least $3 million (euro2.4 million).

On the undercard, Houston's Juan Diaz retained his WBA lightweight title with a ninth-round TKO of Randy Suico. Daniel Ponce De Leon then defended his WBO junior featherweight belt with a stunning first-round knockout of Thailand's Sod Looknongyangtoy.—Agencies