The Sweet One, “Sugar” Shane Mosley gets back in the ring with hardened contender Sergio “The Latin Snake” Mora on September 18th, in a fight to be broadcast by HBO on PPV. As the bout is scheduled for the Mexican Independence Day weekend, one can expect that Mora will have a lot of hardcore support at the Staples Center for this fight, his first chance to shine since his back-to-back bouts with Vernon Forrest. Mosley, on the other hand, is seeking to bounce back from a less-than-stellar performance against Floyd Mayweather that has many whispering that Mosley is shopworn.
Sergio Mora (22-1-1, 6 KOs)
6′ tall, 73″ reach, 29 years old
Former WBC Light Middleweight Champion
Sergio Mora is a well-rounded customer. He has good movement, good work rate, fast hands, is awkward on the inside, durable and packs a good punch. The latter might seem an odd statement to make about a guy who has only six knockouts to his name, but if you look at Mora’s record, you will see that half of it is over solid journeymen in six and eight round fights. A guy like Mora wins knockouts by attrition, and it’s hard to grind a tough guy down in six rounds. The middle of Mora’s career was spent on the first season of The Contender (which he won) or following up afterward against Peter Manfredo, Jr. Vernon Forrest (who was murdered about a year ago) probably was under-trained in the first bout with Mora, but even so, Mora still owns a win against a guy that a prime Mosley was never able to tame.
Shane Mosley (46-6, 39 KOs)
5’9″, 74″ reach, 38 years old
Former Lightweight, Welterweight and Light Middleweight Champion
Mosley’s record is well-known, so rather than repeat it, I prefer to focus on his most recent performance against Floyd Mayweather. Mosley looked old in that fight. He still had the kind of power to put him within just one punch of knocking Mayweather clean out, but he wasn’t able to pull the trigger and land that punch. The Sweet One also lacked the stamina to up the ante, press the action and force another opportunity to clock Mayweather. The real question with “Sugar” Shane is how much does that apply now? Mosley had not fought for almost a year and a half leading into the Mayweather fight, so rust is a serious option. Also, the “getting old” stage for fighters is marked by inconsistent performances. If the Mosley who gave Antonio Margarito shows up instead of the Mosley who was bedazzled by Mayweather, Mora could be in for a terrible night.
Mosley vs. Mora Preview
There are many pertinent questions to ask about this fight. “What does Mosley have left in the tank?” is an obvious one. Not so obvious is “can Sergio Mora make weight?” Mora is a 160 lbs. fighter, and campaigned as such until he got his opportunity to fight Forrest. Mora only barely made weight for his second bout with Forrest, and fighters who struggle with the scales are known to wilt under pressure. For Mora, it isn’t that he doesn’t stay in shape between fight camps. Mora is just really too big to make 154 lbs. easily.
It is that size that poses the worst of problems for Shane Mosley. A tall, hard-working, awkward fighter is a well-established bad combination for Mosley. While Mora isn’t Vernon Forrest or Winky Wright, he has many of the elements that are proven to give Mosley headaches. Putting Mosley in the ring with Mora is simply awful matchmaking, since even a prime Mosley would have a hard time with a guy like Mora.
Mosley vs. Mora Prediction
Mosley will come out like dynamite after the opening bell, looking to put the sweet stamp of authority on Mora. However, Mora will soon, if not establish control, at least make himself felt with his combination of height, speed, movement and work rate. When Mosley tries to disrupt Mora by coming in, The Latin Snake will expertly tie him up. However, Mora will tire in the later rounds, drained by making weight and having to wrestle with such a strong opponent as Mosley. If Mosley has anything substantial left in him, that will be when he gets back in the fight, but it will be just a little too late to do any good.
Mora by a close, but Unanimous Decision.
