Tora, Tora,…Mora?

by Robert Jackson: Shane Mosley showed his age Saturday nite, seemed to tire as the fight wore on, but was still able to get more work done than Sergio Mora. The judging of that fight was a travesty, which possibly cheated Sugar Shane out of that last big fight he needs to send him off into retirement relatively liquid.

Mora a middleweight or bigger as a pro, could never get off against the former lightweight and did his best fighting in the 7th or 8th round, other than that Mosley was the aggressor landing the most punches with the most significant impact. Most including myself were expecting more from Mora, why was he so ineffective?

Mora chose a strategy to fight off of the ropes and try to counter Mosley as he was coming in, bad timing and Mora’s refusal to let his hands go saw Mosley getting the better of those exchanges which upended that strategy. Fighting in the middle of the ring Mora failed to use his height an slight reach advantage to keep Mosley honest, Mosley was always able to get inside and do good body work while there.

In the end, the fight turned out not to be exciting, but a rather dismal affair without the drama that some were expecting. The only drama associated with this fight came when the scorecards were announced. One judge saw the fight as a straight up draw with the other two judges split between the fighters, making the ultimate outcome a draw. I scored the fight 8 rounds to 4 for Mosley.

Continuing on Mosley should seek to get Andre Berto in the ring and after Saturday’s fight, I don’t think Berto would refuse the challenge. Mora’s options are more difficult as far as BIG fights are concerned, he’s not yet been relegated to opponent status, but he makes for ugly fights. A fight against Andy Lee or an up and coming regional fighter might be in the cards for him. We haven’t seen the last of the ‘Latin Snake’.

The big winners Saturday nite were Saul Alvarez, and Daniel Ponce De Leon; Alavarez probably retired Carlos Baldomir with his 6th round KO of the ‘iron chinned’ Argentinean, and Ponce De Leon showing improved skills raised his stock considerably with his 3rd round KO over up-and-comer Antonio Escalante.