CAN MOSLEY SURVIVE A SNAKE BITE?
New York, NY– After dropping his last bout to Floyd Mayweather Jr., Shane Mosley (46-6 39 KOs) will make his return to the ring tonight on HBO PPV. He will also return to the jr. middleweight (154 lbs) division to face Sergio ‘The Latin Snake’ Mora (22-1-1 6 KOs), who is best known for winning the television show, The Contender. To some boxing fans he is also known for once defeating the late former champion Vernon Forest. Coincidentally, Forrest was also the first man to defeat Mosley in his professional career, which makes this bout a little more interesting. On paper, it
would appear that the veteran, Mosley has enough advantages (power, experience, caliber of opponents) on his side easily beat Mora, but Mora does posses similar tools to those who have managed to upset Mosley in the past. He’s crafty and slick and might possess just enough elusiveness and skill to pull of a victory if it goes to the scorecards.
ANOTHER SWEETENED WIN FOR POMONA KID?
Sergio Mora is not a tremendously seasoned fighter, having only 24 bouts under his belt. And with the exception of Forrest, most of his opponents appear as prime candidates to pad any fighter’s record. Mora is not a big puncher and with only 6 KOs and a comparison to feather fisted jr. welterweight (140) Paulie Malignaggi is almost spot on. Although Mosley will be moving up to face Mora at 154, this weight is also not necessarily ideal for Mora. He’s campaigned at middleweight (160 lbs) for most of his career and the last time he fought at jr. middleweight was in 2008, when he lost a rematch to Forrest. Mora was inactive in 2009 and has only fought once this year, against Calvin Green, who isn’t exactly an opponent to get you ready for Mosley. Shane certainly isn’t at much risk of being stopped by Mora, so if a knockout were to happen here it would have to come from Shane. Mora won’t be a Hans Solo-esce carbonite statue like Antonio Margarito, but if Mosley can hit Mora flush, he might be able to do enough to impress the judges or possibly score a KO late.
THERE’S ‘MORA’ TO SERGIO’S STORY
Although Mora isn’t the biggest puncher, he still has the natural size advantage. Mosley has never looked particularly excellent at 154 and the taller Mora may be in a better space mentally, as Mosley was totally outclassed in his last bout. We must also consider that skilled boxers like Winky Wright, Vernon Forrest and Floyd Mayweather have previously out boxed Mosley in relatively easy fashion. Mora is a slick and skilled boxer himself, which doesn’t make it unimaginable that he can do use his speed and reach to go home with his 23rd victory. Mora is also a Mexican-American and will certainly have a large contingent of fans supporting him on a weekend celebrating the 200th year of Mexican Independence. Although it won’t necessarily be easy, Mora does posses more than enough of the natural gifts that have proven to be effective against Mosley.
MY PREDICTION & WHY!
Although it’s a difficult bout to call, I will give the slight nod to Mora. Although Mora doesn’t look unbeatable by Mosley, he is the slicker boxer and with his youth, Mosley may not have his usual clear speed advantage. Mosley is also 39-years-old, ten years older than Mora and likely near the end of his hall of fame career. It’s very unlikely that Mosley will land a bigger bout unless he scores a huge knockout and surprises us all. But this is unlikely with a naturally bigger opponent even in Mosley’s prime. In the end a bite from the ‘Latin Snake’ may not be fatal, but it just might pack enough venom to put Shane Mosley down for good.
Jarrad Woods