Shane Mosley – Sergio Mora PPV: Is Oscar De La Hoya Serious?
By Geno McGahee
The Golden Boy has put it together again. On September 18th, we have another pay per view with a very questionable main event. A light middleweight showdown between Shane Mosley, 46-6, 39 KO’s, and Contender Season 1 winner, Sergio Mora, 22-1-1, 6 KO’s, is slated as the main event and this will probably be billed as another “we’re losing money” pay per screws that Oscar De La Hoya and his group are promoting.
Mosley was a huge pay per view attraction in his prime and remained so for sometime after his best days were behind him. He fights hard and trains hard, but he is 38 years old and looked every bit of it and more in his loss to Floyd Mayweather, JR. Mosley has been in countless wars but looked old when he took on Oscar De La Hoya in a rematch in 2003. He looked terrible against Fernando Vargas in 2006, and looked worse against Ricardo Mayorga in 2008. Even at his advanced age, he remained at the top of the sport, which tells you just how talented he is, but now his fighting career seems to be more of a money deal then anything else.
On January 24th, 2009, we all saw Mosley beat and batter Antonio Margarito around the ring, leaving him in a mangled heap in the ninth round. This was the guy that easily stopped Kermit Cintron and made Miguel Cotto quit…he was also the guy that loaded his hand wraps with Plaster of Paris, and was caught the night he fought Mosley. Without the bricks in his gloves, he was proven to be a mediocrity and Mosley exposed him, but it also made some think that Sugar Shane had found the fountain of youth and some gave him one heck of chance to beat Mayweather, JR.
On May 1st, 2010, Mosley was exposed as an old man in a young man’s game, losing badly to Mayweather, JR., and barely surviving the distance. He couldn’t pull the trigger and was lucky that Money Mayweather didn’t go for the kill. He could have stopped him had he stepped on the gas. When the fight was over and Floyd reigned supreme by scores of 119-109 (twice) and 118-110, I, like many others, felt that the PPV headliner was dead and should Mosley continue his career, it would be featured on HBO or for free somewhere else. Perhaps the right fight may put him back onto PPV one last time, but this is certainly not that fight.
Sergio “The Latin Snake” Mora made a name for himself on the first season of the boxing reality show “The Contender.” The show gave him an outlet to show his personality and his talent inside the ring led him to victory on the show. Mora like Peter Manfredo, JR., Alfonso Gomez, and Ishe Smith benefited greatly from their appearances on the first season of the show, but Mora is the only one out of the group to actually go on to win a title.
On June 7th, 2008, Mora would lift the WBC Light Middleweight Title from a heavily favored Vernon Forrest. Mora used his speed, awkward fighting style, and heart to overcome the long odds against him. He would not be able to repeat the feat, losing badly to Forrest in the rematch three months later. Since then, he has picked up one victory over Calvin Green, leading to this opportunity.
Mora has missed many opportunities, including shots at the middleweight title when Jermain Taylor held onto it and after that, a shot at Kelly Pavlik. Both fights were rumored to be in negotiations, only to collapse for one reason or another. Mora has waited a long time for this sort of high profile fight, but to headline a pay per view seems a bit much.
This fight will be one of two things. Most likely, Mosley will win a decision, similar to his fight with Luis Collazo, where his skill superiority even at an advanced age, made all the difference and was too much to overcome. Mora is not the fighter that Collazo is, but Mosley isn’t what he was then, so I anticipate a UD for Mosley.
The other possibility is that Mosley has fallen so far over the deep end that he cannot find the mark and gets outworked by the younger and sharper Mora. Either way, the fight doesn’t mean a great deal to anyone outside of Mora and the pockets of Mosley and Golden Boy Promotions.
The last pay per view that Golden Boy promoted came with the ridiculous announcement that they were “losing money” on the event. They were giving the fans a treat. It’s creative marketing, granted, and some dupes fell for it hook, line, and sinker, but in reality, the Juan Diaz – Juan Manuel Marquez II PPV was mediocre at best and the main event of the evening had no drama going in and presented no drama during and after. It was a money-maker, period. Golden Boy did the fans no favor.
The undercard of Mosley-Mora features Victor Ortiz taking on former Light Welterweight Champion, Vivian Harris. This is a crossroads fight, but Harris has only won one of his last four fights. He has lost two by knockout recently and Ortiz is a prime fighter with a big punch. Harris appears to be washed up. On paper, it may look good, but don’t expect much from Harris.
In the end, this pay per view will live or die with you, the boxing fans. A message must be sent to GBP that you will not be tricked into renting something with the claims that they are losing money or doing you a favor. This pay per view is garbage and not worth the price tag. Rent it at your own risk people.