I saw the Mosley/Mora PPV card on Saturday night, and thought I’d offer up a quick recap. I felt I got my money’s worth, as a strong undercard made up for an awkward main event.
All three undercard fights look to have been put together so as to present a Golden Boy Promotions fighter in the best light possible, but they were still entertaining. I’d even say that one of the three made the case that GBP wanted to make. Some notes on each televised bout follow.
Ponce de Leon vs. Escalante
There was plenty of action before Ponce de Leon’s 3rd round TKO win. I wouldn’t like either guy’s chances against a sharp counterpuncher, however; to my eye their punches looked slow, sloppy, and looping.
Ortiz vs. Harris
During the introductions, I thought that neither Ortiz nor Harris looked like they wanted to be there. I guess Harris really didn’t want to be there. After getting knocked down four times, he should probably take up another occupation. As for Ortiz — well, he did win by 3rd round TKO, but Harris looked too shaky for the win to make much of an impression.
Alvarez vs. Baldomir
I realize that Alvarez is GBP’s big prospect, that Oscar sees that mountain of cash from “The Dark Knight” every time he looks at Canelo, and that he’s being carefully matched against guys that (a.) he’s supposed to beat and (b.) will make him look good, but what can I say: it’s working. I want to see more from the “Irish Mexican”.
I thought Alvarez got stronger as the fight went on; I gave the first round to Baldomir, and the other five to Alvarez. What impressed me the most was not the KO, but that Alvarez seemed to employ a completely different approach to what I remember from the J. M. Cotto fight. That sort of adaptability portends great things.
Mosley vs. Mora
Hoo boy. First of all, I had Mosley winning this one by a wide 118-111 margin, but I don’t think that the decision was an outrageous robbery. This was a tough fight to score, with many rounds in which little happened, featuring a sometimes unpersuasive aggressor against a “counterpuncher” who often neglected to punch.
I saw Mora land two great shots, in the 4th and the 6th, and gave him both rounds. I saw the 2nd round even. I thought Mosley won 5 rounds, but the 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 12th I awarded to Mosley simply because he was making the fight, and Mora didn’t seem to be able to stop him from doing so.
In my view, a counterpuncher has a more difficult case to make: if he’s going to fight backing up, he has to stop the other guy from coming forward, at least some of the time, if he wants to demonstrate that his punching is “effective”. If you apply some other standard, maybe you award those 4 rounds to Mora, and he wins 114-115. It’s not how I saw it, but it’s not unreasonable.
The Future
Mosley did not look good. Mora is the type of fighter who’s always given him problems — e.g., Forrest, Wright — but he’s nowhere near as good as those two. Given this performance, it looks like time has definitively caught up with Shane Mosley. He seems determined to fight on, so I hope he matches carefully, doesn’t get hurt, and doesn’t get embarrassed. He’s had a great career, and an ATG run at Lightweight, whatever else happens.
As for Mora: he’s Bernard Hopkins without the skill or charm. He’s got to make a living in a tough sport, so good luck to him, but I’m not a fan.
