The Next Fight for Shane Mosley
Sergio Mora (22-1-1, 6 KOs) was scheduled to fight against JC Candelo (30-10-4, 20 KOs) on July 23 in Temecula, California. However, that fight has been called off, but not for the usual reason of an injury picked up by one of the boxers in training for the fight. Instead, the fight has apparently been cancelled because of the fight that Mora has just signed on for in September at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, pitting him against Shane Mosley (46-6, 39 KOs).
Mosley’s camp was concerned about Mora’s upcoming bout against Candelo, a hard-punching veteran who once fought Winky Wright for the IBF junior middleweight title. Mosley’s camp didn’t want to commit to a fight with Mora in case he was upset or was injured during the fight. Mosley wanted a firm commitment and as little chance as possible that he would have to find a replacement opponent at the last minute or square off against a boxer who was “damaged goods” and coming off of a loss.
Mora apparently wanted the fight against Mosley bad enough to work out an arrangement with Candelo to cancel their fight later this month. While cancelling a fight for scheduling reasons so close to a bout is unusual, it’s easy to see why Mora would take the admittedly unusual step and bow out of the fight against Candelo to secure a date with Mosley. Beating Mosley would re-establish him as a legitimate junior middleweight title contender. It would also likely be the biggest payday in the career of the former star of the boxing reality television series “The Contender.”
Mosley had several options for his next opponent, with multiple fighters angling for a shot at him. One of the options was Andre Berto (26-0, 20 KOs), who Mosley was scheduled to fight in January before the bout had to be cancelled because Berto lost several close family members to the earthquake in Haiti. Another possible opponent was Antonio Margarito (38-6, 27 KOs), who Mosley upset in 2009 and recently returned from a one-year suspension from using illegal hand wraps during his fight against Mosley.
Both fighters will enter the contest looking to turn around their careers. Many people speculated that Mosley would retire after losing a one-sided decision to Floyd Mayweather in May. However, the 38-year-old Mosley decided that he still had plenty left in the tank despite the loss and wanted to take one more shot at winning a world title. Meanwhile, Mora is attempting to get back into title contention after dropping his WBC junior middleweight title to Vernon Forrest in September 2008. His first fight back after a layoff of more than 18 months was a seventh-round stoppage of Calvin Green in Las Vegas in April.
Mosley’s choice of Mora as his next opponent is interesting for a variety of reasons. The fight will pit two Southern California natives and will likely be an attractive draw for local fight fans. It’s also potentially a much easier bout for Mosley than a contest against Berto or Margarito would be. While Mora is a popular fighter who shocked Forrest for the junior middleweight crown a few years ago, he’s likely a step below the elite fighters in the division. He’s certainly a lighter puncher than either Berto or Margarito and someone that Mosley doesn’t have to worry about hurting him.
The bout is scheduled for Mexican Independence Day, which should attract Mexican boxing fans who want to root on Mora. The undercard also features Mexican fighters and fighters of Mexican descent, including top prospects Saul Alvarez and Victor Ortiz and former world champion Rafael Marquez.
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