After watching former multi-division champion “Sugar” Shane Mosley (46-6-1, 38KOs), and season one winner of the TV reality series, “The Contender,” Sergio “The Latin Snake” Mora (22-1-2, 6KOs), I like everybody else that bought the HBO PPV or attended in person, was very disappointed in both fighters. More than anything though, I was disappointed in the commentary by HBO, and the scoring by fans and ringside observers in general, that overwhelmingly had Mosley winning decisively.
The fight was bad and fans have every right to be upset after spending their hard-earned dollars to see it. But I do not think it was as bad as it is being made out to be. I think the fact that the fight was on PPV, when it was not PPV worthy, added to that feeling. For the people watching on HBO PPV listening to Jim Lampley and Larry Merchant, that definitely added to the feeling, as the two’s commentary was very biased for Mosley and unprofessional beyond words, acting as if Sergio Mora was not fighting at all and that it was resulting in Mosley’s bad performance.
Look I’m not defending Mora, his performance was mediocre, but Shane Mosley was in that ring too and had many opportunities to punch “The Garden Snake” in the mouth, but had a hard time pulling the trigger at times, and was not very accurate with his punches. If Shane cannot track down and cut off the ring against a fringe contender like Sergio Mora, then maybe the sugar has burned up and Shane is left with nothing but salt. This is boxing, and many pugilist who don’t have enough power to crack a dry leaf, fight exactly the way Mora did on Sept. 18th. Was Mora supposed to change who he was as a fighter and go toe-to-toe with the most dangerous puncher he has ever faced in the early rounds? It is not as if this is an uncommon game plan for guy’s like Mora, Foreman, Spinks Jr., etc., and pro boxers are trained to overcome this obstacle of elusion. So for experts and fans to be in such an uproar directed at Mora is unfair. Even with Mora missing weight coming in at (157lbs),which is embarrassing and un-professional, I think the level of criticism he has faced the last three days is unwarranted.
On that note, both fighters were disappointing and could have done more for their fans, with Sergio Mora being the one who is more to blame in my opinion, though not to the degree of Lampley and Merchant .
After watching the fight a couple times I had it a draw and thought the decision was just, as neither fighter deserved victory, especially Mora who just had to do a little more to secure victory by my estimates, by either being busier in the beginning or by trading toe-to-toe more in the end when he had Mosley gassed. No doubt Mosley won the first half of the fight and Mora won the second half, with Mora winning a couple in the first 6, and Mosley winning a couple in the last 6 to make things even on my card. Though if there were no such thing as a draw, I would have leaned towards Mora because of the way he won his rounds as opposed to the way Mosley won his. In this writers opinion Mosley won the early rounds because of what Mora was not doing as opposed to what Shane was doing. Mora was not willing to engage much in the first six rounds and Shane won the rounds by being busier with his fist and landing more, though he wasn’t landing a whole lot, as his accuracy was a little off, the jab was nowhere to be found, and he was having trouble cutting off the ring. Mora made a huge mistake giving Mosley too much respect in the early rounds and fighting scared.
The rounds that Mora was winning he was winning with clean effective punches. When they would get into exchanges in the second half of the fight, Mora was landing the cleaner punches and more of them, no matter what CompuBox say’s. While they were exchanging in the second half, never did Mora really get into any long exchanges with Mosley, toe-to-toe so to speak, and had he, he would of won the fight. I do not think the tired Mosley would have caught the tough-chinned Mora for the late kayo, and Mora could have done some damage as he was the one getting the better of the exchanges when they did exchange. Mora also simply could have been busier in the beginning, while still being careful, and got an extra round or two early to win the fight. The fight was Mora’s to win and he gave it away.
For Mora to come in 3lbs pounds heavy in the biggest fight of his career and his PPV debut is a joke, and he owes his paying fans better than that. He did not work hard enough leading up to the fight nor in the fight itself, and if you can’t get up for Shane Mosley and PPV, then who can you get up for? While I think the criticism coming Mora’s way is off the charts, Sergio definitely deserves a reasonable amount of backlash and if I were a promoter I would not reward Mora with a big money fight against my pupil until he proves he is worthy, and right now Mora is not worthy of the status that got him the Mosley fight.
Nothing frustrates me more then when a fighter completely abandon’s his fighting style because he is fighting a superstar or fighter with feared power, as if the fighter in question has never fought someone with knockout power. This is exactly what Sergio Mora did. Yes Mora is a defensive-minded boxer who uses a lot of lateral movement, but he is also a fighter who is known to have good whiskers and much bravado, and many times throughout a Sergio Mora fight, Sergio picks spots to trade and go toe-to-toe with his harder hitting foe’s making for great action. This is what
has endeared Mora to the public, the fact that he will slam his fist on his waist and draw a line with his foot on the ring, as if to say, “This is my territory now, let’s do this.” But Sergio never did that this past Saturday. A couple times Mora threw up his hands and mean-mugged Mosley in a show of challenge, but then never followed it up with any punches, like a dog that is all bark, he didn’t bite and that is unlike Mora, he was obviously scared.
Mora needs to learn to use that fear to his advantage rather then disadvantage. I do believe Mora can come back from this with a few good fights if he recaptures the bravado that made him popular in the first place. Though Mosley is in the twilight of his career, Mora showed in the second half of the scrap that he could hang with the legend, even beat him, and that accounts for something.
As for the legendary, classy, kind and always smiling slugger, “Sugar” Shane Mosley. I would say that it has finally come to that time where he needs to think about hanging them up, unless he is willing to become a stepping stone for young fighters like Saul Alvarez and the such, which is fine because Mosley still has what it takes to stop up-and-comers like that. I believe Mosley would be the ultimate test for fighters like that at this point in his career, he would win some and lose some of those stepping-stone fights, and would definitely expose the fakes, sending them to the canvas with his power which we all know is the last thing to go. I would advise him to stop altogether but he has earned the right to fight for as long as he might, and I thank Shane Mosley for all the wonderful memories inside of the squared circle.
As for the Mosley-tandem-cheerleading-squad, Jim Lampley and Larry Merchant, I must say I couldn’t believe what I was hearing coming out of their mouths and was disgusted by their bias and un-professionalism. The fight hadn’t even reached six minutes before Lampley started berating Mora for running and not being willing to fight. Jeez, Mora is in there with the most dangerous opponent he has ever faced, can’t he at least get six minutes to realize there is nothing to be so afraid of. Was Mora supposed to go toe-to-toe with Mosley in the first round or two and get knocked unconscious. The first two rounds of that fight were like the first two rounds of many fights Lampley and Merchant call, so why were they all over Shane’s family jewels from the outset? Weird!
In the third round Lampley states, “If we find something interesting to talk about related to the prizefight taking place in front of you, we will certainly report it.” How about doing your employer, HBO, a service by doing your job and using some positive color-commentary to make the fight as interesting as possible, rather than sitting their like whiney complaining children waiting to be entertained when you should be working!
After Harold Lederman and I agreed that Mora won the 4th round, Lampley said in the 5th, “This is pathetic, this is a pathetic performance in a big opportunity fight for Sergio Mora.” In the 11th Lampley shouted, “Go Shane, keep it up!” Guess you can throw objectivity, professionalism and no-rooting among press-row out the window when dealing with these renegade commentators. “This was not a draw. This decision sucks,” said Lampley after the fight. “The only ones that stunk more than Mora were the judges,” said Merchant in his closing statements. Both Larry and Jim conveyed that they don’t ever care to work a Sergio Mora fight again.
Mora is a professional boxer who was in the ring with the legendary Shane Mosley, and was winning the second half of the fight, yet was belittled all night and shown no respect by the classless talents of HBO’s commentators. The duo saw what they wanted to see, and the fans that were counting on Merchant and Lampley’s so-called expert analysis missed the other half of the tale. Many observers watching via television are easily influenced by the commentators, especially the casual fans. Fans should trust that they can look away from the TV if distracted and still listen to, and get accurate analysis from the commentators. Taking that into consideration, Lampley and Merchant were reckless and irresponsible with their seething-words and Sergio deserved better than that! Does anybody on the HBO staff even question these yahoo’s?
I don’t ever care to see Jim Lampley and Larry Merchant commentate again, but I am a boxing fan!
Everyone deserves their own opinion just like you in this article. Don’t get all pissy with merchant or lampley for expressing theirs. I give them props for having the balls to say it how it is and not sugar coat it like everyone else would. I think that YOU are in the wrong for saying it was unprofessional. THEY ARE ANALYSTS, it is a part of their job
Love it
I agree with Jay, Lampley is good for blow-by-blow commentary. Merchant’s drunk ass can go home and retire. Max Kellerman should be on all the time.
your trying to be cool by showing him where is at and he turns around and be a dic*k about it. that sucks!
I work at a grocery store. About a year ago, larry merchant came into my store(Pavillions in Beverly HIlls) and asked where the cream cheese was. I offered to show him where it was, and very angerly he said”Just tell where it is, I’ll find it myself”I didn’t get to see the tellecast on PPV, because I was at the staples center, but I can tell you one thing. In person, Larry Merchant is a “Jerk”
In a previous post, I believe it was the one about max kellermen I called these two guys assclowns and this is why. Merchant has been talking large amounts of crap for years and he’s been rubbing off on lampley always. The only thing lampley is good for is the play by play, but over time he’s been adding small amounts of crap to his comments. Personally I’m tired of both of them. Lampley dosent know shit and merchant talks too much of it. I say let kellermen take the job.
Mora sucked but Jim Lampley and Larry Merchant sucked even more
I agree, what are you supposed to do when you have a fighter that runs, holds and comes in with the head all the time until the last rounds?
Mosley did what he could and more did not walked in to that ring to fight, he came in to not get KO, a different version of what Clottey did with Pacquiao!
big dog! I left a comment, I think yesterday ,I was there. All mora did was run and hold. It’s hard to fight someone when your chasing them. A true mexican warrior would have stood toe to toe, win or lose, because mexican fighters have more heart than anybody. I’ve been a fight fan for over thiry years, And have personally been to some of the best battles of all time. Mora fought like a chavala(If that’s the correct term)He’s pathetic. Running and holdiing is not fighting. He didn’t even try. He fought like a scared little girl. Alvarez is the one who deserved to make the big bucks, and he’s still a baby(20 years old)I hate to be so nasty, but I tell it how I see it.
I have been an official in the Amatuer Boxing world for over thirty years, and have watched many, many fights that Mr’s Lampley and Merchant sat on and pretended they knew what they were talking about. I and many others have sworn time and again that Merchant is drunk there at ringside. Lampley has made more than a few unprofessional comments. When he likes a fighter, he doesn’t hesitate to cheer him on. The two of them must have had one heck of a contract pro on their side when they signed with HBO. We waited out Howard Cosell, we’ll wait these two out also.
Well I can say HBO’s commentary is great but it seems they have gotten a little ballsier over the last few months. I still have nothing against Lampley or Merchant but it was on the unprofessional side the way they acted that night. As for Mora you are exactly right Esteban he should have worked way harder to be in the best shape of his life for his biggest fight. As for Mosley I say hang em up or fight some of the flat-footed up and comers and pull out the weeds I would just hate to see him knocked-out like Baldomor was. Pretty much that night I lost a little respect for Lampley, Merchant, and Mosley but I still like them as commentators and Mosley as a fighter. Most of all I lost what little respect I had for Mora due to his lack of motivation for this fight.
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