The Shane Mosley vs Sergio Mora Show - Value For Your PPV Dollars?

Joseph R. Holzer takes aim at tonight HBO PPV show.

How do you entice the boxing public to fork over their cash for a pricey pay-per-view?

According to Golden Boy and HBO, you need the following factors:

1. A main event that pits a 39 year old beyond his prime former champion against a rarely active contender.

2. An obviously manufactured nationalistic angle.

3. An undercard chock-full of club-fight main events.

Later tonight, Shane Mosley will step into the ring for the first time since his lopsided May 1 loss (and the worst of his hall-of-fame-caliber career) to Floyd Mayweather Jr. His opponent will be Sergio Mora, best known as the winner of the first season of The Contender and last seen at the top level losing decisively to Vernon Forrest two years ago.

SBN coverage of Shane Mosley v. Sergio Mora (HBO PPV)

With all due respect to both fighters – their most recent appearances against relevant opposition hardly warrant top billing on a $44.95 pay-per-view.

But wait, there’s more. Before you decide Mosley-Mora isn’t worth the cheese, consider how HBO promoted it.

Mosley has 46 wins, 39 by knockout. He has six losses (twice to both Vernon Forrest and Winky Wright, once to Miguel Cotto and Mayweather). What do those four have in common? They aren’t of Mexican descent.

Enter Mora, who is – voila – a Mexican-American.

So HBO does what any reasonably thinking company would do: In the commercials between the bouts of its last PPV, it asked viewers if Mora will be the first Mexican to defeat Mosley.  That's supposed to be the appeal here?  Can Mora be the first fighter of Mexican descent to beat Shane Mosley?

Classy.

With two of the major points to sell a PPV down, it’s on to the third...the undercard.

Rejoice, boxing fans! We will witness 20 year old prospect Saul Alvarez in his staunchest test as he faces the sturdy but ancient and unremarkable Carlos Baldomir (45-12-6).

Alvarez (33-0-1, 25) is highly touted by Golden Boy as a future star, but the biggest name on his resume is Cotto. Jose Miguel Cotto. The bout was on the Mayweather-Mosley undercard. Alvarez had some shaky moments early, but he took Miguel’s undersized brother out by ninth-round TKO. He fought Luciano Cuello two months later and scored another stoppage.

At age 39, the plodding Baldimor is nearly two decades older than Alvarez. He has faced some quality opposition throughout his career but has not had a decent win since toppling Arturo Gatti back in 2006. He’ll give Alvarez rounds, but is this really the type of match-up we want to be paying money for?

And in case there’s any confusion, this is 12-round title fight for the WBC Silver light middleweight strap. Yippee!

In a showdown of the wannabe vicious, Victor Ortiz vies for viability against Vivian Harris in a junior welterweight bout.

We know the tale of Ortiz (27-2-1, 21 KOs), who decided to the disdain of purists to pull his no mas card against Marcos Maidana last June. He’s been busy since, scoring three consecutive victories. His recent domination of Nate Campbell might have shown he still possesses some voracity.

Harris (29-4-1, 19 KOs), on the other hand, has strung together a 1-2 record (with one no-contest - a fight in which he left the ring on a stretcher) in the past year. There was a time when he showed glimpses of brilliance, power in both hands and an ambidextrous style - but those days appear well behind him. His legs have looked shaky recently and for a fighter with a suspect chin, that doesn’t bode well going up against a puncher like Ortiz.

There is hope yet…

What may be the best fight of the night – and certainly is on paper – is the always-exciting Antonio Escalante versus the knockout power of Daniel Ponce de Leon. Leave it to the featherweights to attempt to salvage this wreckage.

Escalante (24-2, 15 KOs) is pure joy to watch. He is certainly the better boxer of the two, and has enough of his own pop to end the bout at any moment. He hasn’t tasted defeat in more than three years, and has his sights set on supremacy in the 126-pound weight class.

The footwork of Ponce de Leon is so atrocious, it’s a good thing he can punch through turnbuckles. He’s 39-2 with 32 knockouts, those losses having come at the fists of Juan Manuel Lopez and Celestino Caballero. Not bad for a guy who looks like he’ll trip over his own feet at any moment.

Each won his match with Cornelius Locke by unanimous decision. For those who are enamored with common opponents, Escalante’s margin was far wider and much more convincing.

This would be a fantastic undercard if it were supporting the long-defunct USA Tuesday Night Fights series.  But as the support for a main-event with marginal appeal?

There you have it. That’s your $44.95 show.

HBO and Golden Boy loves you, boxing fans. This card is proof.

e-mail Joseph R. Holzer