Around the Net: Shane Mosley vs Sergio Mora Post-Fight Edition

It was an event that came under fire from the moment it was signed, and neither Shane Mosley or Sergio Mora was able to muster a performance capable of silencing the critics.

Though Mosley came forward throughout the fight, he found it difficult to land cleanly with an attack that rarely lacked the precision of his early days.  His single shots were easily slipped by Mora, who did his best to stay out of range while tying Mosley up on the inside.  Mora eventually started letting his hands go and looked quite lively at times late in the bout, though his early inactivity cost him a chance at pulling the upset over his veteran opponent.

Along with the slow paced action between the ropes, the decision of the judges also came under fire with harsh words from the HBO crew for the draw verdict.  Harold Lederman had the bout easily in favor of Mosley, a view echoed by commentators Jim Lampley and Larry Merchant.  Conversely, the International Broadcast scored the bout comfortably in Mora's favor, with Doug Fischer's wide card in direct contrast to Lederman's tally.

It was that sort of fight.  A less than thrilling affair that was tough to gauge and did no favors to the reputation of either man.

Let's take a look at some more opinions on the junior-middleweight clash from around the net...

Bad Left Hook - Shane Mosley and Sergio Mora go to a controversial draw in snoozer

A draw. A draw, in a terrible fight. A terrible fight that had the Los Angeles crowd booing through most of the first eight rounds of alleged action. Mora (22-1-2, 6 KO) came in to stink out the joint and try to win an ugly decision, and he accomplished the first part. And 39-year-old Mosley (46-6-1, 39 KO) was so gassed out by the ninth round that everything he threw was without steam.

The California officials were roundly criticized by the HBO team, and in pretty much all ways, California's boxing commission and their officials do deserve the majority of the criticism they get. But as much as I felt Mosley "won" this fight, I'm just not able to conjure up any great outrage, because I'm seeing too much past the actual outcome of this fight, or what I think it should have been, or what anyone thinks it should have been.

The Queensbury Rules - Against Shane Mosley, Sergio Mora Becomes The First Fighter To Get A Draw In A Bout Where He Didn't Fight

I scored the bout 10 rounds to two for Mosley, giving Mora the 10th and 11th, when he came alive and finally began really throwing punches at a tiring Mosley, who was taking very deep breaths in the 9th. I wrote down the 4th and 7th as close. I have a hard time imagining how anyone could score it for Mora, as one judge did, let alone a draw, as another judge did. The other had it a more reasonable 116-112 for Mosley.

From what I've heard about press row scoring and from the way people were talking on Twitter, some did see this as a legitimately close bout. I'll answer them. I'm not the kind of person who believes in scoring activity or aggression if it's not effective. Mosley was active, and aggressive, but rarely effective. But what did Mora do that was effective at all for most of the fight? There were rounds where he'd land one right hand that was eye-catching, and then do nothing else but circle and hug. With Mosley fighting even a little -- and, yes, landing occasionally, as the bigger punch connect numbers would suggest -- I can't see why anyone would give rounds to the ineffective, not-fighting guy over the ineffective, fighting guy.

The Sweet Sciene - Mora-Mosley Split Draw, Canelo KOs Baldomir

Few punches were landed by Mora or Mosley who couldn’t find the range against each other’s herky jerky movements. In the last three rounds both landed sizzling uppercuts and counter left hooks but never enough to separate a winner according to the judges. The scores were Kermit Bayless 115-113 for Mora, David Denkin 116-112 for Mosley and Lou Moret 114-114 for a draw.

"We both fought hard it was a good fight," said Mosley (46-6-1, 39 KOs) who felt a draw was accurate. "I couldn’t get my shots off."

Mora felt he was winning despite his corner’s advice that the fight was very close.

"I should have listened to my corner," said Mora (22-1-2, 6 KOs), who suffered a cut from a head butt in the fourth round. "He threw really good punches. I thought I was winning."

Long Beach Press-Telegram - Mosley, Mora settle nothing with dull draw

But neither Mosley nor Sergio Mora did much to make the 13,591 fans happy as they sloppily fought their way through 12 very long rounds in the junior middleweight main event.

From Mora's mostly retreating style, to the clinching to the periods where the fighters threw but did not land cleanly, this was anything but a thriller. There were far more boos than cheers, even though the last few rounds were better than the first eight or nine.

ESPN - Shane Mosley, Sergio Mora and fans all lose

Nobody won. Not Shane Mosley, not Sergio Mora and certainly not the fans, who suffered through their awful junior middleweight fight, which was declared a split draw on Saturday night at Staples Center.

The 13,591 fight fans at Golden Boy Promotions' Mexican bicentennial celebration card booed throughout the fight, except during brief bursts of action in the late rounds. Many rounds were close, because there was not nearly enough happening to satisfy the crowd, which cheered throughout the knockout-filled undercard.

When Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer joked about a rematch immediately after the fight, none of the ringside reporters laughed.

Los Angeles Times - Shane Mosley and Sergio Mora fight to a draw Dull bout offers little more than lots of holding and hugging.

Shane Mosley and Sergio Mora staged a dull bout Saturday packed with holding, hugging and inside fighting where it appeared there were more missed punches than those landed.

The deserved winner was neither.

ESPN - Shane Mosley and Sergio Mora bout at Staples Center draws some fire

During the post-fight news conference that took place on the Staples Center floor, some fans again began to chant the name "Canelo." Mosley smiled.

"There's a lot of big fights out there for me," Mosley said. "Canelo is a great up-and-coming fighter. I'm looking at Pacquiao and [Miguel] Cotto right now. Maybe Canelo can be later in the future."

We can only hope not.