Boxing is used to fights being marred by controversial judging decisions, but it’s an odd day when both fighters can argue that they were deprived of a well-earned victory by the judges’ scorecards. That was the case on Saturday night, with the main event between Sergio Mora and Shane Mosley ending in a draw on scores of 115-113, 112-116 and 114-114. So finely balanced was the fight that both fighters corners had been berated them throughout the fight to improve their performance and the broadcasters couldn’t agree on who had been robbed. In America, HBO loudly bemoaned the judges’ failure to reward Mosley’s greater aggression while overseas Golden Boy’s own broadcast criticized those same judges for failing to recognize Mora’s superior ringmanship.
Those differing reactions from the broadcasters really tell the story of the match. Shane Mosley was indeed the more aggressive, moving forward throughout the fight and always looking to land with a big punch. However, he often looked sluggish and clumsy with Mora often making him miss. Yet again his all-round game lacked its usual class, with both his footwork and shot selection lacking the finesse to overcome Mora’s negative tactics. He seemed overly reliant on aggression and power, moving forward in straight lines and aimlessly throwing.
If Mosley could be accused of lacking sophistication in his approach to the contest then Mora can certainly be accused of lacking the courage needed to prevail in a fight. From the opening round he was relentlessly negative, content to box off the back foot and throwing far less than Mosley. That said his footwork was the superior of the two, with Mora doing a fine job in avoiding taking any real damage in the first two thirds of the fight. For much of the fight his lateral movement stopped Mosley cutting the ring off and forcing him inside. He also denied Mosley the time and angles to work the jab with his usual effectiveness.
Mora was fighting the fight he wanted to fight, imposing his negativity on Mosley and winning close rounds in part by making his opponent look slow and imprecise. Only when Mora tired in the final few rounds was Mosley able to drag him into a slugfest and put his opponent under sustained pressure, with Mosley getting the better of the exchanges on the inside and connecting with several good punches.
In many ways the recent fight that Mora vs. Mosley most closely resembles is David Haye’s title winning effort against Nikolai Valeuv. Haye outpointed the giant Russian by working on the outside, using his footwork to make the then champion look foolish. However it was Valeuv on the front foot, and throwing the greater number of punches. Like Saturday night, it was one of those odd situations where the person who won the ‘fight’ didn’t necessarily demonstrate the better boxing skills, with different media outlets giving both fighters comfortable victories on their scorecards.
And such rare occasions are so controversial because it goes down to the very heart of the meaning of a boxing match; is it primarily a fight where heart and aggression should be celebrated or a sporting contest based on technique and intelligence?
Those who gave the fight to Mosley did so because they put the emphasis on aggression, rewarding him for pushing the action and focusing on trying to inflict damage on his opponent. Those that gave the fight to Mora did so because they valued his superior technique, particularly his ability to freely move around the ring and avoid taking damage. Given the deliberate vagueness in boxing rules about which side of the aggression vs. technique argument is correct, its probably true that in rare situations like this a draw is the fair (if unpopular) result.
