Mora vs. Ruvalcaba On Friday

Light-hitting undefeated middleweight contender Sergio Mora (19-0-1, 4 KOs) goes up against the soft-chinned and very ring rusty Rito Ruvalcaba (32-8, 28 KOs) on Friday night at the Morongo Casino Resort & Spa, in Cabazon, California. Mora, 27, will be making his first appearance since fighting to a disappointing 10-round draw with Elvin Ayala on October 16th, though Mora should consider himself very fortunate to escape without a defeat, as he looked to have lost the fight according to my scorecards of the fight.

At one time, Mora, a former star from ‘The Contender’ reality television program, was considered a potential future middleweight champion. However, Mora backed out of a proposed big money bout with Jermain Taylor in 2007, and then another potential bout with Kassim Ouma failed to happen, leaving some boxing fans with the impression that Mora lacked the confidence enough to be a top fighter. Mora hasn’t helped himself by fighting only twice a year, less than what he should be fighting if he were seriously engaged with his career. The recent draw with Ayala, a decent but not great fighter, was even worse news for the 27 year-old Mora.

Though Mora will likely easily handle Ruvalcaba this Friday night, a win against a fighter of his class probably won’t erase the doubt that has crept into the minds of many of the boxing fans about Mora’s future as a middleweight contender. If he wants to change people’s minds about him, he’s going to have to get really busy, fight often and look impressive against the opposition he’s facing. More than that, Mora needs to fight better fighters, as he’s 27 now, yet he’s still not faced a legitimate top ten contender in the middleweight division.

While he’s ranked #11 in the World Boxing Council, I don’t see him at that level, as Randy Griffin, a fine middleweight, ranked #12, should be ranked above him. For his part, Ruvalcaba, 33, has been in the ring with some talented middleweights - Freeman Barr, William Joppy and Jose Luis Zertuche -but unfortunately, he’s lost to all of them. In his most recent bout, which took place four years ago, Ruvalcaba was stopped in the first round by Zertuche on September 4, 2004.

As you can see, Mora is going very soft in this bout by taking on a fighter that’s been out of the ring for as long as Ruvalcaba, another reason why it’s hard to see Mora as a serious contender in the middleweight division. I suppose if Mora continues at this rate, perhaps 5-10 years he may be ready for a title shot, but I’m doubting it.