By Jim Dower: Recently defeated Shane Mosley (46-6, 39 KO’s) will be making his ring return on September 18th against former World Boxing Council light middleweight champion Sergio Mora (22-1-1, 6 KO’s), according to Dan Rafael of ESPN. The fight will be taking place at the Staples Center, in Los Angeles, California. Exciting unbeaten Saul Alvarez will also be fighting on the same card against a still to be determined opponent. It’s curious that the 38-year-old Mosley has selected Mora to fight, because Mosley hasn’t always looked good when facing bigger light middleweight fighters.

Although Mosley did previously hold down the WBC light middleweight title in the past, he had problems against Winky Wright, losing to him twice and struggled badly until stopping Ricardo Mayorga in the 12th round in September 2008. In facing the 6’0”Mora, Mosley will be giving up three inches in height to him. That may not seem like a lot, but it could be a problem for Mosley.

Mora isn’t a stationary fighter like the kinds that Mosley typically does well against. Mora likes to hit and run, and make his opponents look bad by making them miss. Mosley, who will be 39 by the time he steps in the ring with Mora, could end up regretting that he chose a fighter like Mora to fight instead of someone smaller like him and more of slugger.

Mosley was dominated by Floyd Mayweather Jr. in May, losing almost every round of the fight except for the 2nd. It wasn’t at all a good performance by Mosley and it calls into question whether Mosley still has it. He looked exhausted by the 3rd round, and it was all he could do to throw a half dozen punches per round. Overall, Mosley just looked tired and old against Mayweather. If I was to choose the worst possible opponent for Mosley to fight in his first fight coming off the Mayweather loss, I would pick Mora.

He is a very difficult fighter to beat because of his movement and slick style. Mosley has made mistakes in the past when choosing opponents, and this could very well be another mistake on his part. At the very least, it’s not an exciting fighter that will bring a lot of attention for Mosley. Coming off a loss, Mosley would be perhaps better off taking on someone like Andre Berto, Mike Jones, Joshua Clottey, or even a top light welterweight like Timothy Bradley or Devon Alexander.

Picking Mora is could be the equivalent of Mosley facing a track star. If Mosley wasn’t about to turn 39, I would feel a little better about it, but not much. Mora is a tough fighter to face at point of one’s career because of his movement. By taking on Mora, Mosley could be positioning himself to get a big money fight against WBA light middleweight champion Miguel Cotto or maybe even Manny Pacquiao, if he destroys Cotto again in a rematch. I seriously doubt Cotto will want to fight Mosley again, but you never know.