(Photo credit: Lucas Noonan/Premier Boxing Champions) By Dan Ambrose: WBA “regular’ middleweight champion Daniel Jacobs (30-1, 27 KOs) got a cheap win tonight with his opponent 24-year-old Sergio “Latin Snake” Mora (28-4-2, 9 KOs) suffering a freakish leg injury in the 2nd round of his fight at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
The referee Gary Rosato stopped the fight and ruled it a 2nd round knockout despite Mora not having been touched. Rather than give Mora a rematch to clear up the controversy, Jacobs says he’ll be facing former WBO 160lb champion Peter Quillin next in a battle of Brooklyn fighters.
Quillin hasn’t done anything since fighting to a 12 round draw against WBO middleweight champion Andy Lee last April. Quillin has a fight scheduled on September 6th against an opponent still to be determined. If his adviser Al Haymon is going to be giving him a world title shot against Daniel Jacobs, then it’s likely that Quillin won’t be facing anyone good in his next fight. It would be too risky for him, and as we saw in his fight against Andy Lee, he’s anything but invincible.
“No rematch, no reason to go backwards,” said Jacobs after the fight. “Thank God for this victory, but I’m not going to give him a rematch just because. I think these Brooklynites deserve something special and I think me and ‘Kid Chocolate’ would be that special fight here at Barclays, and we’re on the ‘A’ side now, we’re champions, so let’s do it!”
I doubt there are too many boxing fans that are disappointed about the news that Jacobs won’t be fighting Sergio Mora again. Jacobs would have been better off never having fought the 34-year-old Mora in the first place, because there are a lot better fighters in the World Boxing Association’s top 15 than Mora. It would have been a lot more entertaining had Jacobs fought Tureano Johnson, Chris Eubank Jr., Arif Magomedov or Willie Monroe Jr.
All of those guys are ranked in the WBA’s top 15, and I think all of them would have given a better account of themselves than the aging Mora did. Of course, I think that’s the reason why they weren’t picked out to fight Jacobs. They would have had too good of a chance to beat him, and then he’d be back to mere contender status again before getting a nice payday fight like the one he’ll be getting for the Quillin fight if it gets made.
Jacobs showed good punching power tonight in landing some nice right hands on Mora. However, Jacobs’ chin was like glass, and one got the sense that he could be knocked out at any time by the light hitting Mora. It’s not a good sign that Jacobs couldn’t stay on his feet against a non-puncher like Mora.
What it tells you is that Jacobs’ chin hasn’t improved since his stoppage loss to Dmitry Pirog in 2010. Quillin will likely KO Jacobs within six rounds. As soon as Quillin lands something solid, I see Jacobs getting knocked out. Jacobs was even bothered by the punches from Jarrod Fletcher last year, and he’s not a puncher by any means.
“I heard my knee pop and want to see a replay because I know my ankle is broken,” Mora said. “I told you I came here to fight. I give him credit, but I came to take this championship. I want a rematch.”
Mora is going to have to get back in line because there won’t be any do overs. At 34, he’ll likely age out before he can work himself back into position for another world title shot. This loss will likely knock Mora out of the top 15, and he’ll have to work his way back to fringe contender status again.
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