By Allan Fox: WBA World middleweight champion Daniel Jacobs vs. Sergio Mora II rematch will be taking place next month on Friday, September 9 in a rematch on Premier Boxing Champions on Spike from the Santander Arena in Reading, Pa. To say that this rematch is needless is putting it lightly. Jacobs (31-1, 28 KOs) already stopped Mora (28-4-2, 9 KOs) in two rounds last year in August 2015 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Yes, Mora suffered a broken right ankle in the 2nd round that caused the fight to be halted, but he went down from a right hand to the head. It wasn’t a slip. Mora dropped to the canvas after getting hit with a chopping right hand from Jacobs.
Even if Mora’s ankle didn’t fold up on him, he would have been smashed immediately by Jacobs and finished off. About the only reasons you can argue for a rematch between Jacobs and Mora is the 1st round knockdown the 35-year-old Mora scored. However, that was only good thing that Mora did in the fight. Other than that, he was out of his league and not doing well.
This fight has mismatch written all over it. Mora is just an old guy at this point in his career without much pop in his punches. Eight years ago, Mora had a little fame after beating an out of shape Vernon Forrest by a 12 round decision to win the WBA junior middleweight title. Forrest beat Mora in a rematch three months later to recapture his WBA title. Mora has done pretty much zero since then career-wise. He beat a few obscure fighters, got beat twice by journeyman Brian Vera, and then put together a five-fight winning streak until getting blown out of the water by Jacobs last year. Now Mora is getting another crack at a world title. I can’t say he deserves the title shot, unless you consider getting knocked out in the 2nd round by Jacobs as an accomplishment.
Hopefully, this will be the last time that Mora and Jacobs fight each other, because the two need to move in a big way. Jacobs especially should be facing better opposition than Mora at this time. With the way Jacobs is talking about wanting to fight unbeaten IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin in the fall of 2017, it makes no sense for him to be fighting 2nd tier fighters like Mora, who isn’t ranked in the top 15.
That brings another question about the Jacobs vs. Mora II fight. How is Mora allowed to fight for the World Boxing Association middleweight title when he’s not even ranked in the top 15 by any of the sanctioning bodies? Doesn’t he need to have a top 15 ranking? I’m surprised the WBA is even sanctioning this fight, because if champions are allowed to fight 2nd tier fighters, it lets them hold onto their titles a lot longer than they otherwise would if the sanctioning bodies forced them to fight top ranked contenders each time.
Mora hasn’t fought since he lost to Jacobs last year It’s been exactly 12 months since Mora last fought. It’s too bad that Mora didn’t get back into the ring sooner to show that he rates another crack at a world title, because you hate to see guys sitting outside of the ring for an entire year and then getting an immediate title shot when they come back. In sense of fairness to the top contenders that have been working hard for a title shot, it doesn’t look good to see them passed over in favor of an inactive guy getting a shot.
“There has been a lot of back and forth as far as people’s opinions as to who would have won the fight had he not gotten hurt. I am looking at this as an opportunity to clarify that I am the real champion. I want to shut his trap in primetime,” said Jacobs.
Jacobs vs. Mora II will be the headliner on the September 9 card. Also on the card will be unbeaten lightweights Robert Easter Jr. and Richard Commey facing each other. I think that’s a far better fight than the Jacobs-Mora II rematch. At least with the Easter Jr. vs. Commey fight, we don’t know who’s going to win. Also on the card will be heavyweight journeyman Travis Kauffman.
The Jacobs vs. Mora II fight will start at 9:00 p.m. ET on September 9 on Premier Boxing Champions on Spike.