Daniel Jacobs vs. Sergio Mora rematch tonight

By Boxing News - 09/08/2016 - Comments

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By Dan Ambrose: For boxing fans interested in seeing WBA World middleweight champion Daniel Jacobs (31-1, 28 KOs) fight Sergio Mora (28-4-2, 9 KOs) again, the two of them will be fighting it out in a rematch tonight on Premier Boxing Champions on Spike from the Santander Arena, in Reading, Pennsylvania.

It’s not a fight that has really electrified the sport, and you have to wonder whether their Jacobs’ management understands what the fight fans want to see. This is not a fight that the boxing fans want to see again, but hopefully it’s the last time they face each other because it’s time for both of them to move onto whatever their fates are.

Mora lost to Jacobs by a 2nd round knockout last year after his ankle gave out on him following a knockdown. Mora, 35, believes that he was doing well up until the knockdown/injury. In looking at the video of that fight, Mora appeared to be getting pummeled by Jacobs. It looked like it was only a matter of time before Jacobs knocked him out.

The injury probably was the best thing that could have ever happened to Mora, because it saved him from perhaps a clinical knockout and it enabled him to get a second fight against Jacobs. By saying that the fight outcome would have been a different one if not the injury, Mora was able to get a rematch. The two of them can fight each other as much as they want, but it looks bad when you get a champion tied down to fighting guys that he already stopped. Jacobs should have moved on rather than given Mora a rematch that he didn’t rate.

“There’s a lot of animosity between us,” said Mora to Abraham’s boxing. “I think he came in a little overconfident in the first fight thinking that his power was going to overwhelm. When I was able to put him down, he realized I was able to stick it to him. It was a shaky first round. The second round was going my way. I was out-boxing him. He claims he has boxing skills, but whether he can do that for 12 rounds is unknown. He’s only done it one time. I’ve done it the majority of my fights. Name one good fighter he’s been in with other than myself with the better resume. He may have the strap, but who did he win that title from? I had to fight a four-time world champion to become a champion. I’m a distance fighter. He’s only gone the distance once. The longer the fight goes the more I’m going to put rounds in the bank. He’s going to tire out. Power punchers don’t like to go the distance. They like to get their fighters out of there. They tire quicker. He missed a lot in the first fight. If you keep chugging away, you’re going to get the opportunities, but you also have to have the talent to go along with it, and I have the talent to go along with it. You know how sweet it would be to be a two division world champion.”

It’s really doubt that Mora will be able to go the full 12 rounds tonight against Jacobs. He doesn’t have the punching power, and he’s not going to be able to elude his shots for 12 rounds without getting caught and knocked out. Jacobs wants to take care of business and get Mora out of there, and I believe he’s going to do just that within two or three rounds.

YouTube video

Mora had his brief time as the WBA junior middleweight champion eight years ago in 2008 after beating Vernon Forrest. He lost the rematch against him, and has done very little with his career since then in beating mostly lower level opposition.

This is Jacobs’ last chance for an easy fight before he has to face the winner of this Saturday’s match between Gennady Golovkin and Kell Brook. The World Boxing Association president Gilberto Mendoza is going to be ordering that the winner of the Golovkin-Brook fight face the winner of the Jacobs-Mora fight. It’s likely we’re going to see Golovkin vs. Jacobs in December unless we see an upset in one or both of the fights.