Shane Mosley and Sergio Mora "battled" to a draw, Saul Alvarez knocked out the durable and rugged Carlos Baldomir, Victor Oriz proved to be too vicious for Vivian Harris, and Daniel Ponce De Leon continued his rise back to the top with an impressive knockout of Antonio Escalante. If you missed all the action at the Staple Center on Saturday night, check out FightHype's Rapid Recap to see what you missed.
Shane Mosley D12 Sergio Mora
How I Called It: 115-113 Mosley
Shane Mosley was hoping that he could put his dominating loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr last Spring behind him and prove that inactivity was the only thing holding the three division champion back. Sergio Mora was supposed to be the fighter that was going to be his pedestal back into the big picture, but a disappointing draw coupled with an awful fight may signal the end for Mosley.
While Mosley was the more judicious puncher, he was gassed early and clearly didn't show the speed or power he had in last year's career-defining victory over Antonio Margarito. Mora was faster and bigger than Mosley, but you can't win a fight when you've only landed less than 20% of your punches. The fight was ugly from beginning to end as a tired Mosley tried to slow Mora down. A troubling highlight was in round five when Mora was taunting the slow, ineffective Mosley.
Mosley was able to garner a draw thanks in part to winning the last three rounds by going for broke, but after such a bad performance, it's hard to say where he goes from here. Don't be surprised if the retirement talk intensifies. It's been a long road for Mosley, but if he keeps going on, he might want to change his nickname to "Molasses" after this performance.
Saul Alvarez KO7 Carlos Baldomir
Even though Baldomir hasn't done anything since he unexpectedly won the Welterweight title in 2006, I didn't think he'd be stopped. Alvarez proved me wrong by wrecking the former Cinderella man and establishing himself as a legit force at either 147 or 154. While the fight wasn't tremendously exciting, like the rest of the fights on this awful card, the ending with Alvarez pounding the hell out of Baldomir was stunning.
Alvarez would like to move back down to 147, but seeing there's nobody there to fight, 154 might be a better choice. Fights with Alfredo Angulo, Kermit Cintron or even Andre Berto sounds phenomenal, but Alvarez has hoped to get matched up with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Realistically speaking, expect Alvarez to maybe be matched up with Mosley as a resume booster.
Victor Ortiz KO3 Vivian Harris
No shocker here. Ortiz looked menacing against a shot and chinless ex-champ.
Daniel Ponce De Leon KO5 Antonio Escalante
An impressive victory for De Leon, who has been on the comeback trail since being stopped in one round by Juan Manuel Lopez.