Former world champion Sergio “The Latin Snake” Mora (28-3-2, 9 KOs) will look to upset WBA middleweight champion of the world Daniel “The Miracle Man” Jacobs ( 29-1, 26KOs) this Saturday. The main event bout will take place in Jacob’s native Brooklyn, New York at the Barclays Center. It will be another edition of Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) series and will be aired on ESPN. A victory would make Mora a two-division world champion having already been a world champion at junior middleweight.
Mora became more of a mainstream name when he won the first season of the reality TV show “The Contender” in May 2005. Mora also erased any doubt that he was indeed not just a real contender but also championship material. He would defeat the now late Vernon Forest to win the WBC 154 pound world title in 2008. Mora became the first fighter from the reality TV show to win a world title.
Mora’s career did not take off after becoming a world champion. This was largely because he was dethroned by Forest just a few months later in their rematch. He has had ups and downs to his career since only beating B level competition at best. He did manage a draw with future hall of famer Shane Mosley but the bout was marred by so many clinches and holding that it is understandably forgotten by many who actually saw the fight.
Mora stylistically could give Jacobs some trouble as he is not always the easiest to hit. Mora does not have a heavy handed knockout punch but he is fairly strong on the inside. Jacobs has a high knockout percentage but against more durable opposition the power has not come in the one punch variety. It has been more of a grind it out wear you down type. This is a major opportunity for Mora. The window of opportunity seems more now for Mora at 34 than later. We shall see on Saturday if this is indeed true.
