16.06.08 – by James Slater: The proposed fight between “Sugar” Shane Mosley and Sergio Mora will not be happening. Vernon Forrest, a shock points loser to Sergio Mora on June the 7th, had a rematch clause going into the bout and he has made it quite clear he is going to use it. Threatening court action if Mora doesn’t grant him a return fight, Forrest will be getting his rematch soon..
However, to further complicate matters, Sergio Martinez is Mora’s mandatory challenger and he too is demanding a fight with the new WBC light-middleweight champion. It is not clear who Mora will fight next – either Forrest or Martinez – but it certainly won’t be Mosley. This has all been reported by Dan Rafael on ESPN. Negotiations for a Mosley-Mora fight collapsed on Friday. It now seems Mosley will face Nicaraguan tough guy, Ricardo Mayorga.
“This is what it looks like we will do,” Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy told ESPN. “I am working on it with [Mayorga’s promoter] Don King.”
This will now be Mosley’s third schedule opponent for his next bout – with fights against Zab Judah and now Mora falling apart for one reason or another. Still, a fight between the 36-year-old “Sugar” and the dangerously unpredictable Mayorga could well result in a lively affair. It is not clear whether the new fight will still go ahead on October 11th, but it seems likely it will. The bout will definitely take place at 154 pounds. The Mosley camp are, all things considered, happy that it will be Mayoraga next.
“This is a fight that we tried to make instead of Judah,” Jin Mosley told ESPN. “Things happen for a reason. Don King is a legend and we always wanted an opportunity to work with him. Mayorga is one of my favourite fighters to watch, so it will be a great match-up and will be an exciting night. We are hoping that this will be Shane’s next fight.”
Mosley-Mayorga is intriguing, without a doubt – maybe even more so than Mosley-Mora. However, Mora’s people are not happy the fight with Mosley has fallen through.
“I think it’s silly, with all due respect to Vernon, that we would have an immediate rematch,” Contender promoter Jeff Wald told ESPN. “Why do it immediately? I think a fight with Vernon is not a compelling fight right now after the way the first fight [with Mora] went. If Sergio beat Mosley, it would be even more compelling because Vernon beat Shane twice. I would like to make it [a Mora-Forrest II] a bigger event than it would be right now.”
It seems Vernon Forrest’s rematch clause has had the final word with regards to a proposed Mosley-Mora fight!