Sergio Mora vs. Alfredo Angulo

This has quietly sneaked its way onto the Hurd vs. Lara undercard this coming Saturday, and there hasn't been a single thread made on it. Frankly this is gob-smacking fight, to me. A decade ago when both were at the zenith of their respective hype parabolas, it would have been a headliner on HBO and yielded arguably "the man" at 154lb (depending on timing; if wedged between Viper I and II for certain), knocking on the door of p4p top 15. Now, at super middleweight, it serves as just a bizarre sideshow act swept under the rug and 4th-billed (I'm not even sure it will be televised on the main card on Showtime, instead of relegated to a ShoX or internet stream undercard) over a scheduled eight rounds.

Neither has fought since late summer of 2016 (El Perro losing to Freddy "El Riel" Hernández on August 27th, and The Latin Snake losing the Danny Jacobs rematch barely two weeks later on September 9th) and neither has won a match since 2015. Angulo is 2-2 at super middle, with stoppage victories over journeymen Héctor Muñoz and Delray Raines and unanimous decision losses to Hernández and James de la Rosa. Mora has weighed more than 160lbs on about half a dozen occasions, mostly victories over journeymen (the most notable being Dashon Johnson) as well as his first loss to Bryan Vera.

They couldn't possibly be any more different in their styles. I'm laughing hysterically just typing out that understatement. This is beyond just a boxer vs. puncher match-up; this is a guy that embodies, impeccably, and to a fault, comically, all the virtues and foibles of a "boxer" vs. a guy that embodies, impeccably, and to a fault, comically, all the virtues and foibles of a "puncher".

Mora lays claim to perhaps the better recent form, giving Jacobs a hard time in at least their first encounter and punching his ticket into that opportunity by taking a split decision over prospect/contender Abie Han in late 2015. Even his upset of Grzegorz Proksa in 2013 stands as more significant than anything done by Angulo in six years, if not longer (depending on whether you rate a UD over Jorge Silva higher than Proksa; if not you have to reach all the way back to when Angulo was beating the likes of Alcine or Julio). That said, Mora in his prime relied heavily on two key attributes: his sturdy chin and his slippery awkwardness. These would seem to have some extent abandoned him of late, as Mora has been put on the deck nine times in his last four outings (seven at the hands of Jacobs, once each by Abie Han and Dashon Johnson) - and they say power is the last to go, while Angulo was blessed with plenty of it.

This is a weird fight. I'm weirdly excited for it.

 

Yeah but if he can force a free-for-all early on he could plunk Mora down. Angulo has always been dangerous early, and if Mora (ever a slow-starter and losing a bit of his mobility and punch resistance) isn't careful it could be over before he knows what's happening. That said, Angulo's gas tank is awful, so if Mora is able to avoid bombs and just spoil for a few rounds, clinch and wrestle, he can tire out Angulo enough to probably stop him in the mid-late rounds (and the indignity of getting knocked out by a relative feather-fist like Mora would/should be the wake-up call for Angulo to just retire)

 

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Daaaaaamn.

 

Odds:
Mora -535
Angulo +385