Danny Jacobs and Sergio Mora have a difference of opinion on what led to their first fight being stopped in the second round at Barclays Center on Aug. 1, 2015.
Jacobs contends it was a punch that caused Mora to fold on top of his right ankle, causing an injury severe enough that he couldn’t continue. Mora claims it was a push and certainly not a punch.
“It wasn’t a punch to knock me down,” Mora said this week. “It was all my ankle. And if it was a punch, why didn’t I stay down? I was up at the count of two or three on one foot. So it definitely wasn’t a punch.”
Jacobs begs to differ.
“It was a punch that put him down,” he said. “It was the upper cut that had him back up and then it was the overhand right that put him down.”
They’ll settle their issues Friday night when they meet in a rematch in Reading, Pa. The fight will be broadcast on Spike TV as part of the Premier Boxing Championships series. Jacobs, a Brooklyn native, will be making the fourth defense of his WBA title.
Mora (28-4-2, 9 KOs) called for an immediate rematch, but Jacobs faced Peter Quillin in December at Barclays Center, earning a first-round TKO. Jacobs (31-1, 28 KOs) had hoped to face WBO middleweight champion B.J. Saunders (23-0, 12) of the U.K. next but couldn’t get a deal done, forcing him to settle for the rematch with Mora.
“To me this is kind of a just-stay-busy fight because we weren’t able to get the fight that we actually wanted for whatever reason,” Jacobs said. “I don’t think this does anything for my career. We’ve always wanted to move up to bigger and better opposition each time out. This is kind of a step back. But this for me is an opportunity to quiet the critics and make the final statement once and for all that I am the better fighter, better boxer.”
The first fight was short but exciting as both went down in the first round. Mora was floored by a counter right hand halfway through the opening round. Thirty seconds later, Jacobs left himself open and went down on a desperate left hook from Mora.
The second round was just as competitive. With 25 seconds left, Jacobs applied pressure, smothering Mora against the ropes. Mora, trying to retreat amid a flurry of punches, collapsed on top of his right ankle. Mora got up, but could stand on his right leg. He tried to continue but couldn’t.
“I heard it pop,” he told the referee at the time.
Mora still is angry his only loss by knockout wasn’t changed to a no contest.
“I tried to contest it with the New York [Boxing] Commission, but it got me nowhere,” he said. “The New York commission is a mess, as we’re all finding out when it comes to the fights and boxing and MMA and everything else. I’m going to have that TKO on my record for the rest of my career and the rest of my life. I just wanted an opportunity to clear whatever happened. I’m thankful that I get it.”