Will Sugar be too sweet and make the contender look like a pretender?
Shane Mosley will go into his clash with Sergio Mora as a hot favourite but insists he is taking nothing for granted when facing the former Contender series winner at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Mosley has mixed it with some of the greats in a 17-year ring career that has seen him claim world titles at three different weights and is still rated the fifth best pound-for-pound fighter on the planet even at the age of 39.
However, two defeats to Vernon Forrest back in 2002 give underdog Mora a chance, as the 29-year-old shared the spoils in a brace of bouts with that opponent in 2008.
The other wins on Mora's 22-1-1 record do not make as much of an impression, but he is also a naturally taller and bigger boxer, which will boost his hopes come fight time.
"I think some people are mistaken in thinking that it's just going to be a walk in the park when it's really not," Mosley told ESPN.
"This guy is a little bigger. He's also fast. He works very hard. He's a competitor. He loves to win. He only lost one time, and that's to Vernon Forrest, in his whole career. So he can fight.
"I have to get past Sergio Mora. I thank him for taking the fight and accepting the challenge. This guy is not someone to take lightly. He beat Vernon Forrest. I never beat the great Vernon Forrest. He is a competitor and he comes to win."
Nevertheless, Mosley is fancied by most to come out on top at the venue where he outpointed Oscar De La Hoya seven years ago and he is relishing a return to California.
"It's always good to come back home and do some fights, especially at the Staples Center," said Mosley, a resident of nearby Pomona.
"Being that Sergio Mora is from East LA, he likes fighting at home as well. So this is going to be a night where both fighters have had great successes at the Staples Center."
Mosley is coming off an emphatic points loss to Floyd Mayweather but should find this class of opponent more to his liking and still has by far the better credentials.
"Sergio has added pressure because he feels that he has to prove to the world that he is somebody," declared Sugar.
Mora would not argue with that assessment, but is adamant that he belongs at the elite level and has vowed to prove his true worth in this contest and succeed where so many other top names have failed by beating Mosley.
"Sugar Shane Mosley is someone I respect and someone I value outside of the ring. He is a legend," Mora said. "I am fighting another Hall of Famer.
"He has everything behind him. He has the experience, the power and the chin. He has never been knocked out and he is undefeated at the Staples Center. He is the real deal.
"But this is my time, and I am finally with a promoter (Golden Boy) that believes in me. When you leave the Staples Center, you're going to say 'Vargas couldn't, De La Hoya couldn't do it, Margarito couldn't do it, but Sergio Mora did it.'"
Mosley is a top-priced 2/5 with bet365 to win this fight, 6/5 to prevail on points and 11/4 to get the job done inside the distance.
Mora is 9/4 with Ladbrokes to spring a surprise, 11/4 to get the verdict via the judges' scorecards and 16/1 to become the first man to stop Mosley.
Ladbrokes are also offering 4/11 this bout goes the full 12 rounds and 2/1 either boxer enjoys an early triumph.
Verdict: Mosley may just have too much nous for Mora and can pinch enough rounds to prevail.
