Dan Rafael blog: Serious talks underway for Pavlik-Williams and other tid bits

[CFH]

He had a deal to fight Taylor but refused to do it because it would be in Taylor's backyard.

That was one of the smartest things he ever did IMO. The only way he was winning that fight was by ko, which was pretty much impossible. People slagged him off (and still do) for that decision, but it led him directly to a LMW championship and legitimacy. If he had fought Taylor and lost (as he almost certainly would have) he would have immediately because completely irrelevant (even more so) and marginal; that fight would have effectively ended his career.

It's easy to say he was smart in hindsight, but at the time he left a shot at the undisputed middleweight title and a $1 million payday on the table with no assurances that a similar offer would ever present itself. Then he had that dreadful draw that by all rights should have ended any hopes he had of getting an important fight. He got lucky with the Forrest fight as far as I'm concerned (maybe not with his performance but definitely that it was offered).

It's not just smart in hindsight, it was smart at the time. Mora knew he had no way of winning that fight, he wasn't going to stop Taylor and he wasn't going to beat him convincingly enough that he could win a points decision in his backyard. He loses that fight and his career is effectively over or at least severely retarded. Was turning down 1 million dollars a gamble? Absolutely, but it was one that paid off and Mora made the right decision.

As for him getting lucky with the Forrest fight, perhaps. However, the Contender people have long shown a willingness to sell out their charges by throwing them in against champs and very good fighters looking for an easy victory. I'm sure Mora knew that.