LOS ANGELES (AP) - Sugar Shane Mosley wanted a victory that would earn him another big-money fight. Sergio Mora wanted to re-establish himself as an elite boxer.
Neither left Staples Center satisfied after their 12-round draw Saturday night.
The junior middleweight bout was an anticlimactic end to a solid card that featured spectacular knockout wins by Victor Ortiz, Saul "Canelo" Alvarez and Daniel Ponce De Leon.
In a sometimes dull fight, the 39-year-old Mosley (46-6-1, 39 KOs) didn't get redemption for his one-sided loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in May, and Mora (22-1-2, 6 KOs) fell short of his biggest victory.
Both fighters were booed by the crowd, which chanted "Canelo! Canelo!" - the nickname of the rising 20-year-old Mexican star - during the main event.
"We both fought hard," Mosley said. "It was good fight, a good decision."
The fight was very difficult to score, with judge Kermit Bayless calling it 115-113 for Mora, David Denkin giving Mosley a 116-112 edge, and Lou Moret ruling it even at 114-114. The scores at press row were equally divided, from a six-point victory for Mosley to a four-point win for Mora.
Mosley had an edge in the CompuBox punchstats, landing 161 of 522 punches to 93 of 508 for Mora.
Mora, who held the 154-pound title in 2008, said he actually let up because he thought he was winning the fight down the stretch.
"I should've listened to my corner," he said. "They were telling me that it was a close fight. I thought I was winning, so I didn't fight as hard because I have respect for Shane. I didn't want to hurt him."
Mosley was the aggressor from the beginning, but had a difficult time landing clean punches because Mora is a standout defensive fighter. The former 154-pound titleholder consistently danced out of harm's way or tied up Mosley when he got inside.
Mora threw many fewer punches than Mosley but landed more clean shots, giving him several rounds. Neither fighter hurt the other or even had a particularly big round, making it even more difficult to separate them.
Before the main event, junior welterweight contender Ortiz (28-2-1, 22 KOs) took a round to feel out Vivian Harris (29-5-1, 19 KOs) before unloading, stopping Harris early in the third round after knocking him down three times in the second.