This is not a blueprint for winning rounds cleanly. It’s a plan to survive on someone else’s terms.
Mora understands Stevenson’s problem better than most. Stevenson doesn’t need exchanges. He does not rush damage. He controls distance, pace and form. Opponents are rarely injured, but they are gradually removed from the fight they want. Mora’s answer reflects that reality. The advice admits that clean answers are not available.
The tactics Mora describes are neither flashy nor decisive. They are slow. They require discipline. They require a fighter to stay committed to small, annoying jobs that may or may not be rewarded on the cards. Even when executed correctly, the plan assumes tight circles rather than clear ones.
This is the part that often gets lost.
Beating Stevenson, even in theory, depends on a fighter accepting that he won’t look good doing it. He will not land the shots that attract applause. He won’t control long stretches of the fight. He would spend most of the night trying to deny Stevenson comfort rather than asserting his own authority.
That kind of fight is exhausting in ways that go beyond conditioning. It takes patience, self-control, and a willingness to trust judges while taking hits that don’t clearly change the competition. Mora’s suggestion to target elbows and shoulders is telling. These are not shots meant to win rounds. They are meant to build up irritation and hope for a gradual effect.
Very few fighters can stay committed to that approach for twelve rounds. Fewer still can do it without drifting back to posture, chasing the head or trying to force moments that Stevenson was built to avoid.
Mora’s breakdown is valuable because it doesn’t oversell possibilities. It quietly explains why Stevenson keeps winning the same way. Even the best advice available depends on tactics that are difficult to maintain, easy to abandon, and unlikely to yield immediate reward.
If this is the clearest path to beat Stevenson, it also explains why so few managed to follow it for long.
This is less a criticism of Lopez than a description of the problem before him.
