- Shane Mosley Jr faces Serhii Bohachuk in a 10-round middleweight main event at Meta APEX, Las Vegas on Sunday, May 10 — five days out today
- The headline numbers are the difference: Bohachuk 27-3 with 24 KOs, Mosley Jr 22-5 with 12 stoppages — this is a power vs durability fight on paper
- Zuffa Boxing 06 hits Sky Sports in the UK and Paramount+ in the US, with the main card from 9pm ET — and on a busy week of British fight cards, this is the sneaky pick
Right Then — The Sleeper Of A Loaded Week
Right then. Manchester is loud. Co-op Live is loud. Wardley and Dubois will get every column inch this week and rightly so. But quietly, in Las Vegas, five days out from Zuffa Boxing 06, there's a proper middleweight fight happening at the Meta APEX between Shane Mosley Jr and Serhii Bohachuk — and on the form of both men, this is the sneaky pick of the week if you like fights that end inside.
Make no mistake, Bohachuk-Mosley is not a world title fight. It is, however, the kind of 10-round middleweight scrap that a hardcore fan circles. Bohachuk is 27-3 with 24 stoppages. Mosley Jr is 22-5 with 12. You don't need to be the bookies to know that the heavy hand on the night belongs to the Ukrainian.
The Bohachuk Case
Bohachuk is a proper professional. Levels above where his profile suggests on the casual side. He went 154 with Sebastian Fundora a couple of years ago in a fight that, if the cards had been counted right by half the journalists in the building, would have made him a world champion. He didn't get that on the night. What he did get was a reputation that anyone who shares a ring with him is in a 12-round shootout from minute one. That's not gone away.
His February win over Radzhab Butaev was a split decision that didn't tell you much. What told you more was the way he carried his power up to 160. He's a true 154-pound puncher who hasn't lost a single drop of his clout moving north. That's the bit that should worry Mosley Jr. People who hit hard at 154 hit harder at 160 because they're not making the limit any more.
The Mosley Jr Reality
Let's not beat around the bush — Shane Mosley Jr is not the fighter his old man was. That's not a slight. The dad is one of the all-time greats of the modern era and the son is a journeyman-grade pro who has had a brilliant career on his own terms. He's tough. He's been in deep with everyone the matchmakers could find. He just hasn't ever shown the natural power or natural class to push past gatekeeper level into contender level.
His last outing was a points loss in a tough one. The one before was a points loss to Edgar Berlanga. The one before that was a points loss to Jaime Munguia. Pattern recognition is a thing. He gets to the cards, he doesn't get the cards. Bohachuk doesn't tend to do that maths because Bohachuk tends to take the cards out of the discussion.
Why This Fight Lands At Zuffa 06
Zuffa Boxing's whole brand identity, as it's emerged across these first six cards, is that the main events are matchmade for hardcore fans. Not for casual headline value. Conor Benn v Regis Prograis. Chris Billam-Smith v Ryan Rozicki on June 6. The selection is the point. Mosley v Bohachuk fits that exact ethos. It's a fight that should make every round.
And the venue helps. The Meta APEX is a small, intimate room that is built for this kind of card. The fans are right on top of it. Sky has it in the UK, Paramount+ has it stateside, and the main card opens at 9pm ET on Sunday May 10.
The Take
Brilliant fight, on paper. Underrated by the casual market. Bohachuk by stoppage in seven. He's the heavier hitter and the man who has operated at a higher level of competition recently. Mosley Jr will trouble him for three or four rounds because Mosley Jr troubles everyone for three or four rounds. From the fifth onwards, Bohachuk's power and rhythm should start to tell, and somewhere between the seventh and the ninth Mosley's corner stops it. If you know, you know — this is the proper fight of fight week, even if the bigger names sit in Manchester.
Pick: Bohachuk by stoppage in seven. Confidence high. Don't sleep on Zuffa 06.