REALITY CHECK

Before he won the $1-million payday that came with being the first champion of the boxing reality television series, “The Contender,” Sergio Mora had to make a crucial career decision.

He could sign with Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions for a small signing bonus and no guaranteed fights, or he could pursue an independent road, banking only on the skills that led him to the finals of the U.S. Olympic boxing trials in 2000.

Mora, 26, won that bet on himself by taking “The Contender” title, and the unbeaten middleweight native of East Los Angeles is gambling again tonight when he fights defensive specialist Elvin Ayala (18-2) at the Home Depot Center in Carson.

Earlier this year, Mora (19-0, 4 KOs) said he turned down an offer of $850,000 to fight then-unbeaten World Boxing Council middleweight champion Jermain Taylor.

“All along, we were talking that the fight would be in Los Angeles or Las Vegas, and maybe Miami, then at the last minute, [Taylor’s camp] switched it to Memphis,” Mora said. “It’s a tough fight. If you added in giving [Taylor] the fight in his hometown, that’s another barrier I have to jump through to win. I’m a winner, man. I want to win.”

Instead, Taylor was knocked out by unbeaten Kelly Pavlik on Sept. 29 in Atlantic City, and Mora took a cut in pay to $300,000 to fight tonight on an ESPN Classic show he hopes will propel him to a richer shot at Pavlik in January.

Taylor has until late this month to decide if he’ll exercise his rematch clause with Pavlik. If Taylor rejects the rematch -- and many boxing insiders expect he will -- Pavlik’s camp will choose between Mora or another unbeaten, John Duddy of Ireland, for a Jan. 26 bout. One Pavlik official said the choice would be dictated by “whoever’s cheaper.”

Pavlik’s promoter, Bob Arum, sarcastically calls Mora “that genius kid” for his decision not to fight Taylor.

“It was stupid,” Arum said. “What does he mean by saying it’d be uncomfortable [in Memphis]? The ring is the same, the officials are fair. These kids need to realize you have to put [rears] in the seats.”

“Sergio has always been very talented, but he’s still a prospect,” said Eric Gomez, a matchmaker for Golden Boy Promotions.

“Mora eventually needs to jump on these major opportunities he’s getting. We’ll see then if he’s championship quality.”

That skepticism balances the line Mora straddles: reality series name recognition versus boxing’s real-world treatment.

Mora said the reason he hadn’t fought in 14 months -- and why he has had only three bouts since winning “The Contender” in May 2005 by defeating Peter Manfredo Jr. by decision -- is his insistence on being a picky fighter.

“ ‘The Contender’ built a brand with me. I can’t just go and fight in the Quiet Cannon [in Montebello] anymore,” he said. “I want to fight in marquee shows and in big fights.”

Said Gomez: “It’s not Sergio’s fault, but I think there are some in boxing who view the show as a gimmick. Some boxing people think he had the fast track to quick celebrity and wealth while so many other fighters have to take the hard road of getting their face bashed in for $1,000.”

Arum sees only four knockouts for Mora and says, “He can’t break an egg. I’m not saying he’s not legitimate, but he’s not a great puncher.”

“When Oscar [De La Hoya] came out of the Olympics, everyone knew him because it was on prime-time TV,” said “Contender” co-executive producer Jeff Wald. “Using shows like ours, the public can know boxers again, and if guys can fight, like Sergio, they’re capable of being champions.”

Mora, who attended Montebello Schurr High, spent several years on every boxer’s road, fighting at the Quiet Cannon restaurant and the Irvine Marriott ballroom before landing as a sparring partner for Fernando Vargas in Big Bear. Vargas visited with “Contender” producers, urging them to consider his younger sparring partner.

Upon making “The Contender” cast, Mora wrote on his website that he “was getting nowhere. I was undefeated in 12 fights, unsigned, unmanaged and broke.” He and his mother, Ines, were living in a Montebello apartment.

When Mora won the series, he turned over the keys of a Toyota pickup he won to one of his three brothers and used part of his $1-million winnings to buy a home in Downey for him and his mother, along with a Lexus vehicle for her, and a Las Vegas home he uses occasionally while training.

He says that winning so much money before claiming a title belt hasn’t thwarted his motivation.

“The hunger comes from a person’s character,” Mora said. “I saw it in Sugar Ray Leonard. He hated to lose in whatever he played: chess, pool, ping-pong. My motivation hasn’t stopped with $1 million. I’m still undefeated, I still don’t want to lose, and I have two mortgages.”

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lance.pugmire@latimes.com

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TONIGHT

Sergio Mora (19-0) vs. Elvin Ayala (18-2)

Home Depot Center