Sergio Mora

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This article is about the mexican american boxer. For the Spanish footballer, see Sergio Mora Sánchez. For the Costa Rican-American soccer player, see Sergio Mora (soccer).
Sergio Mora
Statistics
Nickname(s) The Latin Snake
Rated at Super middleweight
Middleweight
Light middleweight
Welterweight
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Reach 75 in (191 cm)
Nationality American
Born (1980-12-04) December 4, 1980 (age 43)
East Los Angeles,
California, U.S.
Stance Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights 34
Wins 28
Wins by KO 9
Losses 4
Draws 2

Sergio Mora (born December 4, 1980) is an American professional boxer.[1] He is a former WBC light middleweight champion[2] and was the first winner of NBC's The Contender series.[3]

Early life

Raised without a father, Sergio lived in an East Los Angeles apartment downstairs from the apartment where his mother lived. His boxing will, he hopes, lift him and his family to a better standard of living.[4] Sergio is a class of 1997 alumni of Schurr High School in Montebello, California. Shortly after his Contender victory, he was invited to appear onstage at Schurr's June 2005 Renaissance Rally. His nickname refers to his Hispanic origins and his fast hand speed (speed with which he punches). Dean Campos is the young trainer behind Sergio's unorthodox style of fighting.

Amateur career

As an amateur, he had a record of 40 wins and 10 losses, losing on points in the quarterfinals of the 1998 national golden gloves,[5] the semifinals of the 1999 U.S. national championships,[6] and in the challengers bracket final of the 2000 U.S. Olympic trials.[7]

Boxing career

He is the champion of reality TV show The Contender, initially being a member of the West Coast Team. He fought Najai Turpin in the first round, the boxer who later committed suicide.[8] In the Quarter Finals he was put up against the favorite Ishe Smith, beating him to reach the Semi Finals. He fought against Jesse Brinkley in the Semi-Final and defeated him after seven rounds, earning a place to box against Peter Manfredo in the final. In the final fight Sergio defeated Manfredo in a seven round unanimous decision to become the Contender champion. He defeated Manfredo by a split decision in a rematch.[9]

Months later he beat Archak Ter-Meliksetian (15-3) by TKO in the 7th of 10 rounds.

Mora fought the IBA Title holder Eric Regan (26-2) on August 25, 2006, at the Arco Arena in Sacramento CA. Mora won by unanimous decision after 10 rounds.

Rumors are that Mora was to fight WBC/WBO middleweight title holder Jermain Taylor at some point 2007. However, on March 15, 2007, Mora turned down a seven figure fight against Taylor that would have taken place in Memphis, which Mora felt was too close to Taylor's home of Little Rock, Arkansas (and that if the fight were to go to a decision, the judges would give Taylor a decision based on the fact that Taylor came from Little Rock, Arkansas). With only 18 career bouts at the time, Mora also felt he lacked experience to challenge for a world title.[10]

Sergio was to fight Kassim Ouma (25-3-1 15 KOs) in a middleweight bout on September 15, 2007. It was to be televised on HBO as one of the undercard bouts supporting the main event, (Juan Manuel Márquez vs. Jorge Rodrigo Barrios). However, the event was canceled after Marquez suffered an injury during training. He fought Elvin Ayala on October 16, 2007 as the undercard of Gomez vs Tackie at The Home Depot Center. The 10-round fight ended in a draw as Ayala outworked a rusty Sergio in the first half of the fight, but Sergio came on in the 2nd half of the fight.

On January 11, 2008, Sergio Mora stopped Rito Ruvalcaba in the sixth round of their scheduled 10-round middleweight fight at the Casino Morongo. Mora was behind on two of three judges' scorecards entering the sixth round. He hurt Ruvalcaba with a combination, drove him to the ropes and landed another left hand, at which point the referee stopped the fight. But Ruvalcaba was still punching at the time of the stoppage, leading to some controversy.

WBC light middleweight championship

On June 7, 2008, Mora defeated Vernon Forrest via a 12 round majority decision to become the WBC Super welterweight champion. In the build-up to the fight, Forrest threatened to send Mora "out on a stretcher" and referred to him as the "pretender".[11] However, Mora succeeded in pulling off the upset victory.

Forrest took an early lead in what began as a tactical bout, working behind a left jab and landing right hands. Mora started to force his way into the fight in the fourth round, throwing hard punches to Forrest's body and consistently outworking the defending champion. The final scores were 114-114, 115-113 and 116-112 in favor of Mora.[12][13] After the fight, Forrest said that he had taken Mora lightly and cited that he did not train properly for the fight, resulting in his lack of punches thrown in the match.

Vernon Forrest (41-3) reclaimed his WBC 154-pound title on September 14, 2008, against Sergio Mora via unanimous decision. Forrest scored a knock down in round seven, had Mora in trouble in round nine and on his back foot for a majority of the bout.[14] Mora had problems making weight for the rematch, having to lose two pounds after failing the initial weigh-in, and after the fight said that he did not expect the quick turnaround on the rematch clause and had needed more time to make the weight properly, resulting in his poor performance.

Move to middleweight

After the two fights with Forrest, Mora made a move up in weight and was to fight then Middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik.[15] Pavlik would postpone the bout due to a nagging staph infection.[16] Mora would attempt to keep the fight alive but ultimately it never happened, keeping Mora inactive for almost 2 years. After pulling out of the fight with Mora, Kelly Pavlik went on to lose against Sergio Gabriel Martínez.[17]

On April 3, 2010, in his first fight in over eighteen months, Mora defeated Calvin Green by 7th round TKO on the Bernard Hopkins-Roy Jones Jr. 2 undercard.[18] Mora dominated a game Green, fighting with him primarily on the inside landing combinations against him with his quicker hands. He hurt Green several times in the fight, and the ref had finally seen enough after an unanswered salvo of punches from Sergio in the 7th round.[19]

Mora-Mosley

Mora fought Shane Mosley on September 18 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.[20][21] The bout ended up being a controversial split draw that prominent boxing website Boxrec scored 114-112 for Shane Mosley. The judges scores for the fight were: 115–113 Mora, 116–112 Mosley and 114–114.[22]

Move to super middleweight

Mora's next fight was against fellow Contender participant Brian Vera.[23] The bout was the main-event on ESPN2's Friday Night Fights on February 4, 2011.[24] Mora lost to Vera by split decision.

Since the Vera fight, Mora has fought once against a stay-busy level opponent in November 2011 named Jose Alfred Flores, whom he defeated by corner stoppage before the eighth round began. He then got a rematch against Vera on August 11, 2012, where in a closely contested fight, he lost to Vera again via majority decision that was surprisingly not close whatsoever the score-cards of the 2 (of 3) judges who scored the fight for Vera (and would thus, give him the victory).

Return to middleweight and IBF title shot

On February 6, 2015 Mora is scheduled to face IBF titleholder Jermain Taylor on ESPN2 Friday Night Fights for Taylor's middleweight belt in Biloxi, Mississippi.[25]

Professional boxing record

28 Wins (9 knockouts), 4 Losses, 2 Draw
Res. Record Opponent Type Round Date Location Notes
Loss 28-4-2 United States Daniel Jacobs TKO 2 (12) August 01, 2015 United StatesBarclays Center, Brooklyn, New York For WBA (Regular) Middleweight title.
Win 28-3-2 United States Abraham Han SD 12 February 06, 2015 United StatesBeau Rivage Resort & Casino, Biloxi, Mississippi Won vacant USBA Middleweight title.
Win 27-3-2 United States Dashon Johnson UD 8 December 11, 2014 United StatesPechanga Resort & Casino, Temecula, California
Win 26-3-2 United States Samuel Rogers TKO 5 (8) May 31, 2014 United StatesTropicana Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada
Win 25-3-2 Colombia Milton Nunez KO 5 (8) November 16, 2013 United StatesCitizens Business Bank Arena, Ontario, California
Win 24-3-2 Poland Grzegorz Proksa UD 10 June 28, 2013 United StatesVeterans Coliseum, Jacksonville, Florida ESPN Friday Night Fights
Loss 23-3-2 United States Brian Vera MD 12 August 11, 2012 United States Illusions Theater, San Antonio, Texas For vacant WBO NABO middleweight title
Win 23-2-2 Mexico Jose Alfredo Flores RTD 7 (10) November 5, 2011 United StatesFantasy Springs Casino, Indio, California
Loss 22-2-2 United States Brian Vera SD 10 February 4, 2011 United StatesConvention Center, Fort Worth, Texas Mora makes his Super Middleweight Debut
Draw 22-1-2 United States Shane Mosley SD 12 September 18, 2010 United StatesStaples Center, Los Angeles, California
Win 22-1-1 United States Calvin Green TKO 7 (10) April 3, 2010 United StatesMandalay Bay Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada
Loss 21-1-1 United States Vernon Forrest UD 12 September 13, 2008 United StatesMGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada Lost WBC Light Middleweight title
Win 21-0-1 United States Vernon Forrest MD 12 June 7, 2008 United StatesMohegan Sun Casino, Montville, Connecticut Won WBC Light Middleweight title
Win 20-0-1 Mexico Rito Ruvalcaba TKO 6 (10) January 11, 2008 United StatesMorongo Casino Resort, Cabazon, California
Draw 19-0-1 United States Elvin Ayala SD 12 October 16, 2007 United StatesHome Depot Center, Carson, California
Win 19-0 United States Eric Regan UD 10 August 25, 2006 United StatesARCO Arena, Sacramento, California
Win 18-0 Armenia Archak TerMeliksetian TKO 7 (10) May 4, 2006 United StatesThe Aladdin, Las Vegas, Nevada
Win 17-0 United States Peter Manfredo Jr SD 8 October 15, 2005 United StatesStaples Center, Los Angeles, California
Win 16-0 United States Peter Manfredo Jr UD 7 May 24, 2005 United StatesCaesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada Won The Contender Championship
Win 15-0 United States Jesse Brinkley UD 7 September 24, 2004 United StatesPasadena, California Televised as part of NBC's "The Contender"
Win 14-0 United States Ishe Smith SD 5 September 12, 2004 United StatesPasadena, California Televised as part of NBC's "The Contender"
Win 13-0 United States Najai Turpin UD 5 August 27, 2004 United StatesHollywood, California Televised as part of NBC's "The Contender".
Win 12-0 United States Les Ralston UD 8 May 15, 2004 United StatesDePaul Athletic Center, Chicago, Illinois
Win 11-0 United States Damon Franklin UD 6 February 13, 2004 United StatesQuiet Cannon, Montebello, California
Win 10-0 Cuba Oriol Martinez TKO 2 (6) December 12, 2003 United StatesCasino Del Sol, Tucson, Arizona
Win 9-0 United States Damone Wright UD 6 July 26, 2003 United StatesGrand Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California
Win 8-0 United States Adam Stewart UD 4 May 2, 2003 United StatesPlaza Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada
Win 7-0 United States Richard Gonzalez UD 6 November 21, 2002 United StatesCompaq Center, San Jose, California
Win 6-0 United States Warren Kronberger TKO 3 (6) June 27, 2002 United StatesMarriott Hotel, Irvine, California
Win 5-0 United States George Moreno TKO 4 (4) April 19, 2002 United StatesCompaq Center, San Jose, California
Win 4-0 United States Sean Holley UD 4 March 29, 2001 United StatesArrowhead Pond, Anaheim, California
Win 3-0 United States Charles Blake UD 4 January 18, 2001 United StatesArrowhead Pond, Anaheim, California
Win 2-0 Suriname Eric Benito Tzand UD 4 October 19, 2000 United StatesArrowhead Pond, Anaheim, California
Win 1-0 Mexico Antonio Maldonado SD 4 August 17, 2000 United StatesArrowhead Pond, Anaheim, California Pro Debut

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  5. ↑ http://amateur-boxing.strefa.pl/Nationalchamps/USGoldenGloves1998.html
  6. ↑ http://amateur-boxing.strefa.pl/Nationalchamps/USA1999.html
  7. ↑ http://amateur-boxing.strefa.pl/Tournaments/Nat_Sel_USA2000_1.html
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ http://espn.go.com/boxing/story/_/id/12116953/jermain-taylor-defend-middleweight-belt-vs-sergio-mora

External links

Gallery

Preceded by
Inaugural Champion
 The Contender Champion
2005		 Succeeded by
Grady Brewer
Preceded by WBC Super Welterweight Champion
June 7, 2008–September 14, 2008		 Succeeded by
Vernon Forrest
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