Sergio Mora
Sergio Mora | |
|---|---|
| Born | Sergio Mora December 4, 1980 East Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Nationality |  American |
| Other names | The Latin Snake |
| Statistics | |
| Weight(s) | Middleweight Welterweight |
| Height | 6'0 |
| Reach | 74.0 |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 24 |
| Wins | 22 |
| Wins by KO | 6 |
| Losses | 1 |
| Draws | 1 |
| No contests | 0 |
Sergio "The Latin Snake" Mora (b. December 4, 1980, Los Angeles) is a Mexican American professional boxer trained by Dean Campos. Dean is the young trainer behind Sergio's unorthodox style of fighting. His nickname refers to his Hispanic origins and his fast hand speed (speed with which he punches).
Personal life
Raised without a father, Sergio lived in the 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. Sergio is eloquent and thoughtful, quite against the stereotype of the ghetto he admits to coming from.
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.
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. 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. Many ringside observers felt Manfredo won the fight convincingly, but Mora won by a controversial split decision.
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 in Spring 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. With only 18 career bouts at the time, Mora also felt he lacked experience to challenge for a world title.[1]
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 v. Jorge Rodrigo Barrios). However, the event was canceled after Marquez suffered an injury during training. He fought Elvin Ayala on October 16, 2007, at The Home Depot Center. The 10-round fight ended in a draw.
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.
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".[2] 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.[3][4]
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.
Mora-Pavlik
Mora and WBO/WBC and Ring Middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik would have met on 27 June 2009 at Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey. Kelly Pavlik had to pull out due to a nagging staph infection in his right hand.
Sergio Mora would have had first fight since losing his rematch with Vernon Forrest, against Jason Naugler on the under card of Mosley-Berto, January 30, 2010, but that card was canceled due to the effects of the tragedy in Haiti on Berto's family. He will have his first fight since the Forrest loss on the Bernard Hopkins-Roy Jones Jr. undercard, against a TBD opponent.
Mora beat Calvin Green by 7th round knock out on the Bernard Hopkins-Roy Jones Jr. undercard.
References
- ^ http://www.secondsout.com/news?ccs=1624&cs=151465
- ^ Morales, Robert (2008-06-04). "Mora in search of respect against Forrest". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2008-06-07.
- ^ Aranda, Ramon (2008-06-08). "Mora Upsets Forrest - Williams Gains Revenge". 411mania.com. Retrieved 2008-06-08.
- ^ "Pavlik retains middleweight titles, Mora beats Forrest". Reuters. 2008-06-07. Retrieved 2008-06-08.
- ^ ap.google.com, Forrest batters Mora, recaptures 154-pound crown
- ^ http://boxing.fanhouse.com/2010/04/03/hopkins-vs-jones-jr-results-live-updates-of-undercard-and-ma/
External links
- Official Website
- NEW Official Forum
- Sergio Mora Fight-by-Fight Career Record
- Boxing record for Sergio Mora from BoxRec (registration required)