Vera Defeats Mora in Controversial
Rematch Decision; Escalante Flattens Miranda in Two
Nine
months since his last start, former WBC super welterweight champion Sergio “The
Latin Snake” Mora finally had a chance to avenge his loss to Brian “The Warrior”
Vera, 21-6 (12), falling to two ridiculously lopsided scores in Telefutura’s “Solo
Boxeo” main event at the Alamodome’s Illusions Theater in San Antonio, TX on Saturday
night.
Vera,
hailing from San Antonio, mildly derailed Mora's career following the East L.A.
fighter's draw with Shane Mosley prior to Vera vs. Mora I.
Mora,
showing some rust, came out using his sneaky, side-to-side movement, keeping an
advancing Vera at bay with his jab. The local fighter found it difficult to
land a clean shot in the first couple of rounds.
Mora,
with the lack of power necessary to stay busy, muffled the straightforward
Vera, who found some success in the third, digging to Mora's midsection. Mora
spent most of the round fighting against the ropes, landing a hard one-two
which drew blood from Vera's nose midway into the round.
The
plan was simple; Mora needed to outwork his opponent as Vera, the brawler, has
always shown a very good chin. After getting nailed a few times, his body
beginning to drift off the middle rope in the fourth, Mora got a quick break by
referee Mark Calo-Oy. In turn, Mora returned to the same spot and waved on his
opponent, staying in the pocket and fighting off the ropes for the remainder of
the round.
Mora
got a rhythm going in the fifth, making Vera miss often during attempted
exchanges.
The sharper
Mora went on to land the fewer yet more effective shots in the sixth and
seventh as Vera threw more – and missed. Most shots were blocked or slipped by
Mora who would constantly land slashing rights and left hooks in return, then quickly
slipped away to the ropes.
Vera
went back to work in the eighth as Mora looked a bit tired, seemingly taking
the round off.
Mora
kept going in the ninth, landing often on the counter as Vera, not worried
about being hurt, would take shot after shot and keep going, trying to land punches
in bunches with very little success.
Mora
stood his ground in the 10th, landing hard to the body and head
often in the first half of the round. Vera looked confused, turning the tide
later in the round as Mora just did not have the firepower to keep him away.
Vera
took the first of the championship rounds as Mora spent too much time against
the ropes without firing back. Ronnie Shields, Vera's trainer, urged his pupil
that he needed a KO to assure a win. Vera went on to throw punches at will with
Mora doing his best to neutralize his opponent while landing spurious shots to
the bell.
Scores
were 114-114 and ridiculous tallies of 118-110 and 117-111 for Vera.
Mora,
who could not believe the scores, saw his record drop to 23-3-2 (7) as Vera walked
away with the vacant WBO NABO middleweight title.
In
other results, El Paso, Texas’ Antonio Escalante, 28-4 (19), scored a
spectacular, one-punch KO over murderous puncher Leonilo Miranda, 32-5 (30), at
1:19 of the second round of a scheduled eight-round super featherweight bout.
Jerren
Cochran, 5-0 (3), defeated Jesus Rocha, 2-1-1, via decision in a four-round featherweight
bout.
Colombian lightweight Darley Perez, 26-0 (19), came from
behind on points to defeat a tough, cagey Bahodir Mamadjonov via split decision
at the Morongo Casino Resort and Spa in Cabazon, California on ESPN2’s “Friday Night
Fights” main event.
Mamadjonov, a late replacement, gave fits to the highly regarded
Perez. Fighting out of the southpaw stance, Mamadjonov had Perez completely
confused for the first five rounds. Never having fought a southpaw, Perez would
keep walking in, trying to land one punch at a time as the shorter Mamadjonov darted
in and out, throwing combinations, rattling and putting Perez in trouble in the
second frame.
Perez finally got going at the end of the fifth, letting his
hands go and landing on the Uzbeki fighter. Perez continued the
momentum in the following round, catching Mamadjonov with a sneaky, looping
right uppercut on the chin, putting the southpaw down against the ropes.
Mamadjonov came back in the ninth, using his speed to beat
Perez to the punch.
The tenth round featured sustained action by both fighters
in a very tight round. In what could have easily been a draw, Perez came out on top
as the scores read 95-94, 96-93 and 94-95 (Mamadjonov) for a split decision. With the
loss, Mamadjonov’s first, dropped his record to 11-1 (7).
Avalos Defeats Vicente
in Ten
In
the co-featured bout, super bantamweight Chris Avalos, 20-2 (15), had his hands
full in defeating Dominican Yenifel Vicente in a 10-round bout.
Avalos,
the taller fighter, could have had an easier time boxing from the outside yet chose
to fight on the inside against the shorter man. This gave the Colombian plenty
of opportunities to land, making it a close battle.
Avalos
separated himself in the fifth after dropping Vicente with a left hook. The
previously undefeated Vicente tried to rally in spots during the rest of the
round, having his fair share of moments, yet it was Avalos’ better technique
and variety of shots which took him to a unanimous 97-92 verdict on all cards.
With
the loss, Vicente saw his record fall to 23-1-2 (15).
In
other results, super welterweight Giovanni Rodriguez, 7-0 (4), defeated ultra-awkward
Cleven Ishe, 3-8 (1), via unanimous decision with scores of 60-54 (twice) and
59-55.
Lightweight
Jonathan Maicelo beat up a very tough Wilfredo Acuna, scoring a knockdown in
the first round. The southpaw Acuna, 14-12 (11), did just enough to stay in the
one-sided affair for the rest of the bout. Scores were 60-53 on all cards.
Maicelo,
who celebrated his 29th birthday
on fight night, saw his record move to 18-0 (10).
Super
bantamweight southpaw Glenn Porras, 28-3 (17), defeated Jose Silveira, 14-8 (6),
in eight.
Scores
were 79-73 (twice) and 78-74.
In the
walk-out bout of the night, lightweight Alejandro Luna, 10-0 (8), brought in a
large fan-base to see him in action as he overwhelmed and stopped Eddie Ramirez,
6-12-1 (3), in six.
Referee
Ray Corona kept a very close eye on the fight as Ramirez would be punished
throughout the fight, doing just enough to hang on. Having seen enough head
shots land on Ramirez, Corona wisely stepped in and called the fight at 2:12 of
the final round.
