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).
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SERGIO MORA TICKETS
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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 refused 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.
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 Marquez v.
Jorge Rodrigo Barrios). However, the event was canceled and it left observers wondering why Mora again avoided fighting a top name opponent. 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".
[1] 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.
[2] [3]
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 27th 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. Mora said on ESPN that his career is on hold because he signed a contract with Pavlik. The clause state that no fights are to be fought until they meet.
[4]
References
- Mora in search of respect against Forrest
- Mora Upsets Forrest - Williams Gains Revenge
- Pavlik retains middleweight titles, Mora beats Forrest
- ap.google.com, Forrest batters Mora, recaptures 154-pound crown