Sergio Mora

Infobox_Boxer


name = Sergio Mora
realname = Sergio Mora
nickname =The Latin Trouser Snake
weight = Middleweight
height = 6'0
reach = 74.0"
nationality = flagicon|United States of America US American
birth_date = Birth date and age|1980|2|28|mf=y
death_date =
birth_place = East Los Angeles, CA, U.S.
home =
style = Orthodox
total = 23
wins = 21
KO = 5
losses = 1
draws = 1
no contests = 0

Sergio "The Latin Trouser 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 ineloquent and arrogant, iconic 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 mentally and physically 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 (the first of many controversial decisions.)

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, another of the controversial decisions evidenced in this fighters career.

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". [cite web
last =Morales
first =Robert
title =Mora in search of respect against Forrest
publisher =ESPN.com
date =2008-06-04
url =http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=3424644
accessdate =2008-06-07 ] 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. [cite web
last =Aranda
first =Ramon
title =Mora Upsets Forrest - Williams Gains Revenge
publisher =411mania.com
date =2008-06-08
url =http://www.411mania.com/sports/boxing/77404
accessdate =2008-06-08 ] [cite web
last =
first =
title =Pavlik retains middleweight titles, Mora beats Forrest
publisher =Reuters
date =2008-06-07
url =http://www.reuters.com/article/sportsNews/idUSB22003620080608?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=10001
accessdate =2008-06-08 ]

Vernon Forrest (41-3) reclaimed his WBC 154-pound title on September 14, 2008, against Sergio Mora via unanimous decision. [ [http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g8r67hiW-BHBby4D48XEKaM981owD9368KDO0 ap.google.com, Forrest batters Mora, recaptures 154-pound crown] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.sergiomoraboxing.com/ Official Website]
* [http://sergiomora.net NEW Official Forum]
* [http://boxing.about.com/od/records/a/mora.htm Sergio Mora Fight-by-Fight Career Record]
*

Gallery

* [http://sergiomora.net/smf/index.php?action=gallery NEW Snake Pit Gallery]