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Mora shocks Forrest!
'Latin Snake' eludes 'The Viper!'; Williams regains title in rematch vs. Quintana!
By: Billy "Loops" Luppert and Scott Ploof at ringside
Photography by Emily Harney
- FightWireImages.com
"Let me clarify - there will be no upset on Saturday night. I'm on a completely higher level and I will prove that Saturday night." Those were the words from Vernon "The Viper" Forrest in a June 4th published interview here on FightNews with Feature Writer David Hudson.
He was speaking about his fight against "The Contender: Season One" winner Sergio Mora that occurred this past Saturday night from the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut for Forrest's WBC 154lb. title, which was televised live around the world on Showtime’s Championship Boxing telecast and promoted by Gary Shaw Productions and Fight Nite.
 No one seemed to think Forrest was coming out of left field with that. Forrest after all is a former world welterweight champion, who at age 37, seemed to be still on top of his game. A game that propelled him to two huge wins against “Sugar” Shane Mosely back when Mosely was amongst one of the best in the sport.
A win for Vernon Forrest would mean for sure that he would be calling out for the winner of the September 20th rematch between Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather. Of course that fight went up in smoke when Mayweather announced his retirement earlier in the week.
Mora on the other hand, really wasn't supposed to be here. He's an undefeated fighter who made his name by winning the first season of "The Contender" reality series. His experience versus Forrest's was nowhere matched. He was up against a man who wanted to join Joe Calzaghe and Miguel Cotto in showing who were the "champions" of the sport and who were the "contenders."
But something happened on Showtime’s televised main event on Saturday night, Sergio Mora showed up to fight and won a gritty, hard fought twelve round majority decision, to pull a stunning upset over Vernon Forrest. Judges Anek Hongtongkan, John McKaie, and Gale Van Hoy, scored the bout 116-112, 115-113, and 114-114 respectively.
Mora (21-0-1, 5KO's) was the third product of the season one reality show to get a crack at a major world title fight, joining Peter Manfredo, and Alfonzo Gomez. He became the first of the trio to succeed in pulling off a victory that few outside of his circle really believed he could win.
It was a fight that saw few combinations land as both fighters seemed content on throwing one punch at a time. Most of the action was spent tied up with one another. The "Viper" seemed to have a hard time finding his range against the slick "Latin Snake".
Mora's ability to slither smoothly around the ring had Forrest often landing no more than one punch at a time. When Forrest was able to land a hard blow, Mora, being the smaller man, moved in and tied up on the inside to smother Forrest's power.
 The crowd of 3700 fight fans inside the Mohegan Sun Arena booed loudly due to the lack of action over the first five rounds. Those boos suddenly turned to cheers as a right hand by Mora seemingly stunned Forrest. The former title holder however was able to survive an onslaught by Mora, who is not known for his punching power.
The fight continued to be fought on the inside as referee Dick Flaherty let the two men do their work. Forrest (40-3, 29 KOs) abandoned his jab for some time choosing to instead lead with a left hook in hopes of trying to trick the dodging Mora into walking straight into a punch. Mora stuck to his jab and as action would tie up on the inside, both fighters would exchange single shots to the ribs or head of the other.
The ninth round featured some crowd pleasing action as both fighters traded punches in the corner. While Forrest didn't score with as many connections as Mora, he seemed to have landed the harder of the blows. In a very close and entertaining round, all three judges gave the round to Mora.
As the fight wore on, Forrest's stamina seemed to be dwindling as his punches seemed to have lost their pop. It left many people at ringside wondering if Forrest may have overlooked his fight with Mora? Did the 37 year old Forrest seemingly get old overnight, or did Mora just simply give the best performance of his life that earned him a hard fought victory?
Mora had never been past ten rounds in his career before, while Forrest had been past ten rounds, ten times in his career. “The Latin Snake” came into the championship rounds and showed great heart and determination, while Forrest was going to make sure that he wasn't going to just roll over and die for Mora.
Forrest was still able to land some effective blows, but the fireworks of the fight came in the final seconds of the bout. Both fighters stood toe-to-toe and exchanged punches until the final bell, with the crowd cheering wildly for both pugilists.
While maybe not the most entertaining of fights, it was a fight that showed the will and desire of two fighters, one that was trying to stay in the spotlight of the sport, and the other who was young and hungry came through the shadows, and claimed his first world title. – Bill Luppert
 Williams destroys Quintana in one, regains WBO welterweight crown!
For all of the hard work and dedication that Paul “The Punisher” Williams (34-1, 25 KOs) had put in over the last few months in DC training with his team paid off in huge dividends for the Georgia native as he destroyed former champion Carlos Quintana (25-2, 19 KOs) in 2:15 seconds of the opening round to reclaim the WBO welterweight title. It was the same title he lost by unanimous decision to Quintana back in February in a performance that many found to be lackluster at best.
“The Punisher” lived up to his nickname on this night as he immediately began firing his jab at Quintana after the opening bell rang. He moved well around the ring and landed his power shots first before Quintana was able to respond. After connecting with his solid right hand, Williams then moved away from the counter of Quintana.
Williams landed a three punch combination on Quintana and he was forced to clinch to hold on. A big right from Williams which landed flush on the jaw rocked Quintana. Sensing blood like a shark in the water, Williams connected with a big left hook that put Quintana on the canvas.
Quintana was able to answer the eight count of referee Eddie Claudio but was soon greeted by even more punishment from Williams. Another huge left hook then puts Quintana into the ropes and back down again on the canvas. Without the ability to show he was able to defend himself, referee Eddie Claudio had seen enough and called for the bell before the end of the first round. – Scott Ploof
 Martinez stops “Shark Attack!”
Promoter Lou Dibella smiled with pride as he watched his fighter from Madrid, Spain, Sergio Martinez (43-1-1, 23 KOs) become the mandatory challenger for new WBC champion Sergio Mora, by scoring a convincing seventh round stoppage over former title challenger Archak “Shark Attack” TerMeliksetian (16-7, 13 KOs). Martinez continued to beat TerMeliksetian to the punch all night long as he frustrated the veteran from Fairview, NJ.
After knocking him down once in the seventh, a Martinez right hook sent TerMeliksetian back into the ropes causing referee Danny Chaivonne to administer a standing eight count. Another flurry from Martinez causes Chiavonne to stop the fight at 2:14 of the seventh as TerMeliksetian was taking too much punishment.
TerMeliksetian started out strong early in the fight as he stood toe to toe with Martinez trading power shot for power shot. In the second round Martinez started landing cleanly to the body which began to slow down his veteran opponent.
As the rounds wore on it was apparent that TerMeliksetian was throwing less and less punches while Martinez continued to look strong while firing hooks to the body and head of “Shark Attack.” After the conclusion of the fourth round, promoter Lou Dibella paraded by press row proclaiming that, “This kid is going to be a world champion, just you watch and see.”
Who could disagree with Lou Dibella as he has already promoted so many other world champions such as Jermain Taylor, Paulie Malignaggi, and others? By the end of the fight, it was Martinez that had the crowd thinking that he could be the future of the 154 pound division. – Scott Ploof
Hernandez defeats Fiorentino!
In a very exciting female bout that ended prematurely due to a cut, Melissa Hernandez scored a third round TKO over Missy Fiorentino. From beginning to end, it was a toe-to-toe battle between two once beaten super featherweights that had the crowd at Mohegan Sun all fired up.
Hernandez had the slight edge however as she was able to use her foot speed to side step the on-coming Fiorentino. Fiorentino landed her share of punches as there were multiple exchanges up against the ropes and in the center of the ring, where defense seemed to be a forgotten art amongst these two warriors.
Hernandez was able to land the more precise blows and a right hand opened up a cut above Fiorentino's eye. Time was called as the ringside doctor wanted to take a look on the cut, and upon examination, recommended the fight be stopped. Hernandez of Bronx, NY improves to (8-1-2, 3 KOs), while Fiorentino of Warwick, RI drops to (17-2, 6 KOs). – Bill Luppert
Tupou stops Tisdale!
Undefeated heavyweight Bowie Tupou overmatched veteran Otis Tisdale dropping him three times in the second round en route to a TKO victory. Time of the stoppage was 1:56.
Tisdale never had a chance in the bout as Tupou was all over him from the opening bell. After surviving the first round, it seemed that every punch Tupou landed hurt Tisdale.
Tupou landed solid combinations as Tisdale tried to cover and tie up, but Tupou was just too strong for him. With the win, Tupou goes to (15-0, 11 KOs), while Tisdale drops to (25-21-1, 15 KOs). – Bill Luppert
“Bones” Adams and Perez fight a 'No Contest!'
A gritty fight between former world champion Clarence "Bones" Adams (43-6-4, 19 KOs) and Jesus Perez (25-20-3, 14 KOs) was stopped with about a minute left to go in the fourth round after an accidental head butt. The bout was stopped by ringside physician Dr. Tony Allessi at 2:13 of the fourth round. Since the fight did not go past the fourth round, it was ruled by the commission to be a no contest.
Adams to that point in the fight was able to land the harder punches primarily to the midsection of Perez. Perez did control the tempo of the bout but was unable to land any significant punches against the former title holder. – Scott Ploof
Harris – Quintana draw!
Undefeated super welterweights Lamar Harris (4-0-1, 3 KOs) and Aaron Quintana (4-0-1, 2 KOs) both remained undefeated on Saturday night as they fought to a four round majority draw. Both fighters landed solid shots and each had their moments as Harris appeared to bust the nose of Quintana early in the fight. Neither fighter was knocked down however both gave tremendous effort. The final scorecards read 38-38 twice and 39-37 for Quintana. – Scott Ploof
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