Articles

Tix Info For Mora-Han, Feb. 6

Published

9 years ago

January 28, 2015

The Sweet Science

MIDDLEWEIGHT CONTENDERS

SERGIO “THE LATIN SNAKE” MORA

AND ABRAHAM “ABIE” HAN

COLLIDE WITH VACANT USBA TITLE

AT STAKE

LIVE ON ESPN FRIDAY NIGHT FIGHTS

FEBRUARY 6^TH AT THE BEAU RIVAGE RESORT & CASINO

IN BILOXI, MISSISSIPPI

Tickets on Sale Now

New York, NY (1/27/15) – On Friday, Feb. 6, DiBella Entertainment and Goossen Promotions will present an exciting edition of ESPN “Friday Night Fights” when former junior middleweight champion and “The Contender: Season One” winner Sergio “The Latin Snake” Mora (27-3-2, 9KO’s) takes on Abraham “Abie” Han (23-1, 14 KO’s) in a 12-round middleweight contest with the vacant USBA title belt at stake. This event is set to take place at MGM Resorts International’s beautiful Beau Rivage Resort & Casino, in Biloxi, Miss. It will be televised live on ESPN2 beginning at 9 p.m. ET.

“This will be a highly competitive fight between two world-ranked middleweights in Mora and Han, on Feb. 6. Both are coming off big victories on HBO Latino in 2014,” said Lou DiBella, President of DiBella Entertainment. “The winner will establish himself as a future championship contender.”

“Abie jumped right at this opportunity when it was offered,” said Tom Brown of Goossen Promotions. “It’s a big fight for Abie coming off his win over Marcos Reyes in October and he’ll be well prepared.”

“We’re happy that DiBella Entertainment and Goossen Promotions were able to put together such a competitive fight for Sergio on short notice,” said Brian Kweder, ESPN Senior Director of Programming and Acquisitions. “The winner of this fight will no doubt be placing himself in a good position for a title shot in the middleweight division.”

While Sergio Mora, rated No. 13 by the IBF, is disappointed now that his world title shot will have to wait, he’s already weathered his share of setbacks and has never given up on his dream. After bypassing on an offer to face Jermain Taylor for his unified middleweight crown back in 2007, Mora grew frustrated by several months of inactivity. However, once he did challenge for his first world title in June 2008, Mora rose to the occasion, moving down in weight to battle WBC 154lb. champion Vernon Forrest. Using his unorthodox style, Mora was able to outbox and outpoint Forrest over 12 rounds to seize the championship. Moving back up to middleweight, a fight with then-champion Kelly Pavlik in 2009 fell through when Pavlik pulled out for medical reasons. Following that disappointment, Mora endured a couple controversial decision defeats, as well as a draw with Shane Mosley.

Starting in 2013, Mora regrouped and signed with promoter DiBella Entertainment, and has since put together four straight victories. In June 2013, Mora dominated the 29-2 former world title challenger Grzegorz Proksa on ESPN’s “Friday Night Fights” en route to earning a unanimous decision. He then reeled off consecutive fifth-round knockouts over another world title challenger in Milton Nunez and the 14-1 prospect Samuel Rogers. In both of those contests, Mora employed a more aggressive approach than he had earlier in his career, looking to focus more on his power and entertaining the audience. He ended 2014 with a shutout win over the always-game Dashon Johnson in December. Although the chance to fight for a middleweight world title fell through, Mora is eager to continue on his quest toward achieving that goal and standing in his way is Abraham Han.

“It wasn’t meant to be, with me and JT, so now it’s on with Han,” said Mora. “It’s great to be fighting back on ESPN, and for the USBA championship. Han is a tough competitor and the fans should expect a terrific contest, but I am determined to once again prove that I am a world-class fighter. An impressive victory will springboard me toward a world title opportunity.”

Coming from a fighting family, the popular Abraham Han, who is from Alabama but trains in Houston, Texas, first excelled at kickboxing, as per his family’s legacy, before deciding to fully focus on boxing. As an amateur, Han gained considerable experience by competing against the likes of Tim Bradley, Daniel Jacobs, Karim Mayfield, Edwin Rodriguez, Fernando Guerrero, Dominic Wade, and others. He started his professional boxing career scoring three first-round knockouts before easily dominating the 6-0 prospect Ibaheim King to earn a six-round unanimous decision in May 2009. Another six consecutive explosive knockouts followed, all within three rounds or less, demonstrating the power that Han possesses.

Building his record to 19-0, Han was featured on ESPN’s “Friday Night Fights” in July 2013, facing the unbeaten Glen Tapia. Engaging Tapia in an exciting war, Han was not only hampered by having to move down to junior middleweight, but also by suffering a severe cut from a head clash early in the fight. He has since bolstered his career with four victories in a row, including a brutal second-round stoppage over veteran contender Juan Carlos Candelo, halting him quicker than anyone had previously, for the Universal Boxing Federation middleweight championship. In his last bout on October 18, at the Stub Hub Center, in Carson, California, Han, a considerable underdog going in, impressively earned a 10-round decision over the 32-1 heavy-handed, world-rated Marcos Reyes in a bout televised by HBO Latino. He is now ranked No. 15 by the IBF.

“I’m very excited to face Sergio Mora on Friday, February 6,” said Abraham Han. “With my win over Marcos Reyes last October, I’m confident that I will be fully prepared to come out victorious against Mora as well.”

Tickets are on sale now at a reduced rate and are priced at $20.95, $34.95, $48.95 and $62.95, plus tax and service charges. They can be purchased at the Beau Rivage Theatre box office, through any Ticketmaster outlet or online at Ticketmaster.com. Doors open at 4:45 p.m., with the first bout scheduled for 5:30 p.m.

For more information on the fight, visit www.dbe1.com, www.goossenpromotions.com, www.espn.com/boxing, and www.beaurivage.com. Visit us on Facebook at facebook/DiBellaEntertainment, facebook/goossenboxing, facebook/ESPNBoxing and facebook/beaurivage. You can also follow on Twitter @loudibella @DiBellaEnt @goossenboxing @ESPNBoxing @BeauBiloxi and #BeauBoxing.

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The Sweet Science

Articles

2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

8 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

The WBC World Super Featherweight title bout between Francisco Vargas and Takashi Miura came on one of the biggest boxing stages of 2015, as the bout served as the HBO pay-per-view’s co-main event on November 21st, in support of Miguel Cotto vs Saul Alvarez.

Miura entered the fight with a (29-2-2) record and he was making the fifth defense of his world title, while Vargas entered the fight with an undefeated mark of (22-0-1) in what was his first world title fight. Both men had a reputation for all-out fighting, with Miura especially earning high praise for his title defense in Mexico where he defeated Sergio Thompson in a fiercely contested battle.

The fight started out hotly contested, and the intensity never let up. Vargas seemed to win the first two rounds, but by the fourth round, Miura seemed to pull ahead, scoring a knock-down and fighting with a lot of confidence. After brawling the first four rounds, Miura appeared to settle into a more technical approach. Rounds 5 and 6 saw the pendulum swing back towards Vargas, as he withstood Miura’s rush to open the fifth round and the sixth round saw both men exchanging hard punches.

The big swinging continued, and though Vargas likely edged Miura in rounds 5 and 6, Vargas’ face was cut in at least two spots and Miura started to assert himself again in rounds 7 and 8. Miura was beginning to grow in confidence while it appeared that Vargas was beginning to slow down, and Miura appeared to hurt Vargas at the end of the 8th round.

Vargas turned the tide again at the start of the ninth round, scoring a knock down with an uppercut and a straight right hand that took Miura’s legs and sent him to the canvas. Purely on instinct, Miura got back up and continued to fight, but Vargas was landing frequently and with force. Referee Tony Weeks stepped in to stop the fight at the halfway point of round 9 as Miura was sustaining a barrage of punches.

Miura still had a minute and a half to survive if he was going to get out of the round, and it was clear that he was not going to stop fighting.

A back and forth battle of wills between two world championship level fighters, Takashi Miura versus “El Bandido” Vargas wins the 2015 Fight of the Year.

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Articles

Jan 9 in Germany – Feigenbutz and De Carolis To Settle Score

Published

8 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

This coming Saturday, January 9th, the stage is set at the Baden Arena in Offenburg, Germany for a re-match between Vincent Feigenbutz and Giovanni De Carolis. The highly anticipated re-match is set to air on SAT.1 in Germany, and Feigenbutz will once again be defending his GBU and interim WBA World titles at Super Middleweight.

The first meeting between the two was less than three months ago, on October 17th and that meeting saw Feigenbutz controversially edge De Carolis on the judge’s cards by scores of (115-113, 114-113 and 115-113). De Carolis scored a flash knock down in the opening round, and he appeared to outbox Feigenbutz in the early going, but the 20 year old German champion came on in the later rounds.

The first bout is described as one of the most crowd-pleasing bouts of the year in Germany, and De Carolis and many observers felt that the Italian had done enough to win.

De Carolis told German language website RAN.DE that he was more prepared for the re-match, and that due to the arrogance Feigenbutz displayed in the aftermath of the first fight, he was confident that he had won over some of the audience. Though De Carolis fell short of predicting victory, he promised a re-vamped strategy tailored to what he has learned about Feigenbutz, whom he termed immature and inexperienced.

The stage is set for Feigenbutz vs De Carolis 2, this Saturday January 9th in Offenburg, Germany. If you can get to the live event do it, if not you have SAT.1 in Germany airing the fights, and The Boxing Channel right back here for full results.

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Articles

2015 Knock Out of the Year – Saul Alvarez KO’s James Kirkland

Published

8 years ago

December 29, 2015

The Sweet Science

On May 9th of 2015, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez delivered a resonant knock-out of James Kirkland on HBO that wins the 2015 KO of the Year.

The knock-out itself came in the third round, after slightly more than two minutes of action. The end came when Alvarez delivered a single, big right hand that caught Kirkland on the jaw and left him flat on his back after spinning to the canvas.Alvarez was clearly the big star heading into the fight. The fight was telecast by HBO for free just one week after the controversial and disappointing Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao fight, and Alvarez was under pressure to deliver the type of finish that people were going to talk about. Kirkland was happy to oblige Alvarez, taking it right to Alvarez from the start. Kirkland’s aggression saw him appear to land blows that troubled the young Mexican in the early going. Alvarez played good defense, and he floored Kirkland in the first round, displaying his power and his technique in knocking down an aggressive opponent.

However, Kirkland kept coming at Alvarez and the fight entered the third round with both men working hard and the feeling that the fight would not go the distance. Kirkland continued to move forward, keeping “Canelo” against the ropes and scoring points with a barrage of punches while looking for an opening.

At around the two minute mark, Alvarez landed an uppercut that sent Kirkland to the canvas again. Kirkland got up, but it was clear that he did not have his legs under him. Kirkland was going to try to survive the round, but Alvarez had an opportunity to close out the fight. The question was would he take it?

Alvarez closed in on Kirkland, putting his opponent’s back to the ropes. Kirkland was hurt, but he was still dangerous, pawing with punches and loading up for one big shot.

But it was the big shot “Canelo” threw that ended the night. Kirkland never saw it coming, as he was loading up with a huge right hand of his own. The right Alvarez threw cracked Kirkland in the jaw, and his eyes went blank. His big right hand whizzed harmlessly over the head of a ducking Alvarez, providing the momentum for the spin that left Kirkland prone on the canvas.

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez went on to defeat Miguel Cotto in his second fight of 2015 and he is clearly one of boxing’s biggest stars heading into 2016. On May 9th Alvarez added another reel to his highlight film when he knocked out James Kirkland with the 2015 “Knock Out of the Year”.

Photo by naoki fukuda

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