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Tix Info For Jermain Taylor-Sergio Mora Fight

Published

9 years ago

January 7, 2015

The Sweet Science

JERMAIN TAYLOR BEGINS SECOND REIGNAS MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPION

SET TO DEFEND IBF MIDDLEWEIGHT CROWN AGAINST FORMER JUNIOR MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPION SERGIO MORA

LIVE ON ESPN2 FRIDAY NIGHT FIGHTS FEBRUARY 6 AT BEAU RIVAGE RESORT & CASINO IN BILOXI, MISSISSIPPI

Tickets on Sale Now

New York, NY (1/7/15) – On Friday, Feb. 6, DiBella Entertainment and Goossen Promotions will present an exciting edition of ESPNFriday Night Fights when IBF middleweight champion Jermain “Bad Intentions” Taylor (33-4-1, 20KO’s) puts his IBF middleweight championship crown on the line against former junior middleweight champion and “The Contender: Season One” winner Sergio “The Latin Snake” Mora (27-3-2, 9KO’s). The 12-round championship bout is set 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 is a highly competitive fight and a very important one for the 160lb. division,” said Lou DiBella, President of DiBella Entertainment. “This is a huge opportunity for both Jermain and Sergio and it is a fight that nearly happened many years ago. Now both of their careers have come full circle and we anticipate a very exciting ‘must-win’ fight between two of the best middleweights in the world on Feb. 6.”

“I’m honored to work with my good friend Lou DiBella on this highly anticipated IBF middleweight championship between Jermain Taylor and Sergio Mora on Feb. 6, telecast live on ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights,” said Tom Brown of Goossen Promotions.

“Jermain Taylor’s world title fight in October against Sam Soliman was the second highest-rated fight of the year on ESPN2,” said Brian Kweder, ESPN Senior Director of Programming and Acquisitions. “We expect similar results in what promises to be an even more action-packed fight against Sergio Mora.”

“MGM Resorts International and Beau Rivage are pleased to host this middleweight championship bout and have Taylor defend his title in the same great venue where he earned it back just a few short months ago,” said George P. Corchis, Jr., President and COO of MGM Resorts International’s Southern Operations. “We look forward to putting on another world-class televised event and showcasing a great fight.”

Seven years after losing his middleweight crown to Kelly Pavlik, Jermain Taylor regained the IBF title on Oct. 8 of last year defeating veteran Australian belt-holder Sam Soliman via unanimous decision. Over the course of 12 rounds, held at Beau Rivage, Taylor dictated the pace with a thudding and consistent jab. Using that punch to set up his power shots, Taylor went on to knock down Soliman a total of four times in the most impressive victory of his comeback thus far that began in 2011 following a two-year layoff.

It was in 2005 that Taylor upset Hall-of-Famer Bernard Hopkins to become the undisputed middleweight champion. Taylor made four successful defenses of his belts, before moving up to the super middleweight division and later briefly retiring following back-to-back losses. Taylor returned to the ring in December of 2011, and put together four impressive victories to earn his shot at Soliman. Now with a championship belt back firmly around his waist, Taylor is ready to begin his second reign as middleweight champion of the world when he takes on the former champion Mora.

“I am thrilled to be returning to Beau Rivage in Biloxi to defend my IBF middleweight world title,” said Jermain Taylor. “Regaining the belt meant everything to me and I will be 100 percent focused in training camp to retain my championship. On February 6, boxing fans will be in for a real exciting night of action when I defeat the Latin Snake, Sergio Mora.”

Sergio Mora, now rated No. 13 by the IBF, was originally supposed to face Taylor for his unified middleweight crown back in 2007, but the fight never materialized. However, after some months of inactivity and frustration, Mora finally received his first world title shot in June 2008, going down in weight to challenge 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 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. Now that his career has come full circle, nearly eight years after he initially turned down the chance to face Taylor, Mora, at 34 years old, has the opportunity of a lifetime.

“I’m a firm believer in destiny,” said Mora. “My trainer Dean Campos instilled that in me early in my career. The fight is happening now for a reason. I wasn’t ready to fight Taylor then [in 2007]. I’m more than ready now. I don’t believe in coincidences. I believe in destiny.”

Tickets are on sale now and priced at $29.95, $49.95, $69.95 and 89.95, 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.

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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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