Hopkins-Jones Undercard: The Return of Sergio Mora

Last night the boxing community was treated to a dull and strange main event when Bernard Hopkins easily out-pointed Roy Jones, Jr. However, the night wasn't a total bust as the main event was preceded by five pretty decent undercard bouts.  

The first two were showcases of young Golden Boy fighters, one of whom was making his pro debut.  Both of the young men won easily by KO's in the second and fourth rounds, respectively.  

The third undercard was the return of Sergio Mora, which I'll get to shortly. 

In the fourth Undercard bout, a young Jr. Welterweight named Nahr easily knocked out his shorter, slower opponent in two.  In fact Nahr looked slick and his combinations were smooth through the abbreviated fight. 

The final undercard was perhaps Rocky Jaurez's last shot at moving up when he was out-pointed by Jason Litzau in a seven-round technical decision.  Litzau boxed well to earn the nod, but, as usual, Rocky was coming on late and an accidental clash of heads opened up a cut on Litzau that was enough for the ref to stop the fight.

It was a bad stoppage. The cut wasn't bleeding too terribly and it was underneath Litzau's eye so it posed no immediate danger to his vision.  

Anyway, on to what was the probably the best fight of the night:  Sergio Mora vs. Calvin Green.  Green had a decent record coming in, although he'd never fought on TV before. Mora was coming off an 18-month layoff so ring-rust was a concern in his camp.  

The two went at almost right away.  Green, being four inches shorter, took the role of the bull and used his jab to work his way inside.  Mora, not ready for the pressure, got pushed to the ropes in the early rounds where Green pursued a non-stop body attack.  After three rounds I had it 2-1 for Green. 

Then a change showed up in the fourth.  With half the round over, Mora found a way to spin out of the corner and immediately turn around to wail on Calvin Green.  In fac,t Mora pounded him with long-distance bombs for almost a full minute, but couldn't take the game Green out.  

Mora's ability to turn Calvin Green in the corners and apply pressure of his own changed the fight, and Mora began to build a lead on the cards.  Green wasn't going quietly, though, and continued to fight back using his pressure and body attack to score his own points.  But despite his best efforts, it wasn't quite enough.  I gave rounds four through six to Mora and in seven the "Latin Snake" was able to finish it.  

In round seven, Mora was continuing his turn and attack strategy, but this time he was able to plant his feet and really get leverage behind one enormous, deadly-looking right hand.  It was a really good punch and as soon as he landed it, there was an audible gasp from the audience.  The referee jumped in and saved Green from what was quickly becoming a bad beating.  

Mora looked good last night, I hope he gets some more fights on HBO or Showtime. 

Some of the young guys on the undercard, like Nahr, I want to see again as well.  All in all, it was a decent night at the fights, except of course, for the main event.