Round by Round: Sergio Mora vs. Vernon Forrest II

Tonight's first of two main events on pay-per-view is a rematch between Sergio Mora and Vernon Forrest. As the challenger, Forrest enters first. He's 5-3 in title fights and the commentators are asking what he has left. They also comment on his age.

Mora now enters. The crowd sounds like they are leaning towards him.

Forrest is 40-3 and Mora is 21-0. The record shows that Mora won the first time these two fighters met.


Round One

Both fighters start off hesitant to throw a punch. Forrest throws first and Mora dodges and clinches. Both fighters are feeling each other out early on.

Mora lands a jab to the head and a hook to the body. Forrest now lands a good left counter punch. The ref tells Mora to keep his punches up but there is no formal warning. Mora shows good upper body movement.

This round is tough to score since not much happens.

Spartan117: 10-9 Mora


Round Two

Mora starts off the action in round two. Forrest lands a stiff jab and knocks Mora off balance. He then lands a fast combination to the head.

Both fighters are doing a good job getting the jab going to set up combos. The crowd starts to chant for Mora.

There is a lot of clinching from both fighters, but they are viciously fighting out of them.

Spartan117: 10-9 Mora


Round Three

Mora starts off the round throwing fast combos. There's a clash of heads and Forrest backpedals, holding his head and taking some punishment in the process. The ref apparently didn't see it.

Forrest lands a great left hook and takes off the pressure from Mora. He looks to be loading up his power right.

The two slug it out at the end of the round.

Spartan117: 10-9 Forrest


Round Four

Some swelling is starting to form above Mora's left eye. He means business in the fourth, throwing power shots upstairs but mostly to the body. The fighters are separated and told to watch their heads.

Both Forrest and Mora are keeping their hands a little low and good punches are landing from both fighters.

Forrest lands a great straight right and Mora drops his hands to taunt Forrest. Forrest is landing more as the fight continues and is landing good counter punches.

Spartan117: 10-9 Forrest


Round Five

Now the fighters' roles are slightly reversed as Forrest is more the aggressor. Forrest is the busier fighter, landing at a higher percentage.

Mora is holding Forrest's arm in clinches and hitting him in the process. He should be warned, but it goes unnoticed by the ref.

Now Forrest gets warned for holding and hitting. He comes back and lands the best punch in the fight, a huge right cross that backs off Mora. A cut forms over Mora's left eye.

Forrest lands a ridiculous combo in the last 10 seconds of the round. It looked like Mora could go down, but he makes it out of the round.

Spartan117: 10-9 Forrest


Round Six

We are told that Mora's cut was opened by a punch and not by a headbutt. Forrest is doing a lot of damage and does have the power to knock Mora out.

Mora continues to land more punches in the clinches. Forrest backs Mora against the ropes and unleashes the punches. Mora is landing good jabs, but not a whole lot else. Forrest lands another serious right hand set up by a jab that bothers Mora.

Forrest gets back in and lands another hard combo. Mora looks like he's in trouble. Mora clinches to hold on. Mora continues to throw but, Forrest is doing a good job stopping the punches and coming back to land great combos.

Spartan117: 10-9 Forrest


Round Seven

Forrest's face looks like it's bruising, but he is clearly winning the rounds. Forrest isn't letting up in the seventh and comes in throwing his straight right that's set up by a jab. Mora hasn't stopped throwing either, and keeps throwing his jabs.

Mora is breathing out of his mouth now, which can make Forrest's punches hurt even more. Forrest backs Mora against the ropes again, landing a great combo set up by the jab.

Forrest lands a huge right hand right before the bell that buckles Mora's knees and the ref calls it a knockdown. Mora says he didn't go down, but it looked like he did.

Spartan117: 10-8 Forrest


Round Eight

Mora looked discouraged between rounds. Forrest smells blood at the start of the round and looks to be going for the knockout, but he's also keeping his composure and sticking to his technique. Forrest's confidence is growing.

Mora gets backed into the ropes again and the trend of him taking punches while in that position continues. Mora clinches to hold on. Forrest gets more comfortable in the ring and starts bouncing on his toes towards the end of the round.

Spartan117: 10-9 Forrest


Round Nine

Mora looks slightly energized and comes out using good movement around the ring. There's not much punching action from either fighter in the first minute.

Mora is landing some good jabs, but not following up with anything. Mora lands a very hard right hand and backs up Forrest. It looks like the hardest shot of the fight.

Forrest stays up and continues to throw power shots. He lands a great uppercut and backs up Mora. Mora is now back in the same position he was before landing his power shot.

Mora takes a big combo in the last 10 seconds and leans on the ropes to stay on his feet.

Spartan117: 10-9 Forrest


Round 10

Mora seems to have a greater sense of urgency and comes out firing early in the round. Forrest stays on his game and lands some counter punches.

Despite winning the rounds and landing more punches, Forrest's defense stays together. The crowd tries to energize Mora and it looks like it works momentarily.

Mora throws some shots in the clinches that look dangerously low, then gets backed against the ropes again and gets punched in the process.

Spartan117: 10-9 Forrest


Round 11

Mora comes out and lands some big right hands. Forrest gets himself together and gets back in the action.

Forrest gets Mora in the ropes again and lands another solid combo. Mora lands a great right hand to get out, and that backs Forrest off.

Forrest is still coming forward, but both fighters look a little tired in this round.

Spartan117: 10-9 Forrest


Round 12

In the final round Mora looks like he realizes that he's down on the points and needs to go for the knockout. He's really loading up his right hand.

Both fighters are trading huge power shots at close quarters. Mora is getting sloppy and is taking more of the harder shots. He continues to fire back with power shots, and comes into a big left by Forrest.

It looks like Mora was going to go down, but he manages to stay up. Forrest lands another big combo that looks like a summation of the fight before the bell rings.

Spartan117: 10-9 Forrest

Spartan117 scores it 118-109 Forrest. The judges score it 118-109, 117-110, and 119-108, all for the winner—and new WBC light middleweight champion—Vernon "The Viper" Forrest.

Forrest says that anybody can have a bad night and that's what he had during his last fight. He says his jab set up everything. "It was boxing 101," Forrest said.

He also adds that this fight was "the difference between a contender and a champion," jabbing Mora for coming up on the reality show The Contender.