By Paul Strauss: Brian Vera might not have been able to shut Sergio “The Snake” Mora up, but he certainly quieted him down a bit. Vera managed to accomplish this feat on FNF at the Convention Center in Fort Worth, TX.
Prior to the start of the main event, Sergio said, “I wish someone would shut me up (prove me wrong), because I’ve only lost one fight, and that was to the former world champion Vernon Forrest, and I had one draw against the future hall of famer Sugar Shane Mosley. So, in my mind that makes me one of the best fighters in the world.”
It’s nice to have confidence and to be able to back it up. Prior to the start of things, a lot of people probably agreed with Mora, at least to the extent that he would win tonight’s fight. They expected the cocky but light punching Mora to be able to out box Vera and come away with a decision. But, Vera proved to be a little more cagey than Sergio expected.
Right from the start, Sergio tried to draw his opponent inside so that he could either catch him on the way in, or slip and slide on the inside and counter, especially with the left hook. Vera was aggressive throughout the fight, but he also was smart enough to back off when he knew Mora was setting a trap. He was most aggressive when Mora was on the move. It was those times when Vera managed to land his best shots. Mora would mistakenly think he was out of range.
The rest of the time, Vera stayed busy and kept accumulating points. Mora did exhibit his superior defensive skills, but too often he didn’t counter. Teddy Atlas offered a little tidbit he learned from his mentor Cus D’Amato. Teddy explained that Cus would tell fighters when they made a fighter miss, “You’ve done the hard part. Now do the fun part!” That of course meant hit back or make him pay. Well, tonight Sergio didn’t enjoy the “fun part” enough.
Neither one of these guys is a big banger, so even when the action was fierce, there wasn’t much damage being done. An exception to that came in round six when Vera landed a good right that opened a cut over Mora’s left eye. In the next round, a clash of heads also produced a cut over Mora’s right eye. Mora’s vision didn’t seem to be bothered by bleeding from either cut.
Teddy and Joe Tessitore thought the fight was very close, maybe a toss up. The corners of both fighters apparently agreed, because Mora was told to fight like it was the last round of his life (career). Vera’s corner told him to ignore the hometown fans, and go out there and win the round! Mora seemed to have won the ninth round, and was controlling the tenth with new found aggression and sharp punching, but then Vera came on again and was his usual busy self.
The three judges also saw it as a very close fight. Judge Brock Groom thought Mora did enough and scored the fight 96-94, but the other two had the same score, only for Vera. At age 31, Sergio might see a noticeable decline in offers now after suffering this split decision loss to a less than stellar opponent. As for Brian Vera, he expressed a desire to fight Kelly Pavlik. It’s commendable that he should want that fight, but the truth is if Kelly comes out of rehab with a good bit of his old talent, then Brian would most certainly get beat.
The semi-main event between Charles Hatley and Chris Chatman proved to be very exciting. Hatley had seven first round knockouts to his credit, and in the opening round it looked like fans might see his eighth. But, Chatman not only weathered the storm, he came on and made a fight of it.
Hatley was much more skilled and polished. He looked good and fought smart. Chatman was awkward and pushed his punches. However, he manged to push a lot of them. Both fighters transitioned from orthodox to southpaw. In fact, with Chatman it was the other way around. Hatley didn’t make the move until later in the fight, and it might have been due to a little fatique.
In the first round, Hatley came out fast, and drove Chatman back with a lightning fast flurry of punches, finally catching him with a right that dropped him. Chatman got up and looked for cover, but he did manage to fire off a shot here and there, just enough to keep Hatley honest.
For most of the remaining rounds, Hatley seemed to be in charge. At least he looked a lot better than Chatman. He was smoother, and punched in combinations and moved well. The heavy muscled Chatman bulled his way in close and then tried to work Hatley’s body, but also got off several good left uppercuts.
Even though Hatley was out boxing Chatman, the pressure seemed to be gradually getting to him . He seemed to tire a little and became more vulnerable. Still, it looked like he had done enough to probably win the fight. Chatman needed something big, and in the final round he manged to get it. From the southpaw stance, he landed a good left to Hatley’s chin. There was a split second delay, and then Hatley did a little of the chicken dance and down he went. He easily beat the count and came back fairly well, but Chatman had got his 10-8 round. That was enough for two of the judges, who believed he had earned himself a draw. The third judge still had it for Hatley, so two out of three got their way and the fight was scored a majority draw. It was an excellent comeback for Chris Chatman, and a disappointment for Charles Hatley. All in all a good night of boxing.