by Geoffrey Ciani – Bryan Vera (18-5, 11 KOs) outworked and outhustled Sergio Mora (22-2-2, 6 KOs) over twelve rounds to score the upset and earn a split decision. The stark contrast in styles actually provided for an entertaining scrap that was better than expected. It was a solid and consistent effort from Vera who showed steady focus and determination throughout the contest.
Right from the opening bell Vera would set the pace as he pressed forward and attacked his defensive minded foe. Mora was in typical form. He was gauging what Vera brought to the table, while trying to move, slip, and time incoming punches. Vera, however, was undeterred by the normally elusive Mora’s rhythm and movements and he was able to find the mark with some big leather early and often.
Vera continued this trend in round two and was simply getting the best of Mora on sheer activity. Making matter worse from Mora, he was eating a lot more shots than we are accustomed to seeing. Vera’s awkward use of angles confused Mora which neutralized his ordinarily impeccable ability to avoid incoming fire. Mora began countering more effectively in the third and fourth rounds, but Vera was still controlling the action and the pace of the fight.
Round five saw both fighters doing good work on the inside, clubbing each other with heavy shots at close range. Rounds five through eight were all extremely close rounds that were difficult to score. Oftentimes Mora would start a round strong during the first minute, the action would even up in the middle portion, and Vera would finish strong over the final 60 seconds which perhaps enabled him to steal a round or two along the way.
Mora was doing a fairly good job counterpunching and slipping punches, but Vera was still catching him far more frequently. Mora finished a close ninth round strongly, and he carried this momentum in toe the tenth round where he was landing the cleaner harder shots, but it was too little too late. Two of the three judges scored the bout 96-94 for Vera with the dissenting judge having the same score for Mora.
It was an impressive victory for Bryan Vera, especially considering the fact he was written off by most experts as a result of losing four of his last five since upsetting top contender Andy Lee. The win puts him back in the picture for another big fight in the wide-open middleweight landscape. In fact, the win might even help reignite demand for a rematch between Vera and Lee.
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