SAN ANTONIO – If you come to Texas and fight a Texan you have to beat that Texan down. Californian Sergio Mora returned to Texas and did not beat Austin’s Brian Vera down (though he probably outboxed him), and again the result went Vera’s way.
Saturday in the main event of a “Solo Boxeo” card promoted by local outfit Leija-Battah Promotions within Alamodome’s Illusions Theater, in an excellent rematch of their 2011 fight Vera (21-6, 12 KOs) decisioned Mora (23-3-2, 7 KOs) by split scores of 114-114, 118-110 and 117-111. The first score was accurate, the others were likely too wide by half.
Afterwards, a furious Mora, who goes by the moniker “Latin Snake,” had venomous things to say about the decision and the state of Texas.
From the opening bell, insiders knew the fight would be determined by Mora’s accuracy or Vera’s activity. Vera’s activity won. Though Mora landed a multitude of right crosses from his shifting stance, and often had Vera outclassed, Vera’s relentlessness impressed the local judges more.
After an opening three rounds that saw Vera busier and Mora significantly more accurate, Vera’s busyness began to tell. Mora, who’d successfully set up shop in both neutral corners and snapped Vera’s head back with counter uppercuts, found his mouth open and his activity diminished as the middle rounds came and went.
But as the championship rounds approached in a match for a vacant NABO middleweight title, and as Vera’s pace slowed slightly, Mora appeared to become the aggressor, landing with hard combinations in the fight’s closing six minutes. Ultimately, though, it was an effort by Mora ineffective as it was tardy, and Vera had his second victory over Mora in as many fights.
ANTONIO ESCALANTE VS. LEONILO MIRANDA
An old saw goes: The man is most dangerous when he is hurt.
That old saw proved itself true once more Saturday when El Paso featherweight Antonio Escalante, retreating on buckling knees, stopped, planted and connected with a short right cross from which Mexican Leonilo Miranda could not rise.
The official end came at 1:19 of round 2, after an uneventful first round saw neither Escalante (27-4, 19 KOs) not Miranda (26-5, 25 KOs) land anything meaningful. Early in the second, though, Miranda connected with a left hand that affected Escalante, putting him on stiff legs.
Then Miranda leaped in, emboldened by Escalante’s retreat, and Escalante snapped a perfect right hand. The 10-count was unnecessary.
BENJAMIN WHITAKER VS. GERMAIN CARSON
Saturday’s first match featured a professional debut by Benjamin Whitaker, a local welterweight, against an awkward fellow Texan named Germain Carson – an entirely successful debut by Whitaker that saw him win by stoppage at 2:33 of round 2.
After a first round that found Whitaker (1-0, 1 KO) leaning with right-hand leads on the southpaw Carson (0-2), leads Carson picked up and evaded for the most part, Whitaker began to move forward and look for openings. With Carson’s high chin, Whitaker found a big opening quickly enough.
“I felt better, actually,” Whitaker said of using lighter gloves and fighting without headgear for the first time. “My hands felt lighter. I liked it.”
A left hook from Whitaker caught Carson late in the second round and dropped him for the full count of 10. It was an excellent debut for a likable local prospect before a lively crowd.
DAQUAN ARNETT VS. ISHWAR AMADOR
The evening’s second bout, a junior middleweight match between undefeated Floridian Daquan Arnett (6-0, 4 KOs) and many-times-defeated Mexican Ishwar Amador (11-11, 7 Kos) did not last long. In fact, it lasted only so long as it took Arnett, an Al Haymon-advised fighter with a Floyd Mayweather style, to land his first right hand.
That right hand was a crisp cross that found its home on Amador’s chin and resulted in a no-count-needed knockout for Arnett at 0:36 of round 1. Arnett, who has both talent and proper management, is a fighter to keep an eye on.
ADAM LOPEZ VS. MARIO DELGADO
The evening’s third match found former local amateur standout Adam Lopez (4-0, 2 KOs) making quick work of fellow Texas bantamweight Mario Delgado (0-3) of Brownsville, stopping him with a left hook to the belly at 1:21 of round 1. Lopez, who suffered a flash knockdown in the first round of his last appearance at Illusions Theater, fought more effectively Saturday, though his competition has diminished considerably lately.
STEVE HALL VS. MILTON RAMOS
In the undercard’s most entertaining match, a battle between Texas welterweights, local fan favorite Steve Hall (5-3, 5 KOs), an Englishman who wears a sombrero and serape to the ring, went through six hellish rounds with Milton “Bad Boy” Ramos (8-3-2, 2 KOs) of Waco, in a match Ramos won by unanimous scores of 60-54, 59-55 and 58-56.
From the opening minute, when a balance shot stunned Hall, Ramos found his San Antonio opponent with most every right hand he threw. Hall was game, though, wading into whatever Ramos served, and tasting three or four of them at a time, in the hopes of landing a right of his own or a left hook behind Ramos’ right elbow.
The match was closer than six-rounds-to-one, but the right man was victorious, much to local fans’ dismay.
UNDERCARD
Saturday’s fifth match saw local junior featherweight Javier “Pitbull” Rodriguez (3-0-1) decision fellow San Antonian Kermit Hendricks (1-3) by three scores of 39-37.
The penultimate match of the evening, a swing bout between Texas featherweights Jerren Cochran (5-0, 3 KOs) and Jesus Rocha (3-3), began on a very entertaining note and ended in a unanimous decision for Cochran – scores of 40-35, 40-35 and 39-36 – who got hit with a surprising number of punches for a man who fights out of a shell.
Opening bell rang on the card’s professional bouts at 7:10 PM local time. Attendance was estimated by someone associated with the promotion at about 3,000.
