Sergio Mora gets the Win But Did He deserve It?

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Sergio MoraThe fans filled in at the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi for some boxing action on Friday evening. It started off with a bang as Dustin “The Clean Coal Assassin” Echard (10-0, 7 KO), took on Ahmed Elbiali (8-0, 8 KO) in the opening bout.

Echard, who came in with no amateur experience, started off fast, landing six punches unanswered, but Elbiali came back with some deleterious body punches, including some impressive counters, to win the round. In the second, it was Elbiali who made some noise, connecting with a colossal right hand that dropped Echard outside the ropes. Echard was so disoriented; he initially did not know how to climb back into the ring.

It did not get much better; Echard was in outer space as Elbiali came in for dessert before referee Bill Clancy had seen enough, as Elbiali scored his ninth knockout in nine professional bouts. Echard suffered his first professional loss and will have to work on protecting himself if he wants to become a world champion in this sport.

In the penultimate bout to the main event, Erickson Lubin (8-0, 6 KO) faced off against Michael Finney (11-1, 10 KO). Both fighters tried to make a stand early, with Finney trying to use his hand speed. On the other hand, Lubin had a combination of superior hand speed, fast combinations, and counter punches. Finney simply had no answer, getting smashed by just about every punch Lubin was throwing.

By timing, Finney with the jab and counter left hooks, Finney’s right eye was already swelling by the second round. In the third, Lubin landed a five-punch combination and another short combination, as Finney kept coming forward into his shots. In the fourth, Lubin once again sets the standard, slamming Finney with a four-punch combination and menacing body punches that made Finney’s ancestors cringe. At the end of the fourth, Lubin was 81/137 while Finney was 19/71, just a total mismatch.

By the sixth round, Finney’s right eye was nearly swollen shut from taking so many punches. Later in the round, a straight right hand from Lubin busted open Finney’s mouth as if Finney needed that to top off an execrable performance. Long story short, all three judges had it a shutout, 80-72 in favor of Erickson via unanimous decision.
Erickson Lubin improved to 9-0 while Michael Finney dropped to 12-2.

Our main event featured Sergio Mora (27-3, 9 KO), a former 154 lb titlist, and Abie Han (23-1, 14 KO). The first round was vitiated with a lack of action from both fighters, with Mora dancing around, landing some jabs and short right hands, while Han was trying to find the dancing Mora, but could not get the job done, landing a lazy jab, but nothing more.

The second round was concordant. Both fighters were punching, but coming up with carbon dioxide, while the other consistency was a reverberating lady who caterwauled throughout the fight. Han was sort of effective with his counter shots, but nothing that would take a fan out of their seats in excitement.

In the third, it was Mora on defense as he took some punishment against the ropes from Han, holding and attempting to pull down Han at times, in an attempt to thwart the combinations and counter shots.
As the fight dragged on, Mora dragged himself, somehow, back into contention.

At the beginning of the eighth round, Tha Boxing Voice had it scored five rounds to two for Han, which became five rounds to four at the end of the ninth round. However, Mora could not perpetuate the momentum, eating a counter uppercut which dropped him to the canvas.

To avoid Han’s shots on the inside, Mora attempted, once again, to pull Han down to the canvas, which earned him a reprimand from referee Keith Hughes. Do not ask us how, for we do not know the Lord, but Sergio Mora won a split decision, with scores of 115-112, 114-113, and 112-115.

Once again, the sport of boxing has to deal with yet another rush of opprobrium, as Sergio Mora looked like Sergio Mora, the same Sergio Mora that Larry Merchant said he never wanted to see again after a dismal performance against Shane Mosley, in 2010.

Tha Boxing Voice had it 116-111 for Abie Han, who we can only hope will not suffer too much damage from this evening’s result.
Mora improves to 28-3, with Han falling to 23-2.