By Rick Reeno (photo by Paul Gallegos)
Later tonight, the term "Mexican warrior" will be tested on the highest scale in the sport. Javier Mora (20-2-1, 18 KOs), known to fans in California as "The Monster," takes a serious step up in class when he clashes with two-time world title challenger, Fres "The Big O" Oquendo (25-3, 16 KOs). The bout will be broadcast live on the popular Fox Sports program the “Best Damn Sports Show Period," from the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, California.
Mora, coming off the biggest win of his career, looks to once again prove the experts wrong by beating Oquendo.
When most fans think of Mexican fighters, they think of the lower weight classes. Fighters like Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, the Marquez brothers, and many other well-known fighters from Mexico are based below the middleweight level.
"There are a lot of big Mexicans, they just don't know how to box," Mora said.
Growing up in a rough neighborhood within southern California, Mora was surrounded by violence, crime and friends who were gang members. In an effort to escape the streets, he took up boxing.
"Most of the people in my family were gang oriented. I was always fighting and things started to get hectic once I became 10, 11-years-old. One of my gang counselors turned me to the sport of boxing. A lot of us tried it out, but I was the only one who kept up with it. I fell in love with it."
After being hit with the boxing itch, Mora spent most of his time in the boxing gym, and stayed away from the gang life. He obtained his amateur license when he was 12-years-old. There were problems with finding amateur opponents his own age, because even though he was only 12-years-old, Mora was physically much bigger than most kids in his age group.
"I was 5'10 and 278 pounds."
Mora had his first amateur bout at age 14, but due to problems with finding adequate opponents in California who were his age and more importantly his own size, he did not have a long amateur career. The final tally of Mora's amateur record was only 23-9. At 16, Mora entered his first national competition. It was his dream to go to the Olympics like one his idols, Oscar De La Hoya. The dream of going to the Olympics never materialized and Mora went pro to chase a new dream - to become Mexico's first heavyweight champion.
There were plenty of highs when Mora started his career, and there were also some lows. In 2002, Mora, then 16-0, was upset by journeyman Charles Wilson. After tasting the canvas for the first time in the third round, Mora battled back, but a clash of heads forced the fight to a close in the fifth round. Since there were at least four completed rounds, the score cards came into play. It was the first taste of defeat as the judges gave a technical decision to his opponent.
"I'm not big on excuses, but I fought that fight with a hurt hand. I blame my management because I kept complaining about my hand for a while and they did nothing to fix it. I hurt my hand three fights prior to my first loss. I ended up getting surgery on my hand and was out of the ring for over a year and a half," said Mora.
Mora came back to the ring in 2004, to quickly pick up two knockout wins. In the third fight of his post-surgery return, Mora was upset once again, dropping a unanimous eight-round decision to Charles Davis. It was obvious that Mora was not in proper form for the fight as he came to the ring in poor shape and admitted that he barely did any training for the bout. Regardless of his lack of training, he still felt that he won the fight, but at the same time knew that his lack of training caused him to be very tired down the stretch.
He returned in 2005 to pick up another knockout win before landing the one fight that would turn his career around. Former heavyweight challenger Kirk Johnson came knocking and Mora was happy to accept the offer for the nationally televised fight in March. Ironically, Mora had no trainer for his bout with Johnson and had to do a lot of the training himself.
Top-rated heavyweight contender, James Toney, helped prepare Mora for the Johnson bout by showing him some of his old-school tricks. Mora sees Toney as a mentor and one of his best friends inside and outside of the ring.
The bout with Johnson was exciting battle that ended in the most unusual of circumstances. After building an early lead, Johnson appeared to be in trouble as Mora began to frequently land his power shots to stage his own rally on the score cards. In the seventh round, Mora stepped on Johnson foot while landing a hard jab and Johnson hit the deck, badly dislocating his right knee in the process. Unable to continue, Mora was awarded with a technical-knockout nod.
"Johnson was dead tired. He had nothing left at the end. I felt very strong and thought I was going to knock him out before the fight was stopped. I was landing a lot of punches. I had him hurt a few times."
After the Johnson upset, Mora became a celebrity in his neighborhood and the surrounding communities.
"I was shown love from the local newspapers, people on the street. I could walk in any neighborhood, even in those that were once my rivals. I want to get the support of the Mexican fans. Mexicans are big boxing fans and I want to get a big following with them."
The fight with Johnson was less than three months ago. Mora wants to make another statement by beating Fres Oquendo, a fighter looking to use Mora as a stepping stone towards another title shot. Unlike his bout with Johnson, Mora is being trained by Joe Goossen - who is regarded as one of the best trainers in the business.
"He might be looking past me, but I'm going to bring it and I hope he does too. I'm coming to knock his head off. From what I see he fights scared. Joe (Goossen) is teaching me a lot of things. I'm training 110 percent for this fight. Against Oquendo, I'm going to let my athleticism come out. I want to become the next great fighter from Mexico."
Mora is hoping that a win over Oquendo will propel him towards a title shot in 2007. Mexicans are regarded as some of the most talented fighters in the lower weight classes. A Mexican heavyweight is close to an anomaly in the sport, Mora is hoping to change the public perception that fighters from Mexico are unable to hang with the big boys of boxing.