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by David P. Greisman - Primetime television, May 24, 2005: On a night when Sylvester Stallone performed as well at color commentary as he once did with enunciating “Yo, Adrian,” middleweight prospect Sergio Mora won a seven-round decision and was named champion of boxing television series “The Contender.”
Two years later, Mora was still neither a champion nor a contender, having long ago exited Mark Burnett’s reality show, only to land smack dab in the middle of reality.
Mora’s questionable rankings with the International Boxing Federation, World Boxing Association and World Boxing Council, combined with the marketability gained through his brief period of celebrity, had made the Los Angeles native the frontrunner for Jermain Taylor’s voluntary defense of the middleweight championship. For an undefeated prospect whose best and only showings since coming off of “The Contender” were victories over Archak Ter-Meliksetian and Eric Regan, facing Taylor meant a perhaps undeserved opportunity to appear on the grandest stage and under the brightest lights, to receive a major paycheck and, if he could pull off the upset, to become the top name at 160 pounds.
Mora wanted more.
Taylor’s people hoped to stage the match in Memphis, Tenn. Mora, who perhaps didn’t realize that the most his 15 minutes of fame had done was land him within three sanctioning bodies’ top 15, didn’t want to appear in a city that borders Taylor’s native Arkansas.
“We’re not going to fight Jermain in May. We don’t want to fight in Memphis,” Contender promotional chief Jeff Wald told ESPN.com scribe Dan Rafael in March. “For a big championship fight like Taylor-Mora, we didn’t want to be in a place like Memphis, no offense to Memphis. We would rather do something more interesting.” [details]
Two years later, Mora was still neither a champion nor a contender, having long ago exited Mark Burnett’s reality show, only to land smack dab in the middle of reality.
Mora’s questionable rankings with the International Boxing Federation, World Boxing Association and World Boxing Council, combined with the marketability gained through his brief period of celebrity, had made the Los Angeles native the frontrunner for Jermain Taylor’s voluntary defense of the middleweight championship. For an undefeated prospect whose best and only showings since coming off of “The Contender” were victories over Archak Ter-Meliksetian and Eric Regan, facing Taylor meant a perhaps undeserved opportunity to appear on the grandest stage and under the brightest lights, to receive a major paycheck and, if he could pull off the upset, to become the top name at 160 pounds.
Mora wanted more.
Taylor’s people hoped to stage the match in Memphis, Tenn. Mora, who perhaps didn’t realize that the most his 15 minutes of fame had done was land him within three sanctioning bodies’ top 15, didn’t want to appear in a city that borders Taylor’s native Arkansas.
“We’re not going to fight Jermain in May. We don’t want to fight in Memphis,” Contender promotional chief Jeff Wald told ESPN.com scribe Dan Rafael in March. “For a big championship fight like Taylor-Mora, we didn’t want to be in a place like Memphis, no offense to Memphis. We would rather do something more interesting.” [details]