As I’m sure you know by now, they had three Contender alumni involved in three fights. The opener was the first ever live fight on ESPN Classic television, and was a battle between season one Contender Champion, undefeated Sergio “The Latin Snake” Mora and Elvin Ayala. The second had Contender fan favorite Alfonso Gomez against veteran Ben Tackie. This fight was televised live as episode seven of The Contender on ESPN. Fight number three found one of my personal Contender favorites Freddie Curiel facing Fontaine Cabell. Rounding out the card were Golden Boy Production fighters Ernest Johnson facing Arthur Brambilla.

Fight #1 – Mora vs. Ayala – Middleweight, scheduled 10 rounds

Mora has been criticized about turning down a chance to fight then-champion Jermain Taylor. Kelly Pavlik took the fight, and won by a TKO. But Mora did not feel the time was right for him then, and stands by that decision. Most recently, Sergio was scheduled to fight Kassim Ouma September 15, only to have that fight cancelled. Inactive for more than a year, Mora was teamed up with Ayala, and most felt that it would be a relatively easy fight for him. Problem was, Elvin had other ideas

Ayala referred to himself as “A mongoose that would get the snake.” There was no doubt that Elvin came to fight. From the opening bell he was aggressive, constantly pressing Mora. When Sergio did score some hits, Ayala came right back at him. All three judges gave round one to Ayala, but Mora came back in the next round to get the nod there. The next couple of rounds looked as if Mora would be able to take care of Ayala, but just when it would seem so, Elvin would come back with a flurry, turning any defensive posture back into an offensive one.

The fourth round saw both fighters scoring with shots to the head. A pretty active round was four, and it did not appear that either fighter really gained the upper hand here. At this point it was becoming obvious to a Mora fan, and I’m sure to any boxing aficionado, that Sergio wasn’t fighting the fight we were used to seeing. He looked slower, and not nearly as much on the attack as he normally is. It was about this time that I thought I might be witnessing Mora’s first loss in his professional career. From a personal point of view, that did not make me happy.

At the same time, was I ever impressed with Elvin. He was showing drive and determination, not allowing Mora to stay on him, and returning fire whenever possible. Sergio, who is known for a wait, attack, then wait again approach, was not demonstrating that usual assault, and Ayala was capitalizing on it.

Finally, slowly, Mora seemed to get into the groove a bit. He began to throw more combinations, and look a little more like the snake we are used to. He was finally starting to take control. Then, at the end of round eight, a clash of heads left Sergio with a cut above his left eye – the same eye that has seen damage twice before. To say this fired Mora up is an understatement. Mad about the cut and probably sensing that his unbeaten record was still in jeopardy, Sergio turned it on in the last two rounds and finished strong. The decision caused a buzz that is still circulating among fight fans:

Judge one – 96-94 Ayala

Judge two – 91-99 Mora

Judge three – 95-95 draw

So, Sergio still has a zero in the lost column, but will this split draw take him out of the running for a title fight? And what about that score from judge two? Teddy Atlas and Joe Tessitore felt that the score reflected what Ayala had feared; it would be hard to beat Mora on his home turf. Did Sergio really win all but the first round as those scores reflected? As a big Mora supporter, I would still have to say no. Even with the strong later rounds I am not sure whether or not Sergio was victorious.

When the scores were announced, Mora tossed off his robe and quickly left the ring. Ayala stayed to celebrate. A man of few words, he later stated that “A draw in his hometown is a win for me. I’ve only been training for 30 days. I know I put on a fight. Any time he’d like to do it again, I’d do it.”

Mora on the other hand, had a lot to say at the press conference. “First things first,” he began, “I’m very, very sorry to everyone, I’m embarrassed. I couldn’t box and move and do all that snake stuff, because I didn’t have it today. I just had to adapt and be versatile. I do believe I won the fight but, you know what?” Addressing Elvin he said, “ You did come to fight, brother, bottom line,” and he gave him a hand that others joined in with.

“But,” he continued, “I want to apologize to the fans, I want to apologize to The Contender, everyone who knows how I fight, that was not me, and I’m very embarrassed. I love to entertain, I love to put on a show.” He then explained how it felt to train so hard for the Ouma fight, only to have it jerked away. “I got this fight with Elvin Ayala who had a great record and I know he’s a great fighter, so I didn’t watch any tapes on him, because I just figured ‘there’s no way he’s going to beat me.’ The game of boxing is a game of life. Mentally you’ve got to be prepared for anything and everything. I wasn’t prepared tonight. I want to fight again as soon as possible.”

Fight #2 – Gomez vs. Tackie – Welterweight, scheduled 10 rounds

Wow! What a main event this was. Ben Tackie started with a rush and really never took back. But Gomez stayed right there with him, throwing punches of his own and countering most of Tackie’s. Alfonzo was also able to connect with some good right hands to the body.

There was so much action here, with punches and counter-punches galore. Each man was able to get in some strong hits throughout the first half of the fight, both to the body and head of their respective opponents. When one fighter seemed in control the other would get back to work. This was not a fight to be won easily.

Around the middle of the fight Tackie started to pick things up a notch. Gomez took several hard shots to the head, but he was undaunted. He continued on, countering a lot of the punches by Ben, then turning the aggressor once more. Back and forth, the action continued.

In the last round, Tackie pulled out all the stops. He made a rush at Gomez, and was making his point by connecting with a lot of his punches, but he seemed to punch himself out, and as the round came to a end Alfonso closed the door with repeated left hooks.

The decision: 98-92, 98-92, and 97-93 all for Alfonso Gomez

Jeff Wald pointed out that Ben Tackie never stopped coming. “It was a great fight. That’s what people want to see; two professional athletes who don’t talk trash and just do their jobs.” He added, “Gomez has been a shining light since the day he walked in – and he was an alternate on The Contender. We are all proud to have Alfonso with The Contender. We have had the most fun for the last three years with Alfonso.”

Tackie said of Gomez, “He fought smart, I’ll give him credit.”

About his fight, Alfonzo said, “I was trying to use my jab at the beginning, but by the sixth or seventh round I decided to box. He’s very powerful. I didn’t want to stand toe to toe with him. That would have been the wrong plan.”

Gomez   continued. “I want to thank The Contender for putting this special event together.   “ And Alfonzo’s future plans? “I want to fight (Julio Cesar) Chavez, Jr. in March. He has to win his fight in December before we can sit down and discuss what is going to happen.”

Must note here that Gomez suffered a possible broken left hand in the second round of his fight, and was to have x-rays taken. As of this writing I do not know the results of the X-rays.

Fight #3 – Curiel vs. Cabell – Junior Middleweight, scheduled 6 rounds

Freddie Curiel had to face a much taller opponent in Fontaine Cabell, a fact that was not lost on his wife, Mariel. She told Linda Peterson and I the previous day that she was worried because, “he’s so much bigger than Freddie.” Her fears proved unfounded.

Curiel went at Cabell from the get-go, reaching up underneath the long arms of Fontaine and connecting with his punches to the head. At one point it seemed as if he hurt Cabell, but the lanky opponent managed to shake those off and stay in the game. Round one had to go to Freddie.

The second round probably went to Cabell, as he turned it on and made good use of his height and reach advantage. He was able to land a lot of punches and make use of his jab, something he was unable to do in the first round. Curiel tried to counter, but for now Fontaine was too much for him.

Round three saw Freddie take control once more. He was like a pit bull, OK, maybe a little pit bull, but you get the idea. He stayed on Cabell the whole time and made every punch count. Easily, round three was Curiel’s.

Round four proved to be the last for this scheduled six rounder. About halfway through this round Cabell was dropped by a Curiel right hand. He stood up and was given the standing eight count before the fight continued. Freddie went straight back into attack mode, and after a flurry of punches, referee Raul Caiz, Jr. stopped the fight at 2:37 after he determined that Cabell could not defend himself. This was a fight I had been looking forward to, and I loved it.

“I want to thank the Lord, and thank my team, and especially my wife,” Freddie later said. “I know what my job is, and that’s to take care of business.”

Curiel felt that by Cabell saying things like “Come October 16^th you guys will know who I am,” he was just talking junk and disrespecting the sport he loves, as well as Freddie himself. It was asked of Curiel, “You were trying to knock his block off, weren’t you?”

“Yeah, I was,” was the response, eliciting chuckles from those on hand. “Hopefully God has big plans for me. Look forward to seeing me, and I hope you don’t get tired of seeing my face.” For what it’s worth Freddie, we won’t.

Sugar Ray Leonard summed things up when he pointed out that, “It’s guys like Freddie Curiel that give us great pleasure.”

And speaking of Leonard, it was asked of him if he missed being in the ring and his feelings about working with The Contender. “To partake in the show and help the young boxers,” he said, “is an extension of my legacy.” Ray has made it clear on a number of occasions that he really enjoys working with the boxers, and it certainly shows.

Fight #4 – Johnson vs. Brambilla – Super Lightweight, scheduled six rounds

In a fight that I wished I could have watched, Ernest Johnson was awarded a unanimous decision over Arthur Brambilla. Unfortunately, the press conference began early and if we wanted to be there for it we had to leave just as this fight was starting. I was told that the very fast Johnson was able to outbox Brambilla, and it was that, along with the fact that Ernest was the more accomplished fighter that gave Ernest the win.

I had such a fun evening at this Contender event, and I wish I could cover all of the Contender fights. I am already so disappointed that I am unable to attend the finale in Boston to cover it live. Sometimes work gets in the way, and in this case, it’s going to. In the meantime we still have two more fights to get through for season three, so I will just enjoy those. My thanks to all those at The Contender who help make Linda and myself always feel so welcome.

Be safe and God Bless,

Viva La Raza,

Barb.