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Early Weekend Results: Brian Vera Upsets Sergio Mora, Tomas Rojas Beats Nobuo Nashiro

Sergio Mora's upset loss to Brian Vera in Fort Worth could be all but a career-ender as far as potential stardom goes. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Sergio Mora's upset loss to Brian Vera in Fort Worth could be all but a career-ender as far as potential stardom goes. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
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Scott Christ is the managing editor of Bad Left Hook and has been covering boxing for SB Nation since 2006.

Fort Worth, Texas

  • Brian Vera SD-10 Sergio Mora: If any fight was going to finally put the nail in the coffin of anyone's idea that Sergio Mora had actual potential to be a name fighter, this should be it. Mora fought tough, actually, but he lost to Vera on scores of 96-94 (twice) and 94-96. Since beating the late Vernon Forrest in July 2008, Mora has gone 1-2-1, with a win over blown up, semi-retired club welterweight Calvin Green and losses to Forrest and Vera, plus that draw with Shane Mosley that might well have been the worst televised fight of 2010. There's always been an X-factor lacking in Mora. It's not skill -- Mora is perfectly skilled. He's never seemed able to max his talent, and his inconsistent schedule, bad fights, and ego problem reputation, combined with this loss, should pretty much end his career as even a fringe contender. He might bounce back, but the patterns of his career don't suggest that will happen. His best bet might be to do his damnedest to play the role of spoiler against someone now.

Osaka, Japan

  • Tomas Rojas UD-12 Nobuo Nashiro: I'm sure Sidney Boquiren will have more details on the Japanese card, but we'll give you the results now. Early this morning on American time, Tomas Rojas retained his WBC super flyweight title with a decision victory over Nobuo Nashiro in Osaka, winning on scores of 116-111, 116-113 and 114-113. Rojas (35-12-1, 23 KO) and Nashiro (14-3-1, 9 KO) are both more impressive than their records might indicate, and have both fought high levels of competition. Nashiro is probably best-known for his two fights with current super flyweight on-paper king Hugo Cazares, while Rojas may unfortunately be best known to most as a guy who ran into a nasty Vic Darchinyan shot and was knocked out on Showtime.
  • Malcolm Tunacao TKO-6 Daigo Nakahiro: Tunacao (28-2-3, 17 KO) has really come into his own during his reign as OPBF bantamweight champ. About ten years ago (March '01) he lost a fight to Pongsaklek Wonjongkam, but since then he's been on a tear, losing just once by technical decision to Rolly Matsushita. He also drew with Kohei Oba in 2006, but defeated Oba last year. Nakahiro falls to 21-4-1 (8 KO).
  • Hirofumi Mukai UD-10 Sonny Boy Jaro: Hopefully Sidney will have more info on Mukai (5-0, 0 KO), because this is a real good win for someone's fifth pro fight. Jaro (31-10-5, 20 KO) is no world-beater and he's past his best days, but he's been a fringe contender at 108 and 112 for years.

Santa Ynez, California

  • Lateef Kayode UD-10 Nicholas Iannuzzi: Lotta folks saying that Freddie Roach's puncher prospect cruiser Kayode (16-0, 14 KO) got a gift against Iannuzzi (16-2, 9 KO). Kayode won on scores of 98-91, 97-92 and 95-94. Iannuzzi lost a point for hitting after the bell, but it wouldn't have mattered anyway with those first two scores. Kayode has always been raw and possibly overhyped. There are times he reminds me a lot of Victor Oganov.
  • Luis Franco SD-10 Leonilo Miranda: Another one where plenty are wondering if the showcase prospect didn't get lucky. Franco is now 9-0 (5 KO), while Miranda drops to 32-3 (30 KO). Scores were 97-93, 96-94 and 94-96 for Franco.

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