Brian Vera tops Sergio Mora again

Rafael's remarks: In February 2011, former junior middleweight titlist Mora went to Vera's backyard in Fort Worth, Texas, and lost a majority decision. Both fighters -- each a former participant on "The Contender" reality series (which Mora won in its first season) -- have had little come their way recently in terms of notable fights. So the best thing for each was to fight again in a rematch in the hopes that the winner could jump-start his career again. So Mora, 31, of Los Angeles, returned to Texas to meet Vera, 30, of Fort Worth, in the rematch in the main event of Telefutura's "Solo Boxeo Tecate." When it was over, Mora complained bitterly about the decision, the same way he had after their first fight.

It's understandable for Mora to be upset about how wide the margins were on two of the judges' scorecards, but he should have no quarrel with the outcome. It was a close fight, and Vera, the hometown guy, got the benefit of the doubt. Vera likely swayed two of the judges with his busy, pressuring style over Mora's more deliberate, technical style. That's pretty much how Vera won the first time around, and Mora apparently didn't learn anything from the way that fight was scored. If one fighter is relentless for an entire round, as Vera usually was, he probably is going to get credit for it -- even if a lot of the punches miss -- when the other guy throws far less and moves backward for long stretches. Although Mora did connect with some right hands, his punches never had much steam behind them. Vera walked through them all and never stopped charging.

At least Mora made the fight entertaining, which is a big change from one of his typical fights. Of course, Vera, who rarely took a backward step, had a lot to do with that. Vera came close to scoring a knockdown in the 10th round when he landed a couple of right hands as Mora looked for cover along the ropes. The result came as a surprise to Ronnie Shields, Vera's trainer, who told the Telefutura broadcasters in the 12th round that he felt as if Vera needed a knockout to win. Mora also seemed to think he had the fight in bag as he began to clown and dance and raised his arms before the 12th round ended. As it turned out, Shields and Mora were wrong. Vera won his second fight in a row since losing a lopsided decision to Andy Lee in an October 2011 rematch of Vera's previous upset knockout win. Mora has lost two of his past three fights -- both to Vera.

Rafael's remarks: Escalante, 27, a native of Mexico living in El Paso, Texas, was a featherweight contender until he faced former junior featherweight titlist Daniel Ponce De Leon in September 2010 and got knocked cold in the third round. It was a bad knockout, but at least it came against a quality opponent known for his power. In Escalante's comeback fight six months later, though, he got knocked out in the first round by little-known Alejandro Perez. Escalante still has a long way to go if he is ever to become a solid contender again, but at least he now has four knockouts wins in a row since the loss to Perez after stopping Miranda. Miranda, 29, a native of Mexico living in Maywood, Calif., lost his third fight in a row and dropped to 2-5 in his past seven bouts.

Although Miranda had gone the distance in two of his recent losses (to 2011 ESPN.com prospect of the year Gary Russell Jr. and to Luis Franco, also a top prospect), he couldn't make it out of the second round against heavy-handed Escalante. They each landed some solid shots in the opening round, and Miranda was doing just fine in the second. He was winning the round and had staggered Escalante with a left hand. But Escalante regained his footing and turned out the lights a moment later, catching Miranda with a flush counter right hand on the jaw that leveled him. Miranda appeared frozen on his back and with vacant eyes as referee Mark Calo-Oy counted. Miranda eventually rolled over onto his knees, but he couldn't come close to beating the count, and Calo-Oy counted him out at 1 minute, 19 seconds. What a sensational knockout for Escalante.

Rafael's remarks: Cazares, 34, is a former junior flyweight and junior bantamweight titleholder who had several good years atop each weight class. But last August, he dropped a split decision in Japan to Tomonobu Shimizu and it cost him his 115-pound world title. Cazares then moved up to bantamweight and has two wins in a row in his new weight class after securing a clear decision against Diaz, a naturally bigger man who has fought as a junior featherweight.

Cazares still has something left in the tank, it seems, and it won't be a surprise if he challenges for, or even wins, a bantamweight belt or a junior bantamweight title again. He looked good against Diaz. Fighting in the Fox Deportes main event, Cazares beat much taller Diaz with a basic attack of jabs and right hands. Cazares, the aggressor throughout the fight, also had some nice offensive bursts in which he hurt Diaz with combinations, including when he rocked him in the fourth round. By the later rounds, there was no doubt about what the outcome would be. Cazares continued to land shots against an increasingly defensive Diaz, who didn't punch all that much, perhaps because he was worried about the punches coming back at him.

Diaz, 26, of Nicaragua, dropped to 1-2-1 in his past four bouts, the other defeat coming via 11th-round knockout while challenging bantamweight titlist Koki Kameda in Japan in May 2011.

Rafael's remarks: Terrazas, 29, who was fighting in his hometown on an Azteca America-televised card, has been a pretty good 122-pound contender for several years, with his only defeats coming via second-round knockout in his pro debut in 2003 and by ninth-round stoppage to Rendall Munroe in England in a 2010 title elimination fight. Since the loss to Munroe, busy Terrazas has racked up nine wins in a row, including against former interim bantamweight titlist Nehomar Cermeno, former bantamweight titlist Fernando Montiel in an upset and this nice knockout of Garcia.

Terrazas dominated the first three rounds and was in cruise control in the fourth round when he got a scare. Out of nowhere, Garcia landed a clean left hand against a wide-open Terrazas, who went down in the middle of the ring midway through the round. Terrazas sat up on his backside, collected himself for a few seconds and beat the count. He seemed OK even though it was a solid knockdown.

There was good action in the fifth round, then Terrazas ended it in the sixth. He staggered Garcia with a left hand and dropped his wobbly foe to a knee with a follow-up right hand. Garcia seemed as though he could have continued but instead took the full count. Immediately after the fight was called off, at 2 minutes, 59 seconds, Garcia popped back up to his feet.

It was a good performance overall -- the knockdown he suffered notwithstanding -- from Terrazas, who often is mentioned as a possible title challenger. Garcia, 32, of Mexico, a late replacement for Raul Hirales, has lost four of his past five bouts -- a clear decline since he traveled to Japan to challenge then junior bantamweight titlist Nobuo Nashiro in 2006.

Rafael's remarks: Perez, 28, a 2008 Olympian for Colombia, and Mamadjonov, 25, a native of Uzbekistan living in Houston, were both excellent amateurs and unbeaten as relatively untested professionals when they met in the main event of ESPN2's "Friday Night Fights." This was no easy fight for either guy. It was competitive all the way, but it was Perez who came away with the split decision, a victory he deserved.

Perez locked up the victory by scoring a clean knockdown on a short right uppercut in the eighth round. Until that point, it had been anyone's fight. Mamadjonov, a southpaw who is trained by 1984 U.S. Olympic gold medalist and former middleweight titleholder Frank Tate, had Perez in some trouble in the fourth round. In the final minute of the round, he badly wobbled Perez with a long overhand left hand. Mamadjonov, who was fighting in a scheduled 10-rounder for the first time, landed a few more shots in the flurry, forcing Perez to hold on for dear life.

Rafael's remarks: Avalos, 22, of Lancaster, Calif., was a hot bantamweight prospect when he lost an upset split decision to Christopher Martin in August 2010. Avalos then moved up to junior featherweight and won three fights in a row. He appeared to be back on track but again suffered a setback: another split decision loss, this time to undefeated Jhonatan Romero in December. Making his return from that defeat, Avalos was matched with Miami-based Dominican Republic native Vicente, 26, who was unbeaten but taking a step up in competition in the "Friday Night Fights" co-feature.

It turned out to be just what the doctor ordered for Avalos -- a romp in a crowd-pleasing fight. Avalos had his jab working well throughout the fight and dropped Vicente with a left hook to the head in the fifth round. Avalos tried to get rid of him in the round, but Vicente was able to hang on. Still, he was never in the fight. Vicente, who was fighting in the United States for the first time, landed a few solid right hands, but Avalos never was in any danger.