Daniel Jacobs made it crystal clear that he had no desire to give Sergio Mora a rematch. But when the 160-pound champ reluctantly agreed to it, he then made his intentions crystal clear: He would silence “The Latin Snake” with a definitive, punishing victory.
Jacobs vs Mora highlights: September 9, 2016
Five knockdowns later, Jacobs made good on his promise.
Some 13 months after defeating Sergio Mora (28-5-2, 9 KOs) somewhat controversially, Daniel Jacobs (32-1, 29 KOs) put on yet another power display Friday night at Santander Arena in Reading, Pennsylvania, cruising to a seventh-round technical knockout.
In what was an awkward and occasionally sloppy fight, Jacobs successfully defended his world title for a fourth time while recording his 12th consecutive victory, all by stoppage.
It was arguably the most satisfying one of the bunch.
“I wanted to go in there and hurt him and keep my knockout streak alive,” Jacobs said. “I did what I said I would do: I hurt him, and that was a plus.”
In their first meeting on August 1, 2015, in Brooklyn, New York, Mora and Jacobs traded opening-round knockdowns in what was a Round of the Year candidate. Then the bout abruptly ended when Mora fractured his right ankle on what was a ruled late second-round knockdown and was unable to continue.
A nearly yearlong verbal spat ensued, with Mora frequently taking to social media to press Jacobs for a rematch while rehabbing his injury. Fed up with Mora’s chirping, Jacobs finally relented, and the bad blood between the two continued in the lead up to Friday’s fight.
When the rivals finally got in the ring again, though, it didn’t take long for Jacobs to prove he was the superior boxer.
After a slow opening round, the “Miracle Man” began stalking a retreating Mora around the ring and patiently waited for opportunities to unload. The first big blow came in the second round, a rib-crunching body shot that Jacobs landed moments after surprisingly switching to a southpaw stance.
The punch buckled Mora’s knees—the first of several shots that would stagger the 35-year-old from Los Angeles.
With an elusive, defensive Mora constantly slithering and ducking in an effort to stay out of harm’s way, Jacobs struggled to consistently find the mark with clean shots to the head. But the 29-year-old Brooklyn native had plenty of success by attacking the body, which wore Mora down as the fight progressed.
“The guy punches really hard,” said Mora, who suffered consecutive losses for the first time in his 16-year pro career. “He’s a big overwhelming figure. When he got on top of me, I could feel his weight.”
After registering questionable knockdowns late in Rounds 4 and 5—the first appeared to be more of a push, while the second was a shot that caught a twisting Mora in the shoulder blade—Jacobs ramped up the pressure in the sixth.
In that round, Mora landed one of his best punches of the night—a looping left hand—but Jacobs countered with an overhand right that wobbled the former 154-pound champion, who lunged forward and tried to grab hold of Jacobs before falling to the canvas on what was a ruled slip.
Sensing his foe was fading, Jacobs went for broke in Round 7, cornering Mora and scoring a trio of knockdowns—the first off a left-right combination, the second from a left hook to the body and the third from another powerful right.
At that point, both Mora’s corner and referee Gary Rosato had seen enough, with the official end coming at the 2:08 mark.
“I didn’t expect to knock him down as much as I did, but I did see the fight ending in a knockout,” said Jacobs, who was coming off an 85-second stoppage of fellow Brooklyn rival and former champion Peter Quillin in December. “It took a while because he’s so tricky. I wasn’t able to jab the way I wanted to.
“That’s what happens when you fight guys who have been in the game for a long time.”
Having dispatched Mora for a second time, Jacobs again stated his desire to land a unification bout against fellow 160-pound champion Gennady Golovkin, who will pursue his 23rd consecutive knockout in his 17th straight title defense Saturday in London against Britain’s Kell Brook, a 147-pound titleholder.
But before turning his attention to Golovkin, Jacobs made peace with Mora: After the contest, the two fighters hugged and appeared to bury the hatchet.
“I have to take my hat off to Sergio Mora,” Jacobs said in the ring. “There was a lot of trash talking before this fight, but this is boxing. I respect any man who gets inside of this ring.”
Said Mora: “Daniel finally gave me credit.”
For complete pre- and post-fight coverage of Jacobs-Mora II, visit our fight page.
