ESPN Boxing

UNCASVILLE, Conn. -- While he was sitting ringside at the Mohegan Sun Arena watching Vernon Forrest wilt during the latter stages of his fight against Sergio Mora on Saturday night, promoter Gary Shaw's mind flashed back to the words of Kent Desormeaux, the jockey who had failed to guide Big Brown to a Triple Crown victory at Belmont on Saturday afternoon.

"The jockey made the comment at the end of the race that there came a time when he knew that he didn't have a horse under him," said Shaw, who was promoting Forrest for the fight. "There came a time when Vernon was fading and as a promoter, I knew I had no horse under me."

As the 37-year-old Forrest faded in the middle rounds, Mora picked up steam. And though Mora didn't have enough power to hurt Forrest or stop him, he did have enough energy to control the final stanzas of the match. It was just enough for Mora to take a 12-round majority decision over Forrest and take away the WBC super welterweight title on Saturday night.

With the victory, Mora (21-0-1, 5 KOs) became the first fighter from the boxing reality TV series "The Contender" to become a world champion. Two previous "Contender" participants had failed miserably in their bids to win title belts.

Peter Manfredo, who lost to Mora in the championship of the first season of the TV program, was stopped on a TKO by super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe. Alfonso Gomez, who had sent Arturo Gatti into retirement last July, was smacked around and stopped on a TKO by Miguel Cotto on April 12. In both cases, it wasn't even close.

With that history as a backdrop, Mora entered the fight against Forrest as a heavy underdog (12-to-1 at one point). Hardly anyone outside of his inner circle gave Mora a shot at beating Forrest, who had returned from two shoulder surgeries and a yearlong layoff for rehabilitation to win the WBC 154-pound crown against Carlos Baldomir last year.

Forrest did not show up at the news conference after the fight to answer questions.

Mora turned every notion about himself and the TV show that spawned him on its head with the victory over Forrest.

"I don't think it's really sunk in yet," Mora said an hour after his victory over Forrest. "I know I'm a smart guy. I have a good team around me. But as it has been throughout my career, I just happen to be in the right place at the right time."

That might be truer than Mora knows. He happened to be in front of Forrest on a night when Forrest fought like he was 100 years old.

Forrest stung Mora with a big right hand in the second round, but he never followed up. Like sand in an hour glass, Forrest's effectiveness, strength and power kept slipping away with every round. He was completely gassed by the time he hit the championship rounds.

Forrest might have been sapped because he was nine pounds overweight on the day before the weigh-in. He managed to weigh in at 153 3/4 pounds, but that was the only battle that he won.

Judge Gale Van Hoy scored it a 114-114 draw, while John McKaie scored it 115-113 and Anek Hongtongkam scored it 116-112 for Mora.

Jeff Wald, the promoter for "The Contender" fighters, was gloating after the fight, ready to stick it to all the critics of the show and the boxers it spawn.

"This fight will shove it up their [butts]," Wald said. "I knew if anyone could win a world championship that it would be Sergio. He's one of the smartest and strongest fighters we've had on the show."

Wald said he did not see it as a validation of the TV show, but rather as a personal validation for Mora, who had turned down a chance to fight Jermain Taylor for the middleweight title last year.

"I wasn't scared to fight Jermain Taylor," Mora said. "I just didn't want to fight him in Memphis, because I didn't think I could get a fair decision."

Mora said he wants to go back to middleweight and has no interest in defending the 154-pound title.

"I think it's a horrible division," Mora said of the junior middleweight division. "I'm going back up to middleweight. I can't make anything happen here [at 154 pounds]. There aren't any exciting fights. If we can make exciting happen, I'll do it. But it's an ugly division."

Mora might change his mind if Oscar De La Hoya comes calling.

De La Hoya has an opening on his dance card for Sept. 20 now that Floyd Mayweather has retired. Mora has the WBC 154-pound title and De La Hoya wouldn't have to kill himself to make welterweight. Now that might be something exciting for even a former "Contender" to consider.

Mora said he would also like to take on Kelly Pavlik. The two were together at the U.S. Olympic boxing trials in 2000.

"We didn't make the team, but now we're both world champions," Mora said. "That's not a coincidence."

In the co-feature, Paul Williams redeemed himself in concussive fashion, stopping Carlos Quintana on a TKO at 2:15 of the first round to regain his WBO welterweight title. Quintana had taken the title away from Williams on Feb. 9 with a methodical attack that slowly broke down an overconfident Williams. Williams left the fight with severe cuts above both eyes and a very bruised ego.

Williams (34-1, 25 KOs) did not allow Quintana to get on track in this fight. The 6-foot-3 Williams used his long jab to set up Quintana for some wicked combinations, dropping Quintana twice before referee Ed Claudio stepped in to stop it.

"When I hit him, I knew he was hurt," Williams said. "I wasn't going to let him off the hook this time and let him get into a rhythm like he did in that last fight."

"It feels good to get my belt back. My pants were falling off," Williams said. "The first time I had an off-night. This time I went back to basics and used my game plan and that was to fight from the beginning."

Before that first fight, Williams, whose nickname is "The Punisher," was considered one of the most dangerous young welterweights in the game -- a fighter who could more than hold his own with the upper echelon of the division.

His smashing victory over Quintana (25-2, 19 KOs), who had been destroyed by Miguel Cotto in five rounds in 2006, re-established Williams' credentials as a dangerous foe for any contender or champion.

Williams has already beaten Antonio Margarito, who meets Cotto in a highly anticipated welterweight showdown on July 26. So, Cotto would be the dream match up for Williams. But he is not picky.

"Miguel Cotto, Margarito, De La Hoya, any of the top guys," Williams said. "I don't duck nobody or run from nobody. I just do my job."

Tim Smith is the boxing columnist for the New York Daily News.