De Mori shines in St.Louis!
Perth Heavyweight Mark de Mori extended his professional record to 15-1-2 with thirteen knockouts when he stopped experienced Jason Barnett in seven rounds in St Louis, Missouri, USA on Friday night. This was the Australian prospect, known as, "The Dominator" second win in the USA after he signed up with Don King Promotions in 2008. In the fight he dropped his 34 year old opponent five times with body shots before the referee Mike England intervened and stopped the fight at 1.30 minutes of the seventh round. The fight was held on the under card of the IBF Jr-middleweight title fight win by Cory Spinks when he out pointed Deandre Latimore over twelve rounds.
The 27 year old Aussie said after the impressive win, "It was a perfect fight for me because it gave me some rounds and my opponent wasn't a pushover. In the end, the body shots I threw would have knocked down a horse. I had five knockdowns in the fight and they were all from body shots."
De Mori is certainly willing to travel to show his talents and his last four fights have been overseas in Indonesia, where he stopped Richard Tutaki inside a round in January 2008, then in New Zealand, where he out pointed former world title challenger Ed Mahone over eight rounds in April 2008 and in September last year stopped Robert Kooser in the first in Biloxi, Mississippi on the under card of the Tim Bradley-Edner Cherry world title fight.
It was his fight with former world title challenger Ed Mahone that gave de Mori the inspiration to go international and it was this performance that impressed Don King. He added, "No one gave me a chance against Mahone in New Zealand. He had been in with Vitali Klitschko in a challenge for the WBO title and had performed well against Alexander Povetkin in 2006. I gave away all the experience but out boxed him over eight rounds and won by scored of 80-75, 80-72 and 79-73. This was a big win for me and gave me the chance to impress Don King and then I went to the US and knocked out Robert Kooser inside a round."
De Mori is certainly a heavyweight with potential and one who is starting to make a name in the USA and under the guidance of Don King should progress into the world rankings in 2009. He still wants to fights in Australia and his hometown of Perth, but with major opportunities to test himself on the international stage he is a clear example of a professional willing to test himself against any heavyweight boxer, any place, any time. He must be admired for his passion to test himself on the global stage and Australia could well benefit from a future global contender, in a division that is dominated by eastern Europeans. De Mori has that great heavyweight ingredient that should take him far – raw power in either hand, capable of taking an opponent out in the blink of any eye.
Mark de Mori is certainly one heavyweight to watch out for in 2009!