Mora barely makes weight for fight against Forrest

LAS VEGAS -- Sergio Mora, a major player in today’s boxing card at the MGM Grand, gave promoters a scare Friday before making his 154-pound weight about two hours after the first weigh-in.

Mora, of Los Angeles, will fight Vernon Forrest of Atlanta in a rematch of their June fight, won by Mora, who gained the attention of the boxing world by winning the TV show “The Contender.” Mora’s first weigh-in was 156 pounds.

Their match will directly precede the main event between Juan Manuel Marquez of Mexico and Joel Casamayor, the Cuban who now lives in Miami. They will fight at 135 pounds, and both hit that number in Friday’s weigh-in.

The televised card, an HBO pay-per-view show ($44.95) that will not be rebroadcast next weekend -- the norm with these pay-per-view shows -- will begin at 6 p.m. It will include three fights labeled title events: Marquez-Casamayor; Mora-Forrest; and a 12-rounder between junior-welterweights (140 pounds) Victor Ortiz of Oxnard and Roberto Arrieta of Argentina.

The card will start on-site at 3 p.m. and feature a total of eight bouts.