Mares Unmerciful In Morongo

By Roy Marquez
Photos By Marlene Marquez 
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Often times a fighter will smile at his opponent’s punch, as if to say “it didn’t hurt me”.  Junior featherweight Jonathan Arias did a lot of smiling Friday night.  On the other hand, rising prospect Abner Mares was all business in the ring.  The only feat Mares was unable to accomplish was a knockout during an otherwise impressive ten round unanimous decision victory.  It didn’t matter that the man in front of Mares was his stable mate and roommate - Mares wanted the knockout.   “The referee should have stopped the fight”, said Mares when describing the action in the tenth round, “I followed him to all three corners and he didn’t respond.”   

In front of an appreciative crowd at the Morongo Casino Resort & Spa, Abner Mares (17-0, 10 KOs) took another step forward in his quest for a world’s championship.  The Nacho Beristain trained fighter (actually, both Mares and Arias are Beristain’s wards) dominated Arias (15-2, 8 KOs) with short, accurate punches thrown with bad intentions.  Throughout the fight Mares got off first and consistently threw punches in combination.  Mares was so dominant his corner offered little in the way of instruction.  In the fifth his corner asked him to go to the body.  Mares obliged a bit too fervently and lost a point for low blows.  It was the only round he didn’t win on two of the judges’ score cards.  The final tally favored Mares 99-89, 99-89 & 98-91.   
  

Junior featherweight Nestor Rocha outgunned veteran Jose Angel Beranza, but looked rusty in the victory.  In his last fight Rocha (19-1, 6 KOs) dominated a talented Cesar Morales but he hasn’t fought in the seven months that have elapsed.  “I felt the inactivity in the first three rounds”, explained Rocha following the fight.  Rocha won by scores of 100-90, 99-91 & 97-93, but was tested in every round.  In the first it appeared Rocha was unable to see the left as Beranza landed it at will.  Rocha made adjustments in the second but still looked sluggish.  For his part Beranza (30-13-2, 25 KOs) wasn’t at his best either.  He took the fight on ten days notice and struggled to make weight.  In the middle rounds Rocha focused on the body but caught a lot of leather on the way in.  Forging ahead with minimal head movement and nary a jab, Rocha was susceptible to Beranza’s left.  Rocha’s body attack weakened Beranza but nearly cost him a point for low blows.   In the later rounds Rocha added a straight right that backed Beranza off.  The fight ended in the tenth with both fighters looking for the knockout. 

 Juan Velasquez, one half of the fighting Velasquez twins of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, used raw speed and athleticism to outpoint Missael Nunez over six featherweight rounds.   Velasquez landed some stunning hooks; hurting Nunez when he dug to the body.  He also missed some wild hooks; spinning himself in circles.  With the victory Velasquez remains perfect as a professional and improved to 8-0 with 4 KOs.   Nunez dropped to 4-7-2.    

Jose Mercado (4-10, 5 KOs) stopped previously undefeated Joey Silva (8-1, 4 KOs) in the first round of their scheduled six round bantamweight bout.  Silva, a southpaw, caught a Mercado right hand that dropped him to the canvas.  Silva beat the count but was greeted by a Mercado barrage that forced referee Jerry Cantu to stop the bout at 2:16 of the round.

In a wild slugfest featuring four knock downs, Abdon Lozano won his professional debut by TKO over Carlos Garcia of Carolina, Puerto Rico.  The fighters traded knockdowns in a furious second round that brought the crowd to their collective feet.  In the third round Garcia (2-1-1, 2 KOs) went down twice, prompting his corner to advise referee Cantu that he could not continue.  The end came officially at 1:59 of the third. 

Junior welterweight Hector Sanchez won his fight but lost the crowd with long lapses of inactivity.  Sanchez (14-0, 5 KOs) dropped journeyman Julio Gamboa (26-14-2, 16 KOs) with a counter right mid way through the first.  Despite the early knockdown Sanchez seemed content to win the six round bout on points.   The judges rewarded Sanchez with a 59-54, 59-54, 58-55 unanimous decision.