Abner Mares retained his IBF and WBC Silver Bantamweight titles by Soundly defeating Joseph Agbeko on Saturday night at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA. The thrilling bout was the main event of “Mares vs. Agbeko II,” hosted by Golden Boy Promotions, Don King Productions and Gary Shaw Productions in association with Corona Light, DeWalt, AT&T, and Showtime Boxing.

The highly anticipated rematch did not take long to heat up. Both fighters came out willing to exchange making it a hard opening round to call. The action seeped into the second assault that saw Abner Mares connect with a left hook and also suffer a cut beside his right eyebrow as a result of an incidental head bunt. The following rounds continued to be particularly challenging to score as Agbeko moved forward and Abner Mares countered.

The partisan fighter from Bell Gardens, CA connected on a strong right hook that staggered Agbeko as round number five drew to a close. The heated but hard to call exchanges flowed into round six. At this stage Mares seemed to be landing the cleaner shots even connecting with a penetrating right hook followed by a left.

Abner Mares’ dominance was on vivid display in round eight as he continued to counter with successful hooks, all while bleeding profusely from his right eye. He went on to win the ninth round while valiantly exchanging blows with his foe and successfully landing some penetrating left hooks.

Agbeko looked lost as the fight progressed into the championship rounds. His lead left often landed; however, Mares’ would move and counter as he pleased. The eleventh round was the most animated round of this championship bout. A Mares’ left hook followed by a piercing looping right hook ignited the pro Mares crowd. The former Mexican Olympian culminated the bout by raising both hands, asking for the crowds support and then followed by pummeling his opponent with pure vigor and guts. All three judges ringside mirrored the thoughts of most in attendance when they all scored the bout 118-110 in favor of Abner Mares.

Tonight was Abner Mares’ opportunity to dispel his critic’s assertions that he was a dirty fighter. Among those critics are Vic Darchinyan and Joseph Agbeko, his last two opponents who have feverishly stated that Mares’ punches often travel south – below the belt. Both fighters have squared up against Mares as of late, and both have lost.

Well! Tonight Abner Mares let his boxing speak for him. Agbeko wasn’t truly ever in the fight, which had a lot to do with Mares’ superior boxing pedigree and flat out guts. Darchinyan just didn’t cut it. His critics were wrong; Mares can win without landing blows below the belt. Now on to better and bigger fights for Mares. As for Darchinyan, read on.


Anselmo Moreno Retains WBA Bantamweight Title

In the televised co-feature, Panama’s Anselmo Moreno 32-1-1, 11KO’s made a successful defense of his WBA Super Bantamweight title by simply outclassing Vic Darchinyan 37-4-1, 27KO’s in rout to a 12 round unanimous decision victory.

Vic Darchinyan instantaneously imposed his awkward style upon Moreno. Although, he was not as effective as the Armenian contingency would want you to think, but may have pulled out the first two or three rounds as Moreno attempted to figure him out. Moreno did just that.

Anselmo Moreno, 26, fought poised patiently waiting to counter punch his aggressor. Round number four would see Moreno connect with several blows as Vic walked in. The latter round also saw Vic Darchinyan’s roughhouse tactics cost him a point as he lounged Moreno to the canvas as the round came to a close. Referee Raul Caiz Jr. had no choice but to deduct a point from Vic. The following round was much of the same; it was not until the sixth round where the action began to pick up.

Vic Darchinyan was able to connect on a looping right hook only to be countered by a left from Moreno. A spirited exchange arose with Moreno pulling through with some nice left hooks as Vic attempted to bully his way through. At this point one could see the Panamanian fighter’s comfort level increasing while proceeding to work Vic’s body as he had been doing throughout the bout. The bodywork on behalf of the Panamanian fighter was key.

Anselmo’s concentrated body attack began to pay off in the eight round where Vic Darchinyan found himself being peppered with shots most landing on his midsection and stifling his attack. Some of those shots hurt the crowd favorite who had a large Armenian contingency on hand. The action diminished in the ensuing three rounds but quickly picked up in the in the final assault which saw Anselmo go down as a result of a slip. When the action came to a close judge James Jen-Kin called the bout 115-112 while Steve English had it 117-110 and Jose Cobian scored it 120-107 all in favor of Anselmo Moreno.


Eric Morel Wins Unanimous Decision

Eric Morel 46-2, 23KOs went on to score a unanimous decision victory over Jose Silveira 12-6, 4KOs with one judge ringside scoring the bout 97-93, while the remaining judge's scored it 98-92. This bout was competitive but churlish to say the least.


James had No Hope Against Frankie Gomez

With his hometowns complete backing, Frankie Gomez 12-0, 9 KO’s made quick work of his overmatched opponent. The East L.A. Native came out the box as animated as this writer has ever seen him. He went on to land a monstrous over hand right to close the show and send James Hope 6-9-1, 4KO’s into a comatose state at the: 53 mark of round number three.


Carlos Molina Passes Test With Flying Colors

Norwalk’s Carlos Molina 15-0-1, 7KOs straight right hand was flawless tonight. It was able to find his target at will throughout the first three rounds. The bout would be fought at close quarters for the subsequent rounds as Leyva18-4, 10KOs, made Molina earn his keep. It was straight right hand that severely hurt Leyva towards the end of round number seven.

Molina’s comfort level fighting inside grew as the fight progressed through the final three rounds. He connected with an array of punches, often knocking the taller Leyva back on his heels as seen in round nine. The undefeated prospect proved that his left hook was just as menacing as his straight right in the final seconds of the fight as he again connected with a clean crowd-pleasing combo. At the final bell, two judges ringside had tallied the bout 99-91, while judge Eddie Hernandez called a shutout100-90 handing Norwalk’s Molina and unanimous decision victory.


Bika Overpowers Contreras

Sakio Bika 29-5-2, 19KOs earns a TKO victory against Alfredo Contreras 11-13-2, 5KOs in a scheduled 8 round super middleweight bout. The bout was stopped by Referee Tony Crebbs at the advise of the ringside physician at the end of round number three due to Contreras lacerations over both eyes.


Henry and Gonzalez Fight to a Technical Draw

Omar Henry 11-0-1, 9KOs and Lester Gonzalez 12-5-3, fougth to a technical draw at the end of the second round.


Contreras KO’s Another Foe

Riverside's Richard Contreras 9-0, 8KO's KO’d Juan Sandoval 5-8-1, 3KO’s. The knock out occurred 38 into round number four 4.