Maybe there Is Hope For Mexican Fight Fans After all!
Abner Mares Shines For GBP on Versus
By. Andrew Lapachet
Primer Round Magazine
www.profightnetwork.com
For a while it looked as if Mexico was going to run out of prospects that could carry this countries great tradition of fighting. Lets face it Mexican fight fans have seen their better days in the sport. A country that once was described as having the best fighters in the world, in recent times are having trouble trying to find one that can at least carry the torch when Marquez can no longer hold it.
For a while, many thought Margarito would be that man; that was until we found out he was a cheater.
Then there was Alfredo Angulo who was starting to get attention right before he decided to fight a former World Champion while being sick and loss; now many say he’s one-dimensional.
J.C. Chavez Jr. although still undefeated its hard to find one fan still on his bandwagon.
And then there was Victor Ortiz. Golden Boy Promotions thought they stole the bank from Top Rank when they got this young man that was until they realized young Victor left behind his heart.
Or as in Mr. Ortiz’s classic words, “V. Ortiz doesn’t lay down for nobody.”
I think it’s fair to say Mexico’s been searching for a new king since the Great Julio Cesar Chavez retired. OK… maybe because Chavez fought until he was in his forties, I should just say they’ve been searching since 1996 whatever the age there has been a gap that no single fighter has been able to fill.
Barrera and Morales although they reached Hall-of-Fame status never reached the potential they each had when they first started. De La Hoya was never truly accepted by the Mexican fan base. Sure they might of cheered for him on occasion but for the most part, it was always a love/hate relationship. Marquez is still in the hunt for Chavez like popularity through out his country, but at the age of 36 and Mayweather Jr. as his next opponent times seem to be running out in for his Hall-of-Fame bound career.
Four weeks from now after the Marquez/Mayweather fight this very subject might be the hottest debate in boxing. If Marquez losses to Mayweather by knockout what many speculate is going to happen, Mexican fight fans will once again have nobody to truly turn to as the number one fighter in the country. And up until Thursday night I didn’t know if they were going to have anyone to turn too, that was until Abner Mares.
On Thursday night at Club Nokia in downtown Los Angeles, Abner Mares scored his second victory in a row on his come back trail from a torn retina he received in 2008. After being described by many as one of the rising stars in the boxing world, Mares had to take a long 11-month absence from the sport to let his eye heal. Now with his eye better, he’s looking to get back to his old form, but if you ask me he looks like he’s already there.
Now his opponent Carlos Fulgencio might not of had the most intriguing record coming in at 11 wins, 2 losses, 1 draw, and 7 knockouts. But he did have a four-inch height advantage, noticeable reach advantage, and a good jab with some decent power. By no means was this a push over fighter for someone who might have vision problems through out the fight. If Mares had any complications from his eye injury in 08 chances were Fulgencio was going to expose them.
In rounds one and two, you could see the tall lengthy challenger Fulgencio was trying to establish his height and reach advantage, keeping Mares at arms length. It seemed as if Mares was going to have a ruff night ahead of him but as the fight carried on Mares started slipping and ducking his opponents shots all while inching closer with an impressive body attack.
In rounds three and four both men had their moments trading shots back and forth. Mares was doing a clinical job of boxing but the hard hitting Dominican Republican did land some punches to show he wasn’t going anywhere. In round two, the challenger hit Mares with two left hooks that usually hurt his other opponents but Abner took them well and fought on. By the end of round three Fulgencio’s height and reach didn’t matter because Mares was warming up and starting to look like very good.
Round five was Abner Mares best round, with all pistons pumping the young 23yr. old out of Montebello, California put on a boxing performance you see when champion’s are matched up against journeyman fighters. Mares used Fulgencio in this round throwing almost every combo he knows while ducking punches on the inside and outside. Right away, the announcers started comparing his style to the Legend Chavez himself. At first, I felt he was to young to compare, but in many ways, they were right. Mares has a certain calm about his approach, like he almost knows if he keeps throwing body shots eventually his opponent will fold. His combos were endless and everything flowed like water, by the end of four you knew this fight wasn’t going to last.
In round six knowing a hurt fighter was coming out the corner Mares came out to finish his opponent applying pressure to the head and body that few will ever be able to handle if he keeps up. In the middle of a combo Mares went back to what I believe is going to be his trademark punch, a beautiful left hook to the body that sent the challenger crashing to the canvas. The stoppage came at 2:24 of the sixth round.
It was a great closing punch to what seems like a great career in the making. Abner Mares will definitely be a champion in this sport; the question here is can he accept the torch from Marquez if Mayweather indeed ends the legends career in four weeks. As far as chasing down the all-time greats were a long ways from that conversation, but with fighters like N. Donaire, F. Montiel and V. Darchinyan in your division and R. Marquez, J.M. Lopez, D.P. De Leon, and C. Caballero, 4-pounds higher the opportunities certainly will be there.
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