With his on-the-job training as an Olympic boxing analyst in his rear-view mirror, former three-division world champion Abner Mares can concentrate on getting his once-thriving boxing career back on track.
Just don?t expect to see him plying his craft in the Empire State anytime soon.
Mares is still reeling from the last minute cancellation of his featherweight title fight against Argentina?s Jesus Cuellar in June by the New York State Athletic Commission. The fight was scheduled to be the co-main event of the Keith Thurman-Shawn Porter mega-fight June 25 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. But a week before the fight, the NYSAC banned Mares from fighting in New York due to failed eye tests.
Mares has always believed he was banned in New York because of a 2008 operation to repair a detached retina. Yet he has fought 15 times since that successful operation, with zero problems with his eye.
?Waiting till the week of the fight was really hard on me,? Mares told USA TODAY Sports. ?They had to wait until the last week before the fight to get a second opinion, a second test. And all I can say is it was based on my history.
?I?m doing great. My eye?s good, I?ve already gotten the green light (to fight) in California.?
Mares still has his radar set on Cuellar for a fight he hopes could take place in October in Los Angeles, but might be more likely down the road, possibly early in 2017. Mares last fought at Staples Center a year ago in the biggest bout of his career, a majority decision loss to then-undefeated WBA featherweight champion and rival Leo Santa Cruz.
Though one judge scored it a draw, the other two saw a clear Santa Cruz decision, 117-111. Most of the media had it closer, but Mares came away with cuts over both eyes and that couldn?t have helped his cause in New York.
Now Mares is ready for redemption and that starts in the gym of highly respected trainer Robert Garcia. who answered the call from Mares in January.
?We?ll go back to the drawing board and continue to study (Cuellar) and get ready for this fight,? Mares told USA TODAY recently by phone. ?There?s no easy fight coming off a year?s layoff and coming back against Jesus Cuellar. He?s a big test, and he?s a world champion, he?s undefeated, (has a) tremendous power punch, and is a world champion, so we?re here to fight the best, make a statement and make a mark in this boxing world.?
Since his majority draw against undefeated bantamweight champ Yonnhy Perez in 2010, Mares (29-2-1, 15 KOs) has fought a Who?s Who of boxers during his stellar career, when he won titles at bantamweight, super bantamweight and featherweight.
His first career loss was a doozy, however, a stunning first-round knockout at the hands of veteran Jhonny Gonzalez in a WBC featherweight title bout three years ago. Mares came out aggressively ? and recklessly, it turns out ? and was caught with a crushing left hook by Gonzalez. Mares got back to his feet, but Gonzalez dropped him again and referee Jack Reiss ended it.
Three consecutive victories followed before Mares? loss to Santa Cruz. In January, Mares, with his boxing career hanging in the balance, sought out Garcia, the 2012 Boxing Writers? trainer of the year. They have already gone through two training camps together ? this is their third ? without a fight to show for it.
Mares was scheduled to fight Fernando Montiel on the original Thurman-Porter date of March 12, but that fight was postponed because of a car accident in which Thurman was injured. When the fight was rescheduled, Mares was fighting Cuellar for the title. That was before Eye-gate.
So far, Garcia is impressed with what he?s seen from Mares, despite the cancellation of two fights.
?We?ve been back in the gym for a few weeks and yes, he was disappointed (being banned in New York) because he had never fought in New York and never been to New York, so he was really looking forward to performing there,? Garcia told USA TODAY Sports this week. ?But things happen for a reason. We?ve got a fight lined up here in Los Angeles, so things are looking good. It?s not a done deal, we haven?t had any contracts or a press conference yet, but that?s what we were told.?
Before his newest charge came aboard, Garcia, like many boxing fans and media, viewed Mares as quite possibly a shot fighter.
?Look before he came to me, myself, my father, who plays a big role in all of my fighters, we might have thought the same thing. We saw him get knocked out so easy against Jhonny Gonzalez, we kind of felt the same way,? Garcia said. ?And then he loses to Santa Cruz. He looked better, but it was a tough fight for both guys. A lot of people, including me and my dad, were thinking, ?maybe he?s had his best days already.?
Yet, since Garcia and Mares have been working together, the trainer sees a totally different fighter from what he imagined.
?Abner is a totally different fighter, totally different person, different mentality. I?ve been training with him since January. We?ve already trained for two fights and had them canceled,? Garcia said.
?I?ve learned a lot about him, and those days that he got knocked out by Gonzalez, it was due to the fact that he was not focused, was not training and dedicating himself the way he should. He had a lot of personal problems that definitely had a lot to do with those fights.
?Now in my camp with my rules, and doing everything he?s told, I see a totally different Abner Mares. Abner has tremendous skills. People don?t even know, and they might think it was me who made the change, but all I?m doing is bringing those skills back.?
Garcia believes the Cuellar fight in October, if it happens is ?huge? for Mares.
?He comes back after a loss to Leo Santa Cruz and fights for the title. It?s a great opportunity that his manager (Al) Haymon was able to get the champion Cuellar to fight him and we also have to thank Cuellar for giving us this opportunity,? Garcia said.
Mares, now 30 and 11 years a pro, is still acting like a young fighter preparing for his first bout, Garcia says.
?He listens, follows every instruction, does everything he?s told,? Garcia said. ?Like I told you, this is our third training camp, pretty much our third fight together and still in training, he?s like it?s the first day. Listening, still doing everything he?s told, still asking, should I do this coach? What should I do next? Still acting like a student. That tells me he?s a different man.?
Meanwhile, Mares, who is fluent in both English and Spanish and fought for the Mexican Olympic team in 2004 ? he worked as a boxing analyst for Telemundo and NBC Universo during the Rio Olympics ? feels the best is yet to come.
?I?m really thankful that people still see me, and always will, as a three-time world champion. It?s beautiful. I know my career?s not over yet,? Mares said. ?I?m continuing to become soon a four-time world champion and to conquer more titles and more things in boxing. Not just titles, but making boxing fans happy.
?And who knows after that? I might come over to the commentating side. I just want to do something great where people are proud of me. Not just my family but fight fans as well because not only am I an example inside the ring, I want to be an example outside. I?m trying to be an example for young fighters coming up. Anything is possible, you know? A kid that didn?t finish school being a boxer . . . and I?m thinking about promoting, managing, anything that has to do with boxing. I want to stay involved because that?s my circle and that?s what I know how to do.?
Competing in a stacked featherweight division, Mares is willing to mix it up with any of the top names.
?I wouldn?t mind fighting (Santa Cruz) again, Carl Frampton (who handed Santa Cruz his first loss on July 30), and Gary Russell. . . . I?ve always been known as someone who will fight anyone at any time,? Mares said.
Abner isn?t the only one in the Mares family willing to put it all on the line. His wife, Nathalie, has opened a makeup store and studio in Downey, Calif., and has her own line of makeup, called Nathalie Essence of Beauty. Mares is proud of his wife for starting her own business.
?She?s always been a housewife, always taking care of our kids, a 10-year-old and four-year-old, and now she?s going to be doing her thing as a business owner,? Mares said. ?So everything looks great not just for me but for my family.
?I always have to include my family because that?s what it is. We?ve been smart enough to save up because you never know what the future holds.?
As Mares knows so well, it could all be gone in the blink of an eye.
