Once more, with even more feeling.
In a classic rematch that improved upon their first, all-action meeting, Leo Santa Cruz retained his World Boxing Assn. featherweight belt Saturday night before 12,505 at Staples Center with a unanimous-decision victory over his Southland rival Abner Mares.
Judges Rey Danseco (115-113), Steve Weisfeld (116-112) and Zac Young (117-111) awarded Santa Cruz the victory after he answered Mares? gritty inside attack with an equally heartfelt reply that was aided by height and reach.
The bout began where the last one ended, with plenty of active punching. While Santa Cruz (35-1-1) used his three-inch reach advantage for a more effective jab, Mares (31-3-1) was active and effective inside.
Santa Cruz adjusted, relying on his distance in the fourth and imposing his will into the seventh, which closed with an exchange that brought the crowd to its feet.
Mares extended his ferocity into the eighth, working to take the fight back inside, and they again threw voluminous punches as the bell rang.
Santa Cruz was cut near the left eye during the activity and Mares? commitment to grinding it out in tight revealed the high stakes of the rematch after he lost the first meeting here three years ago.
In the 10th, Santa Cruz made Mares pay for his risk, burying two hard rights to the challenger?s head in the final 30 seconds.
The rounds were so competitive that the tiebreaker often was whoever landed the most telling punches, and the crowd grew to become like Pavlov?s dogs at the smacking of boards indicating 10 seconds remaining in a round, rising and cheering to goad on the flying fists.
Mares asked for another rematch, but Santa Cruz calls the shots and can move on to other title-unification bouts or move up in weight.
World Boxing Council light-middleweight champion Jermell Charlo retained his belt by majority decision with two knockdowns of former champion Austin Trout, the effort soured only by an unlikely 113-113 scorecard from judge Fernando Villarreal.
The other judges had it 118-108 and 115-111 for Charlo (31-0), who seems destined for a title-unification bout later this year against two-belt, 154-pound champion Jarrett Hurd.
?Trout moved, that?s why he survived 12 rounds,? Charlo said.
?If Hurd sat in front of me and took those shots, he?d be done. I?ll do it right here in L.A.?
The crowd booed the early inaction until Charlo pounded Trout in the head with a third-round power punch that sent the challenger stumbling backward to the canvas.
The defensive-minded Trout was leery and backing, seeming content to wait on a Charlo approach and then counter-punch.
The problem is that Charlo?s aggression netted results that reduced Trout?s thoughtful efforts to footnotes.
Trout (31-5) enjoyed some good moments in the sixth and seventh, but then Charlo accelerated his aggression.
Early in the ninth, he dropped Trout with a quick left to the top of the head, then pounded him with another power shot that forced Trout to grab the top rope to avoid falling again.
A flush right by Charlo in the 10th backed up Trout, but the 32-year-old who?d been stopped in his career only once (by Hurd) hung on as he did against Charlo?s twin brother, Jermall, two years ago in defeat.
?I know they?re used to seeing me knock boys out, but at least they saw me take care of business,? Charlo said.
The Showtime-televised bout was preceded by a news conference announcing a July 28 lightweight unification title fight between unbeaten World Boxing Council champion Mikey Garcia (38-0, 30 knockouts) of Riverside versus International Boxing Federation champion Robert Easter (21-0, 14 KOs).
Garcia said after solving the taller, skilled Easter he?d like to pursue a December mega-fight against unbeaten welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. (23-0, 20 KOs), who has a title defense Saturday against Carlos Ocampo (22-0, 13 KOs) at the Dallas Cowboys? sold-out, 14,000-seat practice facility.
In earlier action at Staples Center, Santa Maria?s Karlos Balderas, a super-featherweight and 2016 U.S. Olympian, battered awkward Barstow fighter Alex Silva on the undercard with left-handed power punches and scored a first-round knockout in 2 minutes 25 seconds.
