Abner Mares faces Joseph Agbeko this weekend at the Nokia Theater in the finals of Showtime?s (10:30 PM, ET/PT) four-man bantamweight tournament. Not only is Agbeko?s IBF bantamweight title at stake; the claim to being the clear challenger to Nonito Donaire as the world?s best 118-pounder is also up for grabs. However, during the early part of his semifinal bout versus Vic Darchinyan back in December, it looked like Mares would be relegated to the consolation fight.
After four rounds at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Washington, Mares was not only floored in the first, he was deducted a point in the fourth round. So essentially he was at least five points down, just a third of the way into this bout. Oh, and did we mention he was also cut from an accidental clash of noggins?
Mares didn?t just have a hole to dig out from but a canyon-sized crater.
“It?s funny; I wasn?t thinking of losing. I didn?t think, ?Oh, I got the fight lost? or anything at all,” recalled Mares, a couple of weeks ago at the Maywood Boxing Club after his day?s training session. “When I first got knocked own, first thing that came to my mind was the [Juan Manuel] Marquez and [Manny] Pacquiao fight, when [Marquez] got knocked down three times and he still got a draw in the fight. So when I got knocked down, I was like, ?This is nothing.? I wasn?t even dazed; it was nothing. I was still in the fight. Then after I got cut, that kinda worried me because I was thinking, ?They would stop the fight? and I didn?t want them to stop the fight. So that?s why the whole game plan changed and I had to put pressure, make a totally different fight.”
From the middle rounds forward, Mares just steadily went to work, while Darchinyan just kept complaining more and more to referee Robert Howard. Mares scored his own knockdown in the seventh and just plain outhustled Darchinyan down the stretch to win via split decision by the scores of 113-112 and 115-111 while Darchinyan won over judge Glen Hamada at 115-111.
It?s one thing to beat a formidable foe but it?s something else to do it in the manner Mares did, where he had to grit his teeth and come from behind the way he did. His manager, Frank Espinoza, told Maxboxing, “I believe after winning the Vic Darchinyan fight that his mentality and confidence went up another 30 percent.” This fight came on the heels of Mares? tough luck draw against Yonnhy Perez for the IBF title last May, which was his initial title opportunity.
At age 25, in his physical prime, Mares is now a seasoned and hardened fighter. He admits that these experiences have made him psychologically tougher and more confident. “Just winning a fight gives you that confidence and especially against a fighter such as Vic Darchinyan,” he says. “He?s beaten pretty much all the Mexicans. I?m the first Mexican to beat him and definitely it gave me a boost as far as mentality and physically; I think it just gave me motivation.” Espinoza adds, “I?ve seen it in his work ethic, the way he?s determined, his confidence, the way he?s focused in the gym. There?s no question about it; this has really gone to another plateau for Abner.”
He?ll have to be because on the same night in Tacoma, Agbeko opened some eyes by reversing his first encounter with Perez with a series of adjustments that riddled the strong Colombian over 12 rounds. He showed that by employing movement and quick, well-timed right hands over the top, that he?s more than just a one-trick ?King Kong.? In their first meeting on Halloween in 2009, Agbeko tried to grind it out with Perez; the second time around he simply outfoxed him.
Mares is impressed by how Agbeko threw a change-up at Perez.
“Definitely, he truly amazed me because I didn?t think he had that in him. I thought he was just a forward fighter. I thought it was going to be a replay of the first fight, a toe-to-toe war fight. But Agbeko, he came in there and he showed different things. He boxed; he hit; he countered; he moved and he surprised me,” Mares admitted. “He showed a lot and that?s why we really don?t know what game plan he?s going to go in there with when he fights me. I don?t know if he?s going to come in as a boxer or as a brawler but either way, I think both of us have a variety of styles so it?s going to be a chess game.”
There?s no doubt that Mares will have to be adaptable in there. The problem that Perez had was that not only was he one-dimensional; he never changed his own tempo or speed, making him particularly easy to time. His repetitiveness in the ring made him an easy puzzle to solve. Mares understands that he must shuffle the deck at times and not just react to what Agbeko does but be proactive in changing up his own approach.
“I gotta switch things in there,” he states. “I can?t stick to one thing, [Agbeko]?s a smart fighter and he can adapt to any style, I think. So I gotta change styles in-between rounds. It?s going to be a great fight. It?s going to come down to the smarter fighter.”
You can just envision a tactical fight which will eventually turn into a dogfight at times, where both men will take turns taking the lead and then adapt on the fly, making quick decisions based on what they feel is successful. While all this is taking place, a few punches will be hurled at each other. Both Mares and Agbeko will walk a fine line between aggression and discipline.
“I think so; it all depends. We all know styles make fights. If he comes as a boxer and I?m going to have to follow him, it?s going to come out to whoever puts pressure,” said Mares, “but if he goes in there brawling, I?ll box. It all depends on the style he brings in but at the end of the night, who?s the smarter fighter will take this fight.”
HBO
A few thoughts on this past weekend?s split-site doubleheader on HBO:
– The bout between Amir Khan and Paul ?Dudey? McCloskey pretty much the way everyone thought, with the elusive southpaw unable to do much offensively versus Khan, who seemed to be too big and fast for him -if not all that effective with his flurries. Here?s the thing; while I do think Khan was well on his way to winning (he had swept all the rounds on the judges? scorecards through six frames), I?m still wondering why that fight was stopped so hastily by the ringside physician. Yeah, McCloskey was cut but he certainly wasn?t gashed all that badly. I?d be willing to bet that there have been hundreds of cuts worse than that throughout the years in this sport.
Also, if you?re not going to even let McCloskey?s cutman take a look at it and give him a chance to do his job- why even have those guys in the corner? (Just wondering, if the roles were reversed- this being a show promoted by Khan- do you get the suspicion that Khan would?ve been allowed to fight on?)
Again, not saying the fight?s result would?ve been altered (I?m betting it wouldn?t have) but a guy like McCloskey knows the inherent risks of this sport and he may never, ever get an opportunity like this again. So why pull the plug so prematurely?
I wonder how Carmen Basilio would?ve reacted to such a decision.
– As for the barnburner between WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto and Victor Ortiz, it was another in a strong series of contests that will be nominated for ?Fight of the Year? (for my money, it?s still ?Tyson? Marquez-Luis Concepcion). I?m not completely sold that Ortiz has completely exorcised all the demons of the Marcos Maidana meltdown but he certainly gained a large measure of redemption by beating Berto the way he did, coming off the canvas to score a pair of his own knockdowns.
Leading up to this fight, Ortiz seemed to be a tougher, meaner guy or at least he tried to create that facade. To his credit, he carried it over into the ring, while Berto, who has been fed a string of no-hopers on HBO, early on, had a shell-shocked look that said, ?Oh, geez, Al [Haymon], Lou [DiBella], what?s going on here? You mean I?m in a real fight now?? He just looked like a guy who hadn?t been tested in a while (which he hadn?t) and was, in many respects, overwhelmed by the size, power and surprising determination of Ortiz, who shook him early and often.
Berto, unfortunately, is the quintessential fighter that is handled by Haymon. Yes, his fighters get on HBO earlier. Yes, they make inordinate amounts of money compared to their actual market value but unfortunately, the cost comes at the price of truly developing a finished product. Since 2009, Berto has become that boxer who fights twice a year against hand-picked foes and sits for long stretches while his representatives beg and plead for the Bob Arums of the world to give them a shot against Manny Pacquiao. In his mid-20s, Berto is now a part-time prizefighter. In essentially two years (from the time he beat Juan Urango on May 30th of 2009), he had two fights where he got in nine rounds of action.
It?ll be interesting to see how HBO handles his return; after all, guys who lose on the network seem to be treated better than the guys who defeat them. But will he be given a ?Betty Ford Fight? (y? know, the rehab bout against a soft touch) or will the network take the stand that he?s already been given a bevy of non-descript foes on its air? Or will he be made to regroup like most other fighters on smaller platforms like ESPN?
HBO tried to make a star out of Berto in a classic case of the cart being put in front of the horse. Instead, what they produced was an incomplete fighter who has become the poster child for what is wrong with this business in the States.
As for Ortiz, there?s lots of talk about where he goes from here but make no doubt about it; this was a good win for the business of boxing. While Berto is a guy that is placed in ballrooms, Ortiz is a West Coast Mexican-American that can pull folks into the tent. There is the natural talk of a rematch with Maidana and some folks are bringing up the name of Floyd Mayweather Jr., who was in attendance at the Foxwoods this past weekend. Honestly, down the line, I wouldn?t mind seeing a rematch with Berto- this time in Los Angeles- because both of these guys? fundamental flaws play perfectly into each other. They seem to be a duo that will always make for good scraps. The best news is there is absolutely no rematch clause, unlike too many other fights we see nowadays. The only reason a rematch will happen here is because of public demand and interest, which is the way it should be.
– Speaking of fundamental flaws, in Ortiz, I?ve never seen a southpaw who moved so much to his left against strong right-handed punchers. It led to his demise versus Maidana and kept Berto in the fight on Saturday night. He also seems to plant his feet in cement at times as he throws his left, making him lunge and susceptible to counters. I?ve said it before; Danny Garcia is the third best trainer in the family by a good margin. As for Berto, you can?t teach a good chin but he?s a short welterweight, who has no clue how to fight like a short guy on the inside. He is an incessant clincher who should be penalized at least twice a fight for his strangleholds.
– One of the great NFL Films sound bites of all-time was former Buffalo Bills coach Marv Levy yelling out during a game, ?YOU OVEROFFICIOUS JERK!? I think that applied to referee Michael Ortega, don?t you? I thought he interjected himself way too much in that fight and let Berto basically talk him into a few calls.
SHOWTIME
You could see the demise of Juan Manuel Lopez coming for months, if not miles. Back when you saw him in Las Vegas during the weekend of Nonito Donaire-Fernando Montiel, he looked awfully heavy. It went much further than just the usual puffiness you see from fighters in-between assignments. As I mentioned it to Bob Arum at a press conference held that day at Lupo?s inside of Mandalay Bay, where various fights on Top Rank?s schedule were announced, Arum said to me bluntly, “That?s nothing; you should?ve seen him two weeks ago.”
There were some who were troubled by his trip to the Philippines in late December for Manny Pacquiao?s annual birthday bash. This was a perfect storm of distractions, from his marital problems, the excess poundage and then the late pissing contest with fellow Puerto Rican Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. and, folks, Orlando Salido isn?t the type of guy you want to face in these situations. Salido is the classic Mexican tough guy who has a bad record, which has made him a damn good fighter. Salido is the Mexican version of Glen Johnson (although, believe it or not, he?s just 30 years old), both guys who were never protected, had to go out on the road and each have double-digit losses on the ?L? side of their ledgers (Johnson has 14, Salido 11). However, those experiences have steeled and galvanized them.
They are hard men, ones that have to be at less-than-optimum to overcome.
With Lopez coming in soft, well, what took place at the Coliseo Ruben Rodriguez isn?t THAT big of a surprise. Lopez simply didn?t have his legs by the fourth round and as Lopez couldn?t really hurt Salido- who hasn?t been halted in over a decade- he got walked down by the rugged Mexican. As he was sent crashing to the canvas in the fifth by a booming right-hand, ?JuanMa? knew this wasn?t going to be his night. No matter how passionately the partisans in Bayamon tried to exhort their man, it wasn?t going to matter.
Yeah, the stoppage in the eighth frame from referee Roberto Ramirez Jr. was a tad premature but that thing was going all downhill for Lopez at that juncture. It saved him from taking undue punishment, the type that shortens careers.
Arum is already talking about a rematch in November in either New York or Puerto Rico. You can expect a more focused Lopez this time around. But here?s the thing; it still may not be enough. Top Rank matchmakers believed this was a tough fight for Lopez, regardless of his mental and physical condition.
– Salido showed that you don?t have to be a speedster to cut off the ring against a lefthander. From the very beginning, he moved toward his left and kept his lead foot on the outside of Lopez?s. Gil Clancy would?ve been proud. As for Lopez, as he has become more and more reliant on his strong right hook. Like Miguel Cotto from the opposite side of the plate, he put more and more of his weight on his front foot and his back hand became less of a factor. This also made them easier targets as their chins seemed to hang over their front sides. Like Cotto before him, it looks like Lopez has fallen into the trap of becoming a bit one-dimensional.
Another thing I really like about Salido is that sneaky overhand right he throws. Not only does he hide it well from its delivery point, Salido basically leans to his left, as if he?s going to throw a left hook to the body and comes instead with that booming shot, which he seems to time so well. Salido may not be flashy but turning pro at age 15 (yes, you read that correctly) and going through the hard knocks of the boxing business with basically no safety net have made this guy into a real fighter.
FINAL FLURRIES
I can understand one shot of Mayweather ringside by HBO but really, did we need any more than that or did they just want to make sure that either Pacquiao or Mayweather made an appearance on the network in 2011?…Another thing about Salido?s right hand, I swear, in one of the late rounds versus Yuriorkis Gamboa in September, he came within millimeters of timing him with one of his overhand shots that would?ve ended it. He came thiiiisss clooooose…Very good edition of ?Friday Night Fights? on ESPN2. Say what you will about Ruslan Provodnikov but he is always good TV, regardless…Can the Lakers just petition the NBA for no more Sunday afternoon contests? This really is their Sabbath, it seems…I still love ?Kitchen Nightmares? and Chef Gordon Ramsay…I can be reached at [email protected] and I tweet at www.twitter.com/stevemaxboxing. We also have a Facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/MaxBoxing.
