Gonzalez: I'm Ready For Whatever Abner Mares Brings!

By Miguel Rivera

In his final week of preparation, former world champion Jhonny Gonzalez is putting together the finishing touches on his strategy to reclaim the featherweight title of the World Boxing Council (WBC) from the current titleholder Abner Mares. Their showdown is scheduled for the 24th of this month in Carson, California.

Gonzalez (54-8, 46 KOs), a former two-division world champion at bantamweight and featherweight, has several directions in mind. During camp, he worked hard on several strategies to take down Mares (26-0-1, 14 KOs).

"We will be ready for whatever Abner brings. If plans to box, we will try to close the exits with combinations. If he plans to attack, we will fight at the distance, because our [reach] is better than his, land punches with both hands and do something that is very important - use movement in the ring, because he is a top pugilist who showed a lot of power with Ponce de Leon. In sparring we worked on speed and throwing many punches with both hands," said González, who is trained by Hall of Fame coach Ignacio "Nacho" Beristain.