Mares Willing To Face Santa Cruz, Castellanos, Gonzalez

By Ryan Burton

Three division champion Abner Mares (26-0, 14KOs) has wanted to fight in his native Guadalajara, Mexico for quite some time. Speaking to us on BoxingScene Radio, Mares said that he  still hopes to fight in Mexico in the near future. WBC President Jose Sulaiman recently said that Mares can have an optional defense before fighting his mandatory challenger Robinson Castellanos. The 27-year-old said that he is also looking at facing former champion Jhonny Gonzalez.  

"I still want to fight in Mexico in front of my people in Guadalajara or in any part of Mexico. Two names that we are looking at are Jhonny Gonzalez and Robinson Castellano who just beat Celestino Caballero. I talked to Jose Sulaiman about that and I told him if he earned his spot then I will fight him. I'm willing to fight anybody," Mares explained.

A lot of fans would like to see a fight between Mares and undefeated super bantamweight Leo Santa Cruz. Mares was asked if he thought the former bantamweight titleholder had done enough to warrant a fight. Mares said that if Santa Cruz wants to love up to his weight class that he would have no problems facing him.

"I think that we are all equal. We all deserve opportunities to fight each other. I think Leo is a great fighter. He is out there building his brand. But again he is at 122. If he wants to go to 126 why not?" Mares told BoxingScene Radio.

You can listen to the interview in its entirety by clicking here: http://tobtr.com/s/4666825

Send questions or comments to ringsidewriter@gmail.com Follow Ryan on Twitter @ringsidewriter and tune in to BoxingScene Radio, BoxingScene's official audio on Tuesdays from 6-8PM PST. The show is hosted by Ernie Gabion, Luis Sandoval and Ryan Burton