By Miguel Rivera
Former three division world champion Abner Mares (26-1-1, 14KOs) has not forgotten about his rematch with WBC featherweight champion Jhonny Gonzalez (56-8, 47KOs). Last August, Mares was shockingly stopped by Gonzalez in the first round.
Mares then exercised a rematch clause, but later withdrew from a planned February rematch in Los Angeles. He claimed to have suffered a rib injury, which Gonzalez and his camp never believed.
They were never able to reschedule the date, Gonzalez was tired of waiting and moved forward with his career. Mares returns on Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, nearly a year out from his last bout, and faces Jonathan Oquendo on the Canelo-Lara Showtime Pay-Per-View undercard.
"Well, I did suffer a brief injury in Mexico City. I was training for that fight for February, a rematch against Jhonny Gonzalez and then after that we just didn't agree with dates pretty much. That was the whole case of the fight not happening," Mares said.
"He wanted to take some time off. I was not going to give any advantages, so I decided not to take the fight any time soon and he didn't want to wait. So, with that said, I needed more time for myself to recover. I'm just focused on this fight, but later on in the future it's possible again."
"This is a guy who took my undefeated record. He did take a lot from me that night. I'm not saying physically, because it happened so fast, less than a round. So, thank God, physically, I wasn't damaged that much, but naturally he did as far as taking my undefeated record, so believe me, I do want my rematch, I want my revenge. But that will come within time."