Abner Mares Wants One More, Then Jhonny Gonzalez

By James Blears

Former three division world champion Abner Mares (27-1-1, 14KOs) returned with a battling victory over Puerto Rican tough nut Jonathan Oquendo. Mares won unanimously on points over ten rounds at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas last weekend. Mares says he needs one more bout, before wading into a rematch with WBC featherweight champion Jhonny Gonzalez.
 
In a WBC conference call, Abner told reporters that this was an important and  testing fight, because it gave him the much needed opportunity to shed accumulated ring rust. It took him three to four rounds to re-adjust his timing and reflexes, against a tough, competitive and very determined opponent.
 
Abner who's been world champion at bantam, super bantam and featherweight was progressing his career brilliantly - until he ran into a thunderbolt of a left hook, delivered last August by Gonzalez at the StubHub Center in Carson City, California.

Keen to get right back into the fray, Abner wanted an immediate rematch which was on the cards for a date in February, but then he suffered a rib injury during sparring.
 
Now he's back in the fray. Abner, now trained by Virgil Hunter, says he needs one more fight to accomplish the finishing touches and then hopefully the much anticipated rematch.