Abner Mares Willing to Travel to the UK to Fight Lee Selby

By Keith Idec

Abner Mares wouldn’t hesitate to travel halfway around the world for a featherweight title unification fight against Lee Selby.

Mares, the WBA world 126-pound champion, felt bad for Selby after the Welshman’s IBF featherweight championship defense scheduled for Saturday night in Las Vegas was canceled Friday due to Jonathan Barros’ medical issue. Selby obviously would prefer a United Kingdom showdown with Carl Frampton over a Mares matchup, but boxing Mares would represent a shot at adding another 126-pound championship to Selby’s resume.

“Selby’s a well-known fighter, obviously more in his country [Wales],” Mares told The Daily Telegraph of London for Monday’s editions. “I’m a respectable, well-known fighter myself, being a four-time world champion and holding a world title. We can unify world titles and make it interesting.”

The 31-year-old Mares, a 2004 Mexican Olympian who has long lived in Southern California, has not fought outside of the United States since he turned pro in January 2005. He is willing, however, to travel to the United Kingdom to face Selby.

“I have no problems packing my bags and flying over there to his hometown because I know of his potential,” Mares said. “I know the type of fighter he is and it will make it a good fight, so I’m with it.”

Mares (30-2-1, 15 KOs) owns a version of the WBA featherweight championship. He won that belt by beating Argentina’s Jesus Cuellar (28-2, 21 KOs) by split decision December 10 in Los Angeles.

Leo Santa Cruz (33-1-1, 18 KOs), who beat Mares by majority decision in August 2015, is the WBA super world featherweight champion again after defeating Frampton (23-1, 14 KOs) by majority decision in their 12-round rematch Saturday night at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Selby (23-1, 8 KOs), the IBF world featherweight champion, had hoped beating Barros (41-4-1, 22 KOs) on the Santa Cruz-Frampton undercard would’ve set up a lucrative showdown with Northern Ireland’s Frampton in his next fight.

The Barros bout was canceled before Friday’s weigh-in at MGM Grand because Barros reportedly tested positive for Hepatitis C. The 29-year-old Selby hasn’t fought in nearly 10 months, not since he overcame a second-round knockdown and defeated Philadelphia’s Eric Hunter (21-4, 11 KOs) by unanimous decision in a 12-rounder April 9 in London.

“I would have been crying if I hadn’t been so dehydrated on Friday before the weigh-in,” Selby told The Daily Telegraph. “It was completely unprofessional of Barros, doing what he did, turning up without his medical stuff in order. He let me and the fans down. Hopefully I can get a fight sorted and a quick win under my belt, so I can get back into the mix.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.