By Miguel Rivera
A few days ago, former three division world champion Abner Mares (29-1-1 and 15 knockouts) said his upcoming return was personal. He steps in the ring with Southern California rival Leo Santa Cruz (30-0-1 and 17 knockouts) on August 29th at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The fight will headline a Premier Boxing Champions card on either ESPN or NBC.
The fight is personal for Santa Cruz as well. He's been asking for the match for a long time. Santa Cruz wants to put on a very impressive showing after being portrayed in a bad light for some time now, as the boxer faced very overmatched opponents in his last few ring appearances.
"For a long time I told my team and manager that I wanted this fight and for various reasons it didn't happen. But now everything is ready and we're months away. I will focus everything on my training. The fight is dangerous because I know Abner and he is very clever, so everything has to be perfect," said Santa Cruz to Erika Montoya.
"I'm excited to know that I have a challenge and a dangerous fight. It fills me with motivation to train well and I want to look good. I will give everything in the ring. It will be one of the most important fights in my career."