By Jake Donovan

It was another terrific performance in a young career already filled with them for promising bantamweight prospect Abner Mares. The undefeated 2004 Mexican Olmypian put the entire arsenal on display with a riveting over late substitute Jonathan Arias in Cabazon, California.

The bout served as the main event on Telefutura's Solo Boxeo Tecate.

Each round was almost a mirror image of its predecessor; Mares would walk Arias down, landing to the body and blistering 1-2's upstairs, while barely giving his opponent an inch of breathing room.

The first two rounds saw Mares the surgeon, dissecting Arias as if to give himself a crash course on his opponent's strengths and weaknesses after having previously trained for former two-division titlist Kermin Guardia. By round three, Mares was quite comfortable with what was in front of him, mixing up his body attack with plenty of straight right hands to the chin of Arias, who offered very little in return.

Mares went on the attack in round four, but quickly discovered that Arias had a little more fight in him than suspected. He settled back into his boxer-puncher groove midway through the round, landing right hands behind the jab while slipping and sliding the incoming. Arias paid the price for attempting to go punch for punch with Mares, leaving himself open for a looping right hand that snapped back his head late in the round.

Arias finally figured out in the fifth round how to slow down his undefeated foe; punch, then clinch. The tactic slowed down what had been to that point a spirited, albeit one-sided, affair. Mares picked it up in the final minute of the round, but a low blow followed by a love tap to the chin on the break resulted in a point deduction. In fairness to Mares, the referee was way out of position, time was never called, nor was a prior warning ever issued. But it would be the only round in which Mares would score less than 10 points.

After catching a tongue lashing from renowned head trainer Ignacio "Nacho" Beristain, Mares was intent on closing the show. He tried his damnest, landing at will in rounds six, seven and eight. Arias tried to slow down the Mexican with a low blow late in the seventh round; it only made him angrier, ending the round with several right hands upstairs.

Things slowed down almost to a crawl in the ninth round, with Arias now in full survival mode. Mares kept it strictly boxing while saving up for a big finish in the tenth and final round. Any time he landed a right hand, the crowd would let out a roar, as if anticipating something bigger was soon to follow. It usually did, but none more so than in the bout's final 45 seconds.

A right hand had Arias wobbly, and Mares was determined to put him away, literally beating him from pillar to post. Arias managed to stay upright long enough to hear the final bell, but the fight-ending flurry was enough to earn Mares a 10-8 round.

The scoring was academic. Scores of 99-89 (2x) and 98-91 all read in favor of Mares, who cruises to 17-0 (10KO) with the win, his second of 2008. Despite having now been extended the distance for the third time in his past five fights, there's no question that Mares is quickly emerging as one of the more complete fighters in the game today.

It was a lesson Arias learned the hard way. Taking the fight on two days notice after Kermin Guardia failed his MRI, he gets to say that he took a can't miss blue chip prospect the full ten rounds, but winds up losing his second straight as he falls to 13-2 (6KO).

Mares is already the mandatory challenger to bantamweight titlist Gerry Penalosa. Many would argue that a fighter just over three years into his pro career can probably use a little more seasoning before challenging a world class fighter, but you'd be hard pressed to argue if Mares' handlers believed he was ready right now.

One fighter who's nowhere near ready for that next level is Nestor Rocha, who was actually the one rumored to next face Penalosa. The California-based prospect emerged victorious in the televised co-feature, though had a much tougher go of things than expected in his ten-round bout with battle-tested Jose Angle Beranza.

The bout seemed stuck in the same gear throughout, with neither fighter really imposing their will on the other. Beranza jumped out to a fast start before Rocha settled into his groove in the second round.

A clash of heads momentarily halted action in the fifth, at which point Beranza became more aggressive, forcing the younger Rocha to stand and trade far more than he was willing.

Some spirited exchanges came about down the stretch, with both fighters finishing strong much to the crowd's delight.

The cheers would turn to jeers once the scorecards were announced. There wasn't much question that Rocha won, but the margins of victory were indicative of the continued beleaguered state of today's California State Athletic Commission. Judge Max DeLuca was the closest to reality, with a card of 97-93. Ray Colona somehow saw things 99-91, which was only slightly more ridiculous than Marty Denkin crediting Rocha with a shutout (100-90).

Rocha improves to 19-1 (6KO) with the win, his second straight since suffering the lone defeat of his career last year. While the payday that comes with a title fight would be a much more handsome ransom than where he's at now, Rocha's handlers need to think long and hard before considering a fight against Penalosa or any other top bantamweight.

Beranza showed he still has some fight left as a durable opponent, but has now lost four straight in falling to 30-13-2 (25KO). All four losses have come on Telefutura and while his ability to take notable prospects the distance, it might be time to give someone else a payday while the Mexican tries to pick on fighters more on his level.

The telecast was presented by Golden Boy Promotions, who hosts next week's special 4th of July edition, headlined by Enrique Ornelas' 10 round middleweight clash with Daryl Salmon.

Jake Donovan is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the Tennessee Boxing Advisory Board. Contact Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com